Investigation of teacher-candidates' level of knowledge and their misconceptions with content analysis

Adapting to the rapid developments in information and technology is possible through revising the system of education based on necessities (Acar & Anıl, 2009; DiMartino, Castaneda, Brownstein & Miles, 2007; Bayrak & Erden, 2007; Birgin & Gürbüz, 2008; Sağlam-Arslan, Avcı & İyibil, 2008). Foundations of the education system must include enabling students learn and understand the reason why and how they are taught of such information. That would be the sole method for the creation of an efficient and qualified educational atmosphere. Interdisciplinary studies continue to reveal the necessity of qualified and permanent learning. Interdisciplinary teaching is considered to be an efficient strategy towards bringing information and skills together in a meaningful manner. Thus, science and mathematic show importance in interdisciplinary studies.

For students to gain a clear understanding of scientific theories, it is required to construct concepts well in their memories (Wubbels, 1992; Driver et al, 1994). The path of access to information is through concepts. Ability to learn concepts is directly proportional to knowledge depending on students’ experiences and their interest in class (Posner et al, 1982; Duit & Treagust, 1995; Hidi, 2006). It is known from the literature that students have some preconceptions from their experiences and a lot of them do not match with the scientific conceptions (Halloun & Hestenes, 1985; McDermott, 1984). Generally, preconceptions can be also named misconceptions, alternative conceptions or alternative framework and the most significant characteristic of misconceptions is that they cannot be overcome by means of conventional instruction (Clement, 1982; van den Berg & Grosheide, 1993; Petersson, 2002; Muthukrishna et al, 1993; Stromdahl, 2002; Andre & Ding, 1991; Caillot & Xuan, 1993).

When the importance of science for the became universally recognized and appreciated, the need for measurements boomed, and the preference for ‘universal’ standards with it (Pavese & Charki, 2016). International System of Units (SI) is recognized by almost member of the world community, especially the industrially-developed countries (Bimp, 2016). The ease that SI units brought to unit systems is obvious. Units also known as "Basic Units" constitute the basis of SI units. Such units are shown in Table 1 (Güyagüler, 1984; Pavese, 2014 ).

Table 1. Basic units based on SI.

Base units	Unit Name	Symbol
Length	Metre	m
Mass	Kilogram	kg
Time	Second	s
Current intensity	Ampere	A
Temperature	Kelvin	K
Matter Amount	Mole	mol
Light intensity	Candela	cd

Tools in measurement systems can be separated into two groups as standards and non-standards. Standard ones have their own units, non-standards do not (Baykul, 2005).

The fact that all information taught in science and math classes are inter-related, reveals itself from every aspect. Accumulation of knowledge and experience of individuals in one field, directly supports other fields (Kaya et al, 2006). Deficient learning in basic math and the lack of adequate transfer of information reveal themselves in sciences but especially in physics. Taking a look at national and international studies, it can be seen that there is a strong relationship between math and physics, as deficiencies create reciprocal negative consequences (Meltzer, 2002; Albe et al, 2001; Tzanakis, 2002; Eryılmaz, 1992; Clement, 1982; Eryılmaz, 1996). In their study conducted in 2009 concerning the opinion of students towards physics class, Alptekin et al. concluded that 90% math knowledge is required to succeed in physics. Gürkan & Gökçe (2002) state that "students dislike science classes as they lack sufficient math knowledge". According to Güzel (2004), there is a close relationship between success in physics and attitude towards math. Specifically, students with better grasp on this relationship have higher success rates. Examining teacher opinion about reasons of liking or disliking science classes by students, Karaer in (2006) found that students fail in science classes as their math knowledge is insufficient. As Karakuyu (2008) states, students can sometimes be unable to perform mathematical operations despite of understanding physics topics containing mathematical operations due to their biases against math classes. Revealing that science teachers are forced to explain math topics instead of physics due to the lack of knowledge in math. Bütüner & Uzun (2011) explain teachers participating in that study claim that math-based deficiencies during Science and Technology classes result in loss of time, impaired performance and motivation.

During the education period, basic concepts determine the strong relationship between mathematics and sciences and the basis of concepts is constituted by units and constants. Since units of quantitative measurement are needed in almost any human activity, it is important that all scientists and practitioners have correct information and understanding of them (Pavese & Charki, 2016). These deficiencies create student failures (Basson, 2002).

In their study conducted in 2001 for measuring whether high school students learnt constants, symbols and units related to concepts taught in high school chemistry, Yücel et al revealed that students did not efficiently or adequately learn constants, symbols and units related to concepts.

According to the Board of Education and Discipline of Turkish Ministry of National Education; student awareness of scientific knowledge development and the properties of physical quantities are emphasized to be the goal of physics. Other goals are to make students see the relationship between physics, other scientific fields and technology, as well as develop positive values towards the science of physics. Students are expected to convert mass and volume units within the chapter of matter and density; meanwhile comparing and converting heat and temperature units within the chapter of heat, temperature and internal energy (M.E.B., 2013).

In studies that investigated the difficulties of students related to many physics subjects, difficulties were directly or indirectly identified based on questions and observations. Although there are little studies in the literature dealing with difficulties experienced by students in units (Kaplan et al., 2014; Yıldırım & İlhan, 2007; Yücel et al., 2001), there is no study that investigates to dimensional analysis.