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Asia-Pacific Forum on Science Learning and Teaching, Volume 19, Issue 1, Article 13 (Jun., 2018) |
The action research was used in the present study. Action research shows differences from other traditional approaches in terms of collecting, analyzing and interpreting the data (Cain and Milovic, 2010). Action research is systematically and consistently carried out by trainees to improve and improve their practice (Calhoun, 2002).
Twelve 4th grade students, who live in low socio-economic conditions in Turkey, participated in the present study (six male, six female students). All the students who participated in the study had similar information about the science.The Role of the Author of the Study
The author of the present study was also the practitioner teacher of the study. The author completed her doctorate degree in the field of science, and has an experience of twelve year teaching. The selection of the activities and stories used in the study was done with the initiative of the researcher. The researcher told the stories, collected the study data and analyzed them in the present study.
In this study, the images of the students about scientist were evaluated both before and after the application. The application was done in fall term of 2017. The stories on the works, social structure and working methods of scientists were read to the students firstly. It was cared for that the names of scientists like Edison, Einstein, Graham Bell and Stephen Hawking, who are mentioned in course books, were not included in the stories. The stories that were presented Marie Curie (Apuhan, 2015), Amelia Earhart (Çimen, 2008), Nermin Abadan Bulat and İlber Ortaylı (collected from the literature and developed by the author of the study), Ali Kuşçu (Çınar, 2016), Aziz Sancar (Terzioğlu, 2016) and Zekai Muammer Tunçman (Gümüşoğlu, 2001).The lives of scientists who were born in their countries and who were well-known all over the world were presented in stories. The presentations of stories were performed in three stages. In the first stage, questions were asked to the students on science and scientists, and their interest on stories was aroused. In the second stage, the stories were read, the pictures of scientist were shown, shorts biographies were presented, and students were encouraged to express their thoughts in intervals. The students were asked to draw a picture describing their ideas on scientists after each presentation, and a corner was organized in the classroom with the title "The Scientists I Know". In this corner, drawings, writings on thoughts, and depictions on scientists were given place. In addition, when the stories on scientists were finished, the students were asked to keep "Science Diary". They were also asked to write their viewpoints and impressions on the scientists they knew on that specific day. In the last stage, students were asked to depict a scientist, and write their viewpoints on him/her. In this stage, it was questioned what the students would ask the scientist if they were given the chance to meet him/her, and why they chose him/her.
After the stories were finished, three activities that were prepared in the light of the direct reflective approach were applied to the students. These activities were "From the Thermoscope to Thermometer, Lottery Game", which was developed by Alkış-Küçükaydın et al. (2014) and "Science with Concept Wheel", which was developed by Doğan, Çakıroğlu, Bilican and Çavuş (2010).
In the present study, the Draw-A-Scientist-Test (DAST) was used to discover the images of the students on scientist. In DAST, which was developed by Chambers (1983), students depict their images about scientists in a simple manner. The drawings are analyzed according to a check list. In addition, for the purpose of increasing the reliability of DAST, the students were asked to write a few sentences about their drawings. In addition, the students were asked to keep a "Science Diary" after the activities and stories, and to write their impressions about scientists.
DAST was developed by Chambers (1983) for the purpose of revealing the scientist image, and was converted into DAST-C by adding a checklist by Finson, Beaver and Cramond (1995). In DATS-C, which may be considered as a checklist or as an evaluation chart, there are main and sub-categories, which are personal properties, research symbols, knowledge symbols, technological products, and scientific products, the gender of the scientist and the working environment. The drawings of the students are transferred into this checklist by counting. For the purpose of ensuring the reliability of the data collected, the drawings of the students were also evaluated by another researcher, and 93% consistency was achieved. The other researcher, who made the evaluation, was a science teacher who completed the undergraduate education in this field. The data in which inconsistencies were detected were re-evaluated, and presented in the study. The frequencies (f) and percentage (%) distributions are shown in checklists according to the gender variable.
