It has been widely discussed that current practices of preservice teacher education are still far away from utilizing contemporary methods and strategies in its curriculum practices in Turkey. Preservice teachers are not provided enough classroom experiences connecting theory to teaching practice. As a result of this, many senior teachers need further guidance and supervision to transfer their knowledge into school environments. In order to address this failure in bridging what is learned and practiced in preservice teacher education to that of real class happenings, an experimental study was conducted with the application of an alternative method namely video-case based instruction. This research study aimed to examine the differences between traditional lecture based instruction and video-case based instruction in terms of their effectiveness of presenting the content at &ldquo / Introduction to Teaching Profession Course&rdquo / delivered to the preservice teachers. Additionally, the study also aimed to evaluate the attitudes of students toward video-case based instruction to which they were exposed. In this study, video-case based instruction and lecture based instruction were applied in three sessions of application and they were compared in terms of delivering the course content. Data were collected from two sections of EDS 119 Course during 2005-2006 fall semester by administrating pretests, posttests, questionnaires and interviews. Data analysis was carried out through both quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques. Results demonstrated that video-case based instruction demonstrated achievement of course content and support significant difference overall between video-case based instruction and lecture based instruction in content achievement. The participants of the study reported positive attitudes towards video-case based instruction both for its current application and future uses. The results revealed that using video-case based methods in preservice teacher education programs may be a viable alternative for allowing students connect real teaching practices with what they learn in their pedagogy courses.

The aim of the study was to investigate the dynamics of two online communities of practice (oCoP) for preservice teachers. The research process encompassed three main phases. Phase 1 was related to the design and development of online environment. By the help of existing literature and a pilot study, a portal which is called as &ldquo / Professional Development Circle (PDC)&rdquo / was developed. In Phase-2, 28 preservice teachers from three different universities participated to an online course as a part of an undergraduate course. During the term, they discussed on different video cases which were recorded in real classroom environments and produced new lesson plans for these lessons in the light of given suggestions. In the third phase, the same preservice teachers got involved in a different online environment without any grading motivation in the Phase 2. They discussed on some hot topics in mathematics teaching with other preservice teachers, academicians and experienced teachers. This research study was mainly a qualitative study. Two cases of the study were two oCoP which included mandatory or voluntary participation of preservice teachers to discussions. The data were collected through written reflection reports, observations and interviews. In addition, private e-mail exchange with participants and discussion list message history were rich data sources. The data were analyzed according to qualitative data analysis techniques. The design principles and findings of this research study were discussed in the frame of Activity Theory. This study revealed outcomes of two online communities of practice environments in preservice teacher education. In addition, motivators and barriers to be active in oCoP environments were discussed. Some of the motivators were getting more responsibility, self confidance, sociable personality, altruism, sincerity in the environment, and quality of materials while some of the barriers were not wanting to enter a fight, lack of time, the idea &ldquo / max benefit minimum effort&rdquo / , feeling availability of others, and Internet access and computer availability.

ABSTRACT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF PRESERVICE BIOLOGY TEACHERS THROUGH REFLECTIVE THINKING Savran Gencer, AySe Ph.D., Department of Secondary Science and Mathematics Education Supervisor : Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jale &Ccedil / akiroglu Co-Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ceren Tekkaya January 2008, 230 pages The study aims to explore preservice biology teachers&rsquo / reflective thinking content and levels by examining the use of a reflective framework integrated into one semester Practice Teaching course. More specifically, this study focused on the development of reflective thinking skills of preservice teachers and their metaphorical images about learning and teaching process. Data were collected through both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The written documents and audiotaped debriefings taken during the activities of reflective autobiography and journal writing, metaphor using, peer coaching, microteaching, and problem discussion along with the summative interview were the main data sources of the qualitative data. The written and transcribed data collected through these sources were then utilized through the selected three case studies in order to reach a deep understanding on their reflective thinking skills and content. The quantitative data were collected through the instruments of Reflective Thinking to evaluate the development of the preservice biology tecahers&rsquo / reflectivity and Metaphorical Images to explore their beliefs about learning and teaching process. Results indicated that the reflective activities offered opportunities preservice biology teachers to reflect on their experiences and strive for a conscious awareness of their professional development through experience, collaboration, guidance, and modeling. All of the participants were able to reflect mostly at the technical level, followed by contextual and dialectical levels of reflective thinking among the content categories of teacher characteristics, instructional processes, classroom management, students, and teaching profession. Results of reflective thinking instrument indicated that all participants individually perceived a developmental reflective thinking skill. Keywords: Reflective Thinking, Reflective Journal, Peer Coaching, Professional Development, Preservice Biology Teacher

The main purpose of this study was to explore Preservice Science Teachers&rsquo / (PSTs) informal reasoning regarding socioscientific issues (SSI). The study first investigated PSTs&rsquo / informal reasoning patterns / second, explored the relationship between informal reasoning patterns and quality / third, examined the variation of informal reasoning quality with SSI / at last, focused on the factors influencing PSTs&rsquo / informal reasoning in the context of SSI. Totally, 39 PSTs voluntarily participated in the study. Senior elementary PSTs from a public university, in Ankara constituted the sample of this study. Seven SSI were used to explore informal reasoning and influencing factors. Three SSI dealt with gene therapy and, the other three issues dealt with cloning. The last issue dealt with global warming. PSTs&rsquo / informal reasoning and the factors influencing the participants&rsquo / informal reasoning in the context of SSI were analyzed by using constant comparative data analysis method (Glaser &amp / Strauss, 1967). Two interview protocols were used in the present study. Informal Reasoning Interview protocol focused on the investigation of informal reasoning, and Moral Decision-Making Interview protocol was used to identify informal reasoning and the factors influencing informal reasoning. Emergent informal reasoning patterns from the present study were: rationalistic, emotive, and intuitive informal reasoning patterns. Regarding informal reasoning quality, across each SSI, the participants easily revealed claim with or without justification but they hardly developed counter-position and rebuttal. Emergent frequency of informal reasoning quality types followed the same order across each SSI. Thus, informal reasoning quality was not context-dependent across all SSI. Main factors influencing participants&rsquo / informal reasoning were accumulated under four main categories / personal experiences, social considerations, moral-ethical considerations, and technological concerns.

The purposes of this study were to explore understanding of preservice science teachers&rsquo / (PSTs) nature of science (NOS) views during the explicit-reflective and inquiry-based laboratory instruction and investigate PSTs&rsquo / perspectives and experiences related to learning NOS aspects in the science laboratory course. This study was carried out during the Laboratory Application in Science II course. A total of 45 PSTs participated to the study. The design of the study was qualitative and exploratory in nature. In the initial phase of the study, the researcher collected qualitative data with open-ended questionnaire to explore PSTs&rsquo / NOS views. Then, during the semester, reflection papers were collected to understand PSTs&rsquo / experiences with the intervention and to detect development about each NOS aspect. At the end of the semester, qualitative questionnaire and semi-structured interviews were conducted to determine the impact of the explicit-reflective and inquiry-based laboratory instruction. The results showed that all of the PSTs were able to make appropriate connections among the laboratory activities and the targeted NOS aspects at the end of the instruction. In addition, many PSTs developed their understanding levels of each aspect of nature of science. Moreover, findings revealed that some of the PSTs made connections among NOS aspects. Three main factors / discussions and presentations, using inquiry skills, and doing inquiry-based laboratory activities were determined as provide to PSTs to develop their NOS understanding. Furthermore, at the end PSTs developed their perspectives about teaching NOS.

The main purpose of the study was to understand preservice secondary mathematics teachers&rsquo / pedagogical content knowledge of composite and inverse functions. The study was conducted with three preservice secondary mathematics teachers in Graduate School of Education at Bilkent University. The instruments of the study were qualitative in nature and in four different types of data forms: observations, interviews, documents, and audiovisual materials. Observation data came from fieldnotes by conducting an observation of lessons participants taught at Private Bilkent High School. Interview data came from the transcriptions of semi-structured interviews. Document data came from survey of function knowledge, journal writings, vignettes, and lesson plans. Audiovisual data came from the examination of the videotape of the lessons participants taught. The findings reveal that preservice secondary mathematics teachers&rsquo / knowledge levels in components of pedagogical content knowledge were not at the desired levels and also they experienced difficulty while integrating that knowledge. The results of the study indicate that teacher education should provide courses that cover the content relevant to students in order to assure both depth and breadth in subject matter knowledge of the preservice teachers. Moreover, the activities which mimics the classroom cases and assures the integration of knowledge components like vignettes would be used in teacher education programs. Results can inform educational practices, and reforms in Turkey, and provide a basis for further research, with increased pedagogical content knowledge as the ultimate goal.

The purpose of this study is to construct a valid and reliable mathematics related beliefs scale for determining preservice elementary mathematics teachers&rsquo / mathematics related beliefs in Turkey and investigating the impact of the gender and year level on the preservice mathematics teachers&rsquo / mathematics related beliefs. For the first purpose, the &ldquo / Mathematics Related Belief Scale (MRBS)&rdquo / was developed based on the combination of the belief frameworks in the literature. Data were collected from ten different universities from Ankara, Balikesir, Burdur, Bolu, Gaziantep, Izmir, Van, and Samsun in the spring semester of 2009-2010 academic year. A total of 584 third and fourth year preservice mathematics teachers participated in this study. Data were analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics. The results showed that MRBS was a valid and reliable scale which measured Turkish preservice teachers&rsquo / mathematics related beliefs. MRBS had two components &ldquo / constructivist beliefs&rdquo / and &ldquo / traditional beliefs&rdquo / of mathematics and teaching mathematics. There was a significant effect of gender on preservice teachers&rsquo / mathematics related beliefs. No significant difference in preservice teachers&rsquo / mathematics related beliefs was detected in terms of year level in the teacher education program. The MRBS could be used for investigating preservice teachers&rsquo / mathematics related beliefs in order to determine effective teacher education program experiences.

The purpose of this study was to investigate preservice science teachers&rsquo / mental models about the role and distribution of ozone layer and ozone layer depletion regarding their ontological orientation. This study was conducted with twenty four preservice science teachers who were enrolled in Elementary Science Education Program of Education Faculty of one public university located in Central Anatolia. From each grade level six preservice science teachers were selected / two from low achiever, two from middle achiever and two from high achiever. Moreover, in the study, data were collected by using semi structured interview and interview consists of eleven questions and with five questions having multiple parts. Interview recordings were transcribed and analyzed qualitatively. In the following steps of the analysis, researcher proceeded with the already formed and described codes in an easygoing way. The results revealed that preservice science teachers&rsquo / responses were mostly seen as skin cancer and sunburn as harmful effects of ultraviolet rays and preservice science teachers&rsquo / responses were mostly seen as activation vitamin D and photosynthesis of plants as beneficial effects of Sun&rsquo / s rays. Half of preservice science teachers thought that ozone layer exists in the atmosphere. Moreover, preservice science teachers&rsquo / responses were mostly seen as perfume, deodorant, car, and spray as harmful materials to ozone layer. Chlorofluorocarbon, carbon monoxide, and carbon-dioxide were the most seen responses as harmful chemicals to ozone layer. Similar misconceptions were identified when compared with past studies. Also, different misconceptions were found in the study. Ten distinct models were formed regarding role and distribution of ozone layer and five distinct models were formed regarding ozone layer depletion. Moreover, absorbing and reflecting surface was mostly seen ontological belief regarding role and distribution of ozone layer. Hole was mostly seen ontological belief regarding ozone layer depletion. Generally, achievement and grade level did not make difference among preservice science teachers forming which type of mental models and having ontological beliefs.

This study explores the influence of mentor teachers in the meanings and practices that two elementary preservice teachers adopted about eliciting and using student ideas, while learning to teach science in the university science methods course and in the field placement classroom. Prior research on teacher development has shown that the high-leverage practice of eliciting and using student ideas can support preservice teachers in thinking about common problems of practice. I used four core problems of practice to examine the meanings and practices that preservice teachers adopted in eliciting and using student ideas as they planned, enacted and reflected on methods course assignments in the field placement classroom. Using sociocultural and situative perspectives on learning, I identified two factors that influenced the sense that preservice teachers constructed and the practices that they adopted about eliciting and using student ideas. These factors were mentor teacher's perspectives on learning and goals for student learning. I also examined three mechanisms by which mentor teacher's perspectives and goals influenced preservice teacher meanings and practices about eliciting and using student ideas in instruction, including mentor teacher's classroom practice, the nature and foci of mentor teacher and preservice teacher conversations and mentor teacher's use of preservice teachers' ideas in their conversations about instruction. The results suggest that preservice teachers come to make sense of and use student ideas in their instruction in ways that closely align with those of their mentors. They also indicate that preservice teachers' integration of experiences from different learning-to-teach contexts in making sense of student ideas may be related to the degree of alignment between mentor teachers' perspectives and goals and the perspectives and goals of the science methods course.

The aim of this study is to investigate the views of preservice science teachers on nature of science (NOS). A total of 166 preservice science teachers participated in the study. A 21-item &ldquo / Views on Science-Technology-Society (VOSTS)&rdquo / instrument, translated and adapted into Turkish, were utilized to assess participants&rsquo / views on the nature of science. The VOSTS (Aikenhead, Ryan and Fleming, 1989) is a pool of 114 empirically developed multiple-choice items with nine categories. In this study, 21 item selected from the epistemology of science category corresponded to the purposes of the assessment. In order to understand participants&rsquo / views on nature of science in depth, semi-structured interviews were also conducted by 9 volunteer preservice science teachers. The results gave a picture of the preservice science teachers&rsquo / views on nature of science. Results of this study revealed preservice science teachers&rsquo / misconceptions on nature of science. Their views are mostly traditional on the nature of science. Results of the study indicated that preservice science teachers held traditional views (naive) regarding the definition of science / the nature of scientific models / the relationships between hypotheses, theories, and laws / fundamental assumptions for all science / the scientific method / uncertainty in scientific knowledge / epistemological status of scientific knowledge / coherence of concepts across disciplines. On the other hand participants have contemporary views (realistic) on the nature of observation / the nature of classification schemes / the tentativeness of scientific knowledge / cause and effect relationship. Analysis of interviews also supported these findings and gave a deep insight on preservice science teachers&rsquo / views on nature of science.