The Views of Pre-Service Teachers about the Use of Concept Cartoons in Science Courses

Abstract

The content of the science course include facts, concepts, principles and generalizations, theories and natural laws. Concepts refer to similar objects, human beings, events, views and processes. Concept learning is the basis for cognitive development. In recent years the following topics related to the science course have frequently been studied: conceptual development, teaching of concepts, concept maps, misconceptions, and conceptual change and concept cartoons. Concept cartoons were developed by Brenda Keogh and Stuart Naylor in the 1990s. Concept cartoons are visual teaching tools which allow for discussion of a scientific event through caricatures and which provides different perspectives about the event at hand. The aim of the study is to reveal the views of the pre-service science teachers about the use of concept cartoons in science teaching. The participants were senior pre-service teachers attending the science teaching division of Hacettepe University during the academic year of 2014-2015 and they all took the courses of special teaching methods I and special teaching methods II. The data of the study were collected through semi-structured interviews in which five open-ended items were asked to the participants. The data obtained were analyzed through content analysis method. Based on the findings of the study the effects of the use of the concept cartoons in science course on the teaching process were discussed based on the views of the pre-service teachers. Several suggestions were developed concerning the improvement of the efficacy of concept caricatures.