PRE-SERVICE SCIENCE TEACHERS’ OPINIONS ABOUT THE PLANETARIUM

Abstract

This study aims to determine the opinions of pre-service science teachers about the planetarium. Phenomenology design, one of the qualitative research methods, was used in the study. While determining the study group, criterion sampling, one of the purposeful samplings, was used. The study was carried out in the 2021-2022 academic year. The study criterion was determined as taking out-of-school learning environments courses by pre-service teachers, and 30 participants formed the study group. The study data were collected with the document analysis form prepared by the authors and analyzed with descriptive analysis. Pre-service teachers had the view that the planetarium was a fun, instructive, interesting, interesting and intriguing, useful, meaningful, and supportive environment for learning by experience and could be used in science lessons. They thought that such an education would contribute to the students by providing meaningful and permanent learning, three-dimensional thinking, and learning by having fun and experiencing so that it could make the lesson interesting. The authors recommend enriching pre-service and in-service teacher education with out-of-school learning environments such as the planetarium.