scholarly journals DETERMINING PROSPECTIVE BIOLOGY TEACHERS’ COGNITIVE STRUCTURE IN TERMS OF “BIOTECHNOLOGY”

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 494-505
Author(s):  
Dilek Sultan Acarli
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Prospective Teachers ◽  
Word Association ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Cognitive Structure ◽  
Association Test ◽  
Biology Teachers ◽  
Considerable Part ◽  
Word Association Test ◽  
Research Findings

Knowledge concerning continuously improving branches of science such as biotechnology in particular is difficult to be understood properly by students, or they learn it incorrectly. One of the most important reasons for this is that students cannot associate in their mind the relevant concepts. The aim of this research is to determine prospective biology teachers’ conceptual framework of biotechnology, and thus determining their cognitive structure. The data were collected from 34 prospective biology teachers. Considering the fact that these prospective biology teachers had taken biotechnology course previously, they were selected on the basis of volunteering. Word association test and draw-and-write technique were used in collecting the data. The data obtained were organised on the basis of qualitative content analysis. Then the data were grouped into 7 categories (methods/techniques, biotechnology applications, genetics, other branches of science, organisms, meaning attributed to biotechnology, laboratory) according to word association test, and into 4 categories (methods/techniques, biotechnology applications, genetics, organisms) according to draw-and-write technique. According to the research findings, almost half of the prospective teachers had correct and appropriate associations for biotechnology, whereas a considerable part of them did not have adequate conceptual associations. Also, it was found that prospective teachers had misconceptions about biotechnology. Key words: teaching of biotechnology, cognitive structure, draw-and-write technique, word association test.

Dream Test

1982 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 935-938 ◽  
Author(s):  
Momčilo Živković
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Word Association ◽  
Association Test ◽  
Dream Content ◽  
Initial Letter ◽  
Word Associations ◽  
Letter Word ◽  
Word Association Test

A method of analysing dreams, called the Dream Test and utilizing the Initial Letter Word Association Test, was presented. Four interpreting rules were discussed, taking into account manifest dream content, Freud's and Jung's symbolism, associations, and Hall and Van de Castle's content analysis of dreams. In this way data from the Dream Test and the initial-letter word associations are analysed in a way which makes possible verification of each interpretation taken separately from either test.

scholarly journals Science Student Teachers’ Cognitive Structure on the Concept of “Food Pyramid”

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derya Cinar
Keyword(s):  
Student Teachers ◽  
Energy Flow ◽  
Word Association ◽  
Cognitive Structure ◽  
Ecological Factors ◽  
Association Test ◽  
Science Student ◽  
Word Association Test ◽  
Food Pyramid ◽  
Free Word

<p class="apa">The current study aims to determine science student teachers’ cognitive structure on the concept of food pyramid. Qualitative research method was applied in this study. Fallacies detected in the pre-service teachers’ conceptual structures are believed to result in students’ developing misconceptions in their future classes and will adversely affect their future teaching performance. The data were collected from 48 science student teachers. A free word association test was used as a data collection instrument. The data collected were subject to content analysis. Analyzing the science student teachers’ responses to the concept of food pyramid on the free word association test, these responses were coded and divided into categories. Based on the categories, frequency and percentages were provided. The data collected through the study were divided into 7 categories, which were stated as follows: -relationship between producer, consumer and decomposer in matter and energy flow-concepts related to nourishment pyramid-definition of food pyramid-energy and matter transfer-producer, consumer and decomposer-elements of ecosystem and ecological factors- scientific disciplines related to food pyramid. When the words provided as answers by the science student teachers to the concept of food pyramid were analyzed, it was noticed that they had more word connections with relationship between producer, consumer and decomposer in matter and energy flow. It can be argued that some students could not produce any sentences and some others could not make meaningful sentences. Moreover, it was determined that they had some misconceptions about food pyramid. Similar research can be conducted with different student groups and for the correction of alternative concepts related to the concept of food pyramid, extra biology courses should be included in undergraduate curriculums.</p>

scholarly journals An Investigation of Prospective Social Studies Teachers’ Cognitive Structures Regarding Creative Drama

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 56
Author(s):  
Ebru Ay ◽  
Halil Tokcan
Keyword(s):  
Social Studies ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Prospective Teachers ◽  
Conceptual Development ◽  
Word Association ◽  
Association Test ◽  
Social Studies Teachers ◽  
Cognitive Structures ◽  
Creative Drama ◽  
Word Association Test

The aim of this research is to reveal the prospective social studies teachers’ cognitive structures regarding creative drama through the Word Association Test (WAT). The study group of the research consists of 85 prospective social studies teachers, as the final year undergraduate students attending the course of drama at Faculty of Education in Nigde Ömer Halisdemir University, in the spring term of the academic year 2015-2016. In the research, as data collection tool, Word Association Test was used. To the prospective teachers, WAT was implemented as pretest before the course of drama and as posttest after a 14-week-drama course. According to the findings obtained, the word which the prospective social studies teachers associated with the key concept creative drama at most was play in the pretest; however, it was improvisation in the posttest. Moreover, it is seen that the prospective teachers have associated the key concept creative drama with more words in the posttest, when compared to the case in the pretest, and some certain concepts incorrect in the pretest have been eliminated in the posttest. This situation shows that the prospective teachers have had a conceptual development regarding creative drama at the end of drama course; additionally, new and correct concepts have been acquired instead of the incorrect ones. Also, it can be stated that word association test is an effective technique in detecting misconceptions and prospective teachers’ conceptual development.

scholarly journals Investigation of Physics Teacher Candidates’ Cognitive Structures about “Electric Field”: A Free Word Association Test Study

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (11) ◽  
pp. 146
Author(s):  
Ercan Türkkan
Keyword(s):  
Electric Field ◽  
Teacher Candidates ◽  
Word Association ◽  
Cognitive Structure ◽  
Association Test ◽  
Cognitive Structures ◽  
Physics Teacher ◽  
Word Association Test ◽  
Test Study ◽  
Free Word

The aim of this study is to investigate the cognitive structures of physics teacher candidates about “electric field”. Phenomenographic research method, one of the qualitative research patterns, was used in the study. The data of the study was collected from 91 physics teacher candidates who had taken General Physics II course at Education Faculty of a university in Anatolia. The stimulus word, “electric field” has been presented to teacher candidates through Free Word Association Test (FWAT). The totally 43 responses obtained from FWAT were presented as frequency tables. The responses were divided into 13 categories by the - content analysis. A concept network which reveals cognitive structure of physics teacher candidates about “electric field” was created considering frequencies and categories. According to results of the study, the highest frequency values related with "electric field" which stimulus of physics teacher candidates were power, charge, vector/vectoral quantity, current, magnet, etc. and the categories with the highest frequency of response words were figured out as electrical force, electric charge, magnetic field and magnitude of electric field, etc.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document