Hands-on Science Experiments Versus Technology - Assisted Science Education: A Qualitative Research
Chapter from the book:
Baltacı,
Ö.
(ed.)
2023.
Current Research in Education - VI.
Synopsis
In order to raise individuals with 21st century skills, education in general and science education in particular are of great importance. For this reason, raising learners equipped with the knowledge and skills required by the age we are in by realising a strong science education is one of the main goals of science education. Therefore, the importance of classroom practices is emphasised in order to realise an effective and efficient science education process. Factors such as the dominance of a product-oriented process, making students active, digital competence and an interdisciplinary approach in the science curriculum bring both activity-based science teaching and technology-based science teaching to the forefront. However, factors such as the views of teachers, who are the implementers of the curricula, on these two methods and their competencies have the potential to affect teaching practices. Accordingly, it is important to examine the perspectives of pre-service teachers who have experienced both teaching methods while they are still in the pre-service period. The main purpose of the research shaped with this perspective is to explore the experiences of pre-service preschool teachers about technology and activity-based science teaching and to examine their views on these two methods and their comparison. The research was designed as a case study based on qualitative paradigm. The data of the study were collected through semi-structured interviews with the participants and the data obtained were analysed by content analysis. The main result of the study showed that the participants found activity-based science teaching very important for providing meaningful and permanent learning. The participants explained these views with the fact that activity-based teaching provides learners with a real world experience enriched with concrete materials through their own experiences. In addition, the participants thought that technology-based science teaching appeals more to the characteristics of the new generation of learners and is therefore more remarkable. In addition, the findings of the study showed that pre-service teachers think that a teacher should have the competence to apply both methods in their lessons. In the light of the findings of the study, suggestions such as including different classroom practices in teacher education and including pre-service teachers in both activity-based and technology-based science teaching process in other courses, especially in teaching practice, were made.