The purpose of this study is to investigate the current status of computer education in Turkish basic education schools by exploring the perceptions of computer teachers in terms of the policy of new computer education curriculum, which was prepared in 2006, and its actual implementations in schools. The primary aim of the study is to develop a deeper understanding about the effects of new computer education curriculum on the basic education school computer teachers and students, and their perceptions about the effectiveness of the new curriculum. The second aim is to criticize the main barriers and enablers in computer education by comparing the policy of computer education with the existing school practice.
In this study, a mixed method research approach including both quantitative and qualitative traditions is employed as the primary research method of the study. A mixed method approach is followed based upon a quantitative method to explore the perceptions of computer teachers and a follow-up qualitative method including document analysis to confirm and complement the quantitative findings. By using both qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis techniques, it was aimed to answer the research questions sufficiently in a single study and enhance the reliability and validity of the research results.
In this study, firstly, quantitative data was collected by using a questionnaire as a preliminary analysis of computer teachers&rsquo / perceptions regarding new computer education curriculum. Secondly, qualitative data was collected and analyzed to explain and refine the results obtained through quantitative data in the first phase. In addition to the open-ended items in the questionnaire, qualitative data was obtained from the messages posted by computer teachers in online asynchronous discussion forums about the problems they encounter in their profession / and through newspapers about computer education and the occupational problems of computer teachers.
The results of the present study reveal that with the introduction of new computer education curriculum, many problems have emerged in the actual implementations of computer education courses in basic education schools. The most important of these problems are results of the elective status of computer education course and the limited time allocated for this course.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:METU/oai:etd.lib.metu.edu.tr:http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/3/12610675/index.pdf |
| Date | 01 June 2009 |
| Creators | Serefoglu Henkoglu, Halise |
| Contributors | Yildirim, I. Soner |
| Publisher | METU |
| Source Sets | Middle East Technical Univ. |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | M.S. Thesis |
| Format | text/pdf |
| Rights | To liberate the content for public access |
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