The case of prospective teachers’ integration of coding-robotics practices into science teaching with STEM approach

Abstract

The aim of this study is to determine the level of integration of teacher candidates’ acquisitionsin course of “Coding and Robotics in Primary School” into the science teaching; and to explore teachercandidates’ opinions on coding- robotics and the usage of them in lessons. For this purpose, a case studywith 11 junior prospective primary school teachers was conducted in 2017-18 education year. After theparticipants took “Coding and robotics in primary school” at fall semester, they were asked to make STEMbased teaching by using robotic applications in the scope of the course of “Science and TechnologyTeaching II”. Participants’ teaching was rated with rubrics prepared by the researchers, and their lessonplans were analyzed through document analysis. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted to takethe opinions of the participants on usage of robotics. The results showed that prospective teachers weremainly able to integrate robotics to the STEM-based science teaching. Additionally, prospective teacherssuggested that robotics should be integrated to all courses, especially science, and that this wouldcontribute to the problem solving and algorithmic thinking skills of the students.