Observing the technological pedagogical and content knowledge levels of science teacher candidates

Abstract

This study was planned to observe the technological pedagogical and content knowledge of teacher candidates. The study group consists of 4th grade students of Firat University Faculty of Education who were asked to describe any desired topic in the secondary school science curriculum, using the methods and techniques of their choosing. Teacher candidates talked about topics they had chosen in front of their peers with micro teaching technique. During this process, teacher candidates were evaluated by themselves, their peers and teachers using an observation form in terms of their ability to use methods and techniques, mastery of field knowledge and ability to integrate technology into the course. In the study, partially mixed concurrent equal status design was used. Technological pedagogical and content knowledge survey was used for the quantitative data and the qualitative data of the study were obtained from observation forms filled by the researchers of the study, teacher candidates and their peers. The results showed that the teacher candidates had a moderate level of technological pedagogical content knowledge. The fact that the pre-and post-study scores were significantly different in favor of the posttests suggests that it is important for teacher candidates to have the opportunity to make self-evaluations. It is very important for the teacher candidates to attend the courses where they can evaluate their technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge (TPACK) competencies especially in their teacher training programs and to make up for their deficiencies without starting to their professional life.