Presentation by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sibel BALCI

TED University

Faculty of Education

 "Pre-service Teachers' Mental Models of the Environment: Are They Related to Gender and Academic Level”

By

 Sibel BALCI

Associate Professor

Date: May 25 2017, Thursday

Time: 14:00 - 14:30

Place: D126

Abstract: The current study aimed to establish preservice teachers' mental models of the environment and to determine the relationship these models have with gender and grade level. The data from the study were collected from drawings made by the participants. The results of the study revealed that preservice teachers provide only superficial and scientifically deficient descriptions of the environment and that they constructed their mental models by perceiving the environment not as a unity of systems but as an object. On the basis of the findings, which showed that many preservice teachers do not include humans in their drawings, or draw biotic factors without other elements, it was concluded that preservice teachers perceive the environment as “nature” only. Although no statistically significant difference was found between females and males with respect to their mental models, significant differences occurred between second-year and fourth-year students and between third-year and fourth-year students, in favor of second- and third-year students.