PROSPECTİVE TEACHERS’ OPINIONS ABOUT ANIMATIONS IN SCIENCE EDUCATION

Abstract

The purpose of the current research is to determine prospective teachers’ opinions about animations. The current research employed case research design as a qualitative research method. The research group of the current research is comprised of 124 prospective primary teachers and 116 prospective science teachers. A structured form including 10 open-ended questions and a semi-structured interview form consisting of 8 questions were administered to the participants of the research. The findings of the research revealed that the opinions stated by the prospective teachers about the use of animations in science education could be gathered under the following themes: applications related to the objectives of the course, course energizers, individual differences, physical-technical capacity, student-teacher competencies, economic capacity, program capacity, learning gained with the help of others, type of music, behavioral-mental communication skills, empathy and science literacy. The data collected from the interviews showed that the prospective teachers see themselves as willing but incompetent in using animations, want to have training about the preparation of animation programs, want to use the animations they themselves develop but prefer to use the ones prepared by others and think that it is necessary to make use of animations in today’s educational environments. In light of the findings of the current research, experimental activities in the form of student seminars and courses can be suggested for prospective teachers to enhance their information, skills and competencies about animations. Article visualizations: