Pre-Service Elementary Teachers’ Experiences in Researching and Evaluating Scientists and Sharing Their Findings

Abstract

This research aimed to reveal the experiences of the pre-service elementary teachers’ researching and evaluating scientists and sharing their findings through original posters. The research was designed in a phenomenological pattern, one of the qualitative research methods. The research included 28 pre-service elementary teachers who were in the second term of their undergraduate education. A three-month application process was carried out to provide pre-service elementary teachers with experience in researching and evaluating scientists, and sharing their findings, and to interpret their experiences. In the research, a semi-structured interview form, an observation form, video recordings and photographs, and posters prepared by pre-service teachers were used as data collection tools. The obtained data were analyzed by the content analysis method. The research showed that before the research and evaluation process, pre-service elementary teachers generally had superficial knowledge about scientists. The qualities of scientists that attract the participants’ attention were as follows: scientists’ dedication, creativity, hard work despite all the difficulties, and approaching life from a different perspective. Emphasizing the contributions of the experience to the pre-service teachers in terms of individual and social gain and benefits for the future students is another result. It was determined that pre-service teachers frequently referred to non-scientific sources such as web pages and blogs as much as scientific sources. The experience they gained made the teacher candidates feel pride and happiness and increased their professional self-confidence. The results are discussed based on the pre-service elementary teachers’ awareness of science and scientists and their gaining experience in this activity.