Teachers need to be aware of biology misconceptions in their classrooms and how to address them. In response, researchers and science educators have suggested and examined effective practices to prevent and ameliorate misconceptions. An extensive review of the literature gives researchers and educators insights into trends, practices, and gaps in the misconceptions research and helps decide which issues to address and why. The current study shares how researchers in Turkey conduct a content analysis of published misconception research in Turkey by using a form. The analysis resulted in a meta-synthesis (thematic content analysis) that inventoried and compared the purposes, research methods, data collection instruments, and findings of the selected publications. Biology educators in other regions of the world can inform their practice by using this instrument and research methods to learn about trends and patterns in misconception research. Researchers will gain insights into effective methods that have been used to examine misconceptions and will be able to identify biology misconceptions that have been under-investigated and need further analysis.

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Through effective professional development in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), teachers can help students gain knowledge, skills, and dispositions to build and support sustainable communities. This paper shares how a university in Turkey developed, implemented, and evaluated an ESD professional development program (PDP) for in-service teachers. The evaluation focused on how the program enhanced participants' awareness of thinking in systems. Thirty-nine teachers from different parts of the country participated. The PDP took place over eight months and was launched by a five-day summer workshop that included presentations, hands-on activities, and field trips. The theme of energy was used throughout the workshop to emphasize how the environment, society, and economy are connected and interdependent. Teachers' systems thinking skills were analyzed through a pre-and post-workshop questionnaire and concept maps. Results of the questionnaire showed statistically significant differences between teachers' systems thinking scale scores before and after the workshop. Concept map analysis, however, identified that participants need more support relating concepts such as social justice to the environment and economy.

Introduction and background Biology is the study of life and field trips provide students with opportunities to explore living things in the real world. In Turkey, field trips are not included in the national biology curriculum (MoNE-Ministry of National Education 2013); therefore, it is the discretion of the teacher or the science department to use this strategy to help students learn life science concepts. Furthermore, research about field trips in Turkey is limited; it is unknown how effective field trips are or even how frequently they occur. Worldwide, there has been little research into the long-term effects of field trip preparation. The authors of this paper work in the biology teacher education department at a private, non-profit university in Turkey. Field trip education has been included in their teaching methods classes since the department was created in 2000. Teacher education at this institution is a graduate programme. The student teachers practice-teach at partner schools around the city, three of which are located on the university campus. When the teacher education programme started in 2000, field trip preparation was part of biology education but was taught through readings and discussions. In 2003, the lead author of the paper received a request from a partner school to help conduct a trip to a local lake. Recognising this as a ABSTRACT Pre-service teachers need experiences in practical matters as a part of field trip preparations programmes. For 14 years, a private, nonprofit university in Turkey has involved pre-service teachers in field trip planning, implementation and evaluation. A programme assessment was conducted through a case study to examine the long-term effects of pre-service field trip preparation. Through a survey created for the study, teachers shared their field trip activities and reported confidence levels. The survey was administered to 44 alumni of the biology education department with a response rate of 72.7% (N = 32). This study will help researchers learn which programme areas need to be improved and can serve as a model for other institutions interested in evaluating field trip preparation programmes.

The present study is based on a teaching-module designed to introduce computational thinking (CT) to pre-service teachers pursuing MA degrees at a large-scale university in Ankara, Turkey. It aims to explore Turkish pre-service teachers' perceptions and integration of CT in different disciplines through CT-based tasks. Preand post-attitude questionnaires were administered before and after the presentation of a CT module to find out about their self-efficacy of computer use in class, perceptions of computing and CT, and integration of CT into their classrooms and in other disciplines. Student lesson plans were analysed in order to explore the challenges they faced while integrating CT into their teaching. According to the results, the pre-service teachers in this study 1) gained an awareness that computing, and CT are more than using computers and technology but relate to the process of problemsolving, 2) developed a better understanding of how to integrate CT into their teaching, and 3) agreed that CT could and should be integrated into the teaching of other disciplines, and 4) integrated different CT vocabulary in lesson plans based on their specific subject area.

This article explores the readiness and development for universities of students who have been educated through an international program in Turkey. It compares the academic performance and skills of students who attended the Ministry of National Education High School Program (MONEP) to students who attended both MONEP and the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program (IBDP). In addition, university students' perceptions of their overall performance through the programs were analyzed. The results indicated that the MONEP and IBDP students had higher cumulative grade point averages (CPGA), higher individual course grades in their university, and a considerably higher graduation rate; the MONEP+IBDP group was three times more likely to complete their undergraduate program in four years compared to the MONEP group.Focus-group discussions further clarified the differences between the groups' academic performances and skills. Overall, the study found that the international high school education program seemed to develop a better student profile for university life.

This study used comparative case study methodology to investigate student perceptions of different programmes that prepare them for a challenging high school education programme: the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP). Given the benefits and challenges of the programme, educators and stakeholders want to ensure students feel ready to participate. In the literature, studies support that programmes such as the International General Certificate of Secondary Education and the International Baccalaureate Organisation's Middle Years Programme prepare students for the IBDP; however, there is a need for students' voices on how they perceive they are prepared through these programmes. This study investigated three different approaches to IBDP preparation by gaining student insights through a scaled-item questionnaire and interviews. Students identified experiences that gave them skills to monitor their learning and resources that motivated them to participate in an advanced upper-high school programme.

This study involved a workshop designed to support biology teachers in conducting birdwatching activities with their students and to promote place-based environmental education in Turkey. The instruments for collecting data were a workshop questionnaire and interviews. The findings revealed that initial response to the workshop was positive; participating teachers reported that the resources and strategies motivated them to conduct bird studies with students. They identified barriers and noted that the place-based education approach might help overcome many of these barriers. After the workshop, it became clear that participants' initial intentions to integrate birdwatching into their lessons were challenged by lack of confidence and time. To gain deeper insights into the outcomes of the project, the project coordinator used action research strategies to reflect on her practice and reveal implications for her continued efforts to promote bird and environmental education. She kept a journal, used reiterative reflection, and content analysis to analyse workshop evaluations and interviews. The coordinator recognized potentials and challenges for facilitating birdwatching and environmental education as part of her teaching career. This study shares some of her efforts to provide ongoing support and emphasizes that facilitation of environmental education needs time, commitment, and passion.