The aim of this study was to investigate science teachers&rsquo / perceptions about the online teacher professional development (oTPD) program. The research study included two consecutive steps. The first step was related to the design of the oTPD program. With the help of related literature, examples of oTPD programs and expert opinions, an oTPD program was designed. In the second step, ten of the alumni of Bilkent University Graduate School of Education Biology Teacher Education Program participated in a ten week oTPD program. The program consisted of instructional activities such as reading case studies, self reflection, forum discussions, watching videos of a sample lesson, hands-on activity and WebQuest.
The study was mainly a qualitative study. The case was a professional development program for in-service science teachers that was offered online via learning management systems (LMS). The data were collected through pre- and post- interviews, online questionnaire, observations and documentation that include weekly assignments, forum discussions, e-mail correspondence, weekly e-journals, detailed notes of phone calls and the researcher&rsquo / s journal. The data were analyzed according to qualitative data analysis techniques with the assistance of Weft QDA software.
Data gathered from the participants demonstrated that they were not satisfied with professional development programs that they got before this oTPD program because of the problems about content, process and organization connected with them. They preferred oTPD program, because of its flexibility and versatility, sharing information among colleagues from different parts of the country, and self-paced learning. Some obstacles were also identified, such as technical problems, not having face-to-face sessions and the timing of the program.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:METU/oai:etd.lib.metu.edu.tr:http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12609557/index.pdf |
| Date | 01 June 2008 |
| Creators | Ateskan, Armagan |
| Contributors | Ozden, Yasar Muhammet |
| Publisher | METU |
| Source Sets | Middle East Technical Univ. |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Ph.D. Thesis |
| Format | text/pdf |
| Rights | To liberate the content for public access |
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