Fifth grade elementary students’ conceptions of earthquakes

A qualitative research methodology was adopted in this study. Data were collected from semi-structured interviews and the interview questions were designed by researchers based on the Turkish elementary curriculum (Milli Eğitim Bakanlığı-Talim Terbiye Kurulu Başkanlığı [MEB-TTKB], 2007) and the literature (Ross & Shuell, 1993; Laçin-Şimşek, 2007). Interview questions were revised and edited according to two other scholars’ opinions. Finally, at least six main questions were determined and posed to each student. Each interview took approximately 20-30 minutes depending on participants’ responses. Interviews were tape-recorded and then transcribed.

Twenty two grade 5 students (12 female, 10 male) from five different elementary schools in a metropolitan city voluntarily participated in the study. Students were selected based on such criteria such as willingness to participate in the study and being representative of a sample of average fifth grade students in terms of their socioeconomic backgrounds, achievement, and gender. Seven of the students were 10 years-old, ten of them were 11 years-old, and five of them were 12 years-old. By the time this study was conducted, students had already learned about earthquakes in social studies and life sciences classes. Thirteen of the participants had never experienced an earthquake while nine of them had experienced a minor earthquake. A pseudonymous name was given to each participant in order to maintain confidentiality. For this study we used conductive data analysis, which can be defined as working from the data of specific cases to a more general conclusion (Schwandt, 1997). Researchers carefully read interview transcripts and analyzed codes and categories from students’ responses to generate general themes. Codes and categories which came from students’ responses were independently analyzed and counted by researchers in order to increase internal reliability. Minor conflicts in interpretation among the investigators were negotiated.