UNDERSTANDING OF TEACHERS ON PHASES OF THE MOON AND THE LUNAR ECLIPSE / ÖĞRETMENLERİN AY'IN EVRELERİ VE AY TUTULMASINA İLİŞKİN ANLAYIŞLARI

Authors

  • Melike Güzin Semercioğlu Lecturer, Medical Services and Technical Section, Optician Program, University of Gumushane, Gumushane, Turkey
  • Hüseyin Kalkan Prof. Dr., Department of Mathematics and Science Education, Faculty of Education, Ondokuz Mayıs University, Samsun, Turkey orcid.org/0000-0002-9122-3386

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.46827/ejes.v8i2.3555

Keywords:

science teaching, astronomy education, formation of the phases of the Moon, the formation of the lunar eclipse, mental models / fen eğitimi, astronomi eğitimi, Ay’ın evrelerinin oluşumu, Ay tutulmasının oluşumu, zihinsel modeller

Abstract

Even though the educational researchers have developed and implemented various educational strategies to teach the concepts of the phases of the Moon and the formation of the lunar eclipse more effectively, many studies conducted by them in recent years reveal that the teachers still do not understand the causes and scientific processes related to the phases of the Moon phases and lunar eclipse. In addition, this situation shows that there are deep problems in teaching the subjects of Moon phases and lunar eclipse to students. Examining the main causes of learning difficulties in the phases of the Moon and lunar eclipse, this study is designed on the basis of development and implementation of a project supported by STRCT (The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey) in order to discuss the possible solutions. A 5-day activity program including basic astronomy education was applied to science teachers by using the model developed within the scope of the project, and the changes in mental models of the teachers in the subjects of Moon phases and lunar eclipse were examined. This research was carried out with 29 teachers voluntarily participating in the project in the field of Science. In this study in which qualitative and quantitative data collection methods were applied together, as a result of the evaluation of the obtained data, it was observed that the project was very successful in understanding the phases of the Moon and the causes of the lunar eclipse. The obtained results were interpreted by comparing them with the literature. Son yıllarda eğitim araştırmacılarının yaptığı birçok araştırma, Ay’ın evreleri ve Ay tutulmasının oluşması kavramlarını daha etkili bir şekilde öğretmek için çeşitli eğitim stratejileri geliştirip uygulamalarına rağmen, öğretmenlerin Ay’ın evreleri ve Ay tutulmasının oluşma nedenlerini ve bilimsel süreçlerini hala kavrayamadıklarını ortaya koymaktadır. Bu durum, Ay’ın evreleri ve Ay tutulması konularının öğrencilere öğretilmesinde derin sorunlar yaşandığını göstermektedir. Bu çalışma, Ay’ın evreleri ve Ay tutulması konularındaki öğrenme zorluklarının temel nedenlerinin araştırılarak, olası çözümlerin tartışılması için TÜBİTAK (The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey) tarafından desteklenen bir proje geliştirilmesi ve uygulanması üzerine kurgulanmıştır. Proje kapsamında geliştirilen model kullanılarak fen bilimleri öğretmenlerine temel astronomi eğitimi konularını da kapsayan 5 günlük bir etkinlik programı uygulanmış ve öğretmenlerin Ay’ın evreleri ve Ay tutulması konularındaki zihinsel modellerinin değişimleri incelenmiştir. Bu çalışma Fen Bilimleri alanında projeye gönüllü olarak katılan 29 öğretmen ile gerçekleştirilmiştir. Nitel ve nicel veri toplama yöntemlerinin bir arada kullanıldığı bu araştırmada, elde edilen verilerin değerlendirilmesi sonucu, Ay’ın evreleri ve Ay tutulmasının oluşum nedenlerinin kavranmasında oldukça başarılı olunduğu gözlenmiştir. Elde edilen sonuçlar literatürle karşılaştırılarak yorum yapılmıştır.

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Author Biographies

  • Melike Güzin Semercioğlu, Lecturer, Medical Services and Technical Section, Optician Program, University of Gumushane, Gumushane, Turkey
    Melike Güzin Semercioğlu works as a lecturer in Gümüşhane University Medical Services and Techniques Department. Semercioğlu works on teacher training, education and management, education economics, educational supervision, science education, astronomy education. She did her master's in Education and Supervision. He carried out his doctorate on science science teacher training and astronomy education. She worked as an instructor and expert in many projects on astronomy education and teacher education and she continues to do projects in this field. Studies for 2021 are ongoing she. These areas are in line with the doctoral study and she aims to finish her doctorate in the summer of 2021.
  • Hüseyin Kalkan, Prof. Dr., Department of Mathematics and Science Education, Faculty of Education, Ondokuz Mayıs University, Samsun, Turkey orcid.org/0000-0002-9122-3386
    Hüseyin Kalkan is a professor of astronomy education in department of mathematics and science education. Between 1985 - 2000 years he worked in atomic and molecular physics in science faculty and since 2000 he has been working about astronomy education in education faculty. His researches about developing models for astronomy education and investigate the effects on teachers and students. He is the director of Ondokuz Mayıs University Astronomy Education and Research Center and has many projects on astronomy education.

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Published

2021-01-31

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Vol. 8 No. 2 (2021)

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