PHYSICS TEACHERS’ EPISTEMOLOGICAL BELIEFS: CORE AND PERIPHERAL DIMENSIONS

Year 2024, , 942 - 955, 30.05.2024

Ozden Sengul

https://doi.org/10.24315/tred.1403302

Abstract

This study aims to examine physics teachers’ beliefs about knowledge, science, teaching and learning science to understand the relationship among four belief systems. Participants were 59 high school physics teachers, who were interviewed once through a semi-structured interview protocol. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed through constant comparative method to categorize teachers’ beliefs in different levels: traditional, transitional, and constructivist and quantify the nominal data for descriptive, correlational statistics, and structural equation modeling. The results indicated that teachers mostly held transitional beliefs about knowledge and science while their beliefs were constructivist on teaching and learning science. There was a significant relationship between beliefs about knowledge and science as core beliefs and between beliefs about teaching and learning science as peripheral beliefs, positive correlation was found between core and peripheral beliefs. These findings offer a report as a guide to address teachers’ beliefs through the design of future professional development programs.

Keywords

beliefs, epistemology, physics, teacher education.

Ethical Statement

This study was conducted through taking ethical approval from the researchers’ university to collect data and keep the participants’ confidentiality. Ethical form is available upon request.

FİZİK ÖĞRETMENLERİNİN EPİSTEMOLOJİK İNANÇLARI: TEMEL VE ÇEVRESEL BOYUTLAR

Abstract

Bu çalışmanın amacı, fizik öğretmenlerinin dört inanç sistemi arasındaki ilişkiyi anlamak için bilgi, fen, öğretme ve öğrenme bilimlerine ilişkin inançlarını incelemektir. Katılımcılar 59 lise fizik öğretmenidir ve yarı yapılandırılmış bir görüşme protokolü aracılığıyla öğretmenlerle bir kez görüşülmüştür. Görüşmeler, öğretmenlerin inançlarını geleneksel, geçişsel ve yapılandırmacı olmak üzere farklı düzeylerde kategorize etmek ve tanımlayıcı, korelasyonel istatistikler ve yapısal eşitlik modellemesi uygulamak için yazıya dökülmüş ve karşılaştırmalı yöntemle analiz edilmiştir. Sonuçlar, öğretmenlerin bilgi ve bilime ilişkin inançlarının çoğunlukla geçişsel inançlara sahip olduklarını, fen öğretimi ve öğrenimine ilişkin inançlarının ise yapılandırmacı olduğunu göstermiştir. Temel inançlar olarak bilgi ve bilime ilişkin inançlar arasında, çevresel inançlar olarak fen öğretimi ve öğrenimine ilişkin inançlar arasında anlamlı bir ilişki bulunurken, çekirdek ve çevresel inançlar arasında pozitif korelasyon bulunmuştur. Bu bulgular, gelecekteki mesleki gelişim programlarının tasarımı yoluyla öğretmenlerin inançlarını ele almak için bir rehber olarak bir rapor sunmaktadır.

Keywords

inançlar, epistemoloji, fizik, öğretmen eğitimi.

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