An Activity for Design Skill Labs: Activity Planning Processes and Pre-Service Chemistry Teachers' Views

Abstract

The traditional roles of schools are inadequate to prepare students for the change. Thus, Design Skill Labs (DSLs) have been established in Turkey to provide opportunities for students at all levels of education to discover and develop their talents. Nevertheless, the activities currently available in DSLs are not yet sufficient or diverse enough. The aim of this study is to exemplify the process of developing an activity that can be implemented in DSLs and to obtain the opinions of pre-service teachers about them. Two out of six pre-service chemistry teachers planned the activity, and six pre-service teachers are participated in the study. The participants were senior pre-service chemistry teachers from a state university in Ankara. The data collected from the case study were analyzed using content analysis. According to the research findings, DSLs activities differ from other activities carried out in schools in terms of student and teacher roles, learning environment, research problem, and process. Moreover, DSLs activities contribute to students' skill acquisition, personality development, learning, socialization, and mental development.