Opinions of Geography Department Students’ Participating in Pedagogical Formation Certificate Program on Special Teaching Methods Course

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to determine the opinions of the Geography Department students about the "Special Teaching Methods" course (STM) and to propose suggestions for increasing the effectiveness of this course. This qualitative study was designed as a typical case study. A total of 122 students in geography department included in Pedagogical Formation Certificate Program at Karabuk University and taking STM Course constituted the participants of the study. A semi-structured interview form including 7 questions was used to collect the data of the study. The results were as follows: Most of the students of Geography department who included in Pedagogical Formation Certificate Program though that the knowledge and skills obtained from this course would contribute well to their teaching lives. Most of the participants stated that the duration of the course was limited. Most of the students participating in the current study articulated that the practice hours within this course should be increased and that they would like to practice more, however, the duration of the course was not enough for this. Participants also emphasized that this course should focus more on how to use various methods and techniques in Geography courses. Most of the students stressed that they had no ideas or expectations before taking this course, however, they learnt how to make geography courses more enjoyable out-of-classroom and in-classroom environments and that their expectation became real. Participants stated that the duration of the STM course and the time allocated for the practice within this course should be increased in order to ensure more effective geography teaching.

Keywords

• Öğretmen Eğitimi
• Özel Öğretim Yöntemleri (ÖÖY)
• Pedagojik Formasyon