 |
Asia-Pacific Forum on Science Learning and Teaching, Volume 19, Issue 1, Article 13 (Jun., 2018) |
An action research on the scientist image of 4th grade students
Menşure ALKIŞ KÜÇÜKAYDIN
Necmettin Erbakan University Eregli Faculty of Education, Konya, TURKEY
Email: mensurealkis@hotmail.com
Received 1 Dec., 2017
Revised 18 Jun., 2018
Many scientist image studies have been conducted with the participation of many students from various grades and from various age groups. In these studies, stereotyped images were determined and activities were designed to change the existing ones. However, there are still missing points in Turkey in terms of investigating the scientist image of the children at primary school age and changing this image through action study. Based on this point, the aim of the present study is to change the scientist image of the primary school children living in low socioeconomic conditions through telling scientific stories and direct reflecting activities. The study was conducted on 12 fourth grade students who were studying at a primary schools located in a village in Tokat in Turkey. In the context of the study, stories were read about the scientists who conducted studies in the field of science and social sciences and who achieved great success stories in their cultural environments and in international field, and activities based on direct reflection were conducted. The study was conducted throughout 9 weeks between September 2017- November 2017. At the end of the study process, it was observed that there were changes in the scientist images of the students; and it was concluded that the interests and curiosities of the students could be sustained with visits from scientists in the classrooms of the students together with supportive activities.
Keywords: Action research, draw-a-scientist-test, scientific stories, scientist image.
