Browsing by Subject "Barriers and challenges"

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Open Access
Environmental education preparation in pre-service teacher programs in Turkey
(2016-05) Güntürkün, Efe
The purpose of this study is to gain insights into how environmental education is implemented into pre-service teacher preparation in Turkey. The format of the courses, their duration, the strategies that are being used, and suggestions to improve these methods were explored. In addition to these data, the missing points in the environmental education in the faculties were analyzed. Two data collection tools were used in this study. One instrument was a questionnaire that was adapted from Ashmann (2010) and the other was an interview designed to ascertain important points of environmental education delivery and to learn suggestions for improving environmental education. The questionnaire was administered to 29 faculty members from institutes that offer teacher education programs in Turkey. The response rate of the questionnaire was 24.14% with seven responses out of 29. The interviews were one with four of the instructors who responded to the questionnaire. One of the most remarkable findings of this study is that environmental education is considered an important subject by instructors who put efforts into their courses. However, the low response rate indicates there is a lack of interest in participating in studies to assess environmental education.
Open Access
Using bird education to promote biology teachers' use of place-based education
(2015) Can, Özge Keşaplı
The purpose of this study is to explore strategies and resources to support biology teachers in conducting bird studies with their students and to promote place-based education in Turkey. Different strategies and resources, including a bird education trunk, a training workshop, two fieldtrips, and a Facebook group, were implemented to motivate and prepare teachers. In addition, the researcher provided consulting services to the teachers. The instruments for collecting data were a workshop evaluation questionnaire and interviews conducted with six teachers and seven preservice teachers. In addition, during the study period the researcher used reiterative reflection to determine what data was needed to examine the effects of her efforts. Teachers participating in this study reported that the resources and strategies introduced to them motivated them to conduct bird studies with students. Barriers and challenges such as time, curricular requirements, administrative issues, iv difficulties with field studies, suitability of school ground, and student attitudes affected teachers’ sense of preparation. One of the most important findings of this study is that the place-based education approach might help overcome many of these barriers. Through this study, the researcher was able to share her bird watching passion with teachers; ideally motivating teachers to inspire their students to become birding enthusiasts. The teachers expressed appreciation for her efforts and she learned that long-term collaborations will be necessary to support teachers.