Science Education International (May 2018)
Pre-service Science Teachers’ Perceptions toward Additional Instructional Strategies in Biology Laboratory Applications: Blended Learning
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine pre-service science teachers’ perceptions toward additional instructional strategies in biology laboratory applications in the scope of blended learning. This study used a mixed-methods sequential explanatory design model and was conducted with 69 students who study in their 2nd year in the department of science education at a state university in Turkey. Academic achievement test, personal information form, student feedback form, semi-structured interview, and additional instructional strategies were used to collect the data. To determine students’ academic achievements, the scores obtained from the academic achievement test were used from a pre-test and post-test and additional instructional strategies (discussion question, reflection paper, task assignment, and quiz) were used. In addition, students’ views and satisfaction levels toward the course were examined. For data analysis, descriptive statistics, One-way ANOVA, and content analysis were used. The results of the study showed that students’ academic achievement scores showed a significant difference in terms of the additional instructional strategies. In addition, students’ evaluation scores and satisfaction levels about the learning process were high, but there was no significant difference in terms of additional instructional strategies. In the future, conducting similar studies with wider samples could be effective in terms of contributing to the relevant literature at different education levels and different disciplines.
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