Qualitative Evaluation of Prospective Science Teachers' Concept Maps about the Atom

Abstract

Concept maps are used to assess and improve prospective teachers’ conceptual understanding levels. In this research, the aim was to describe prospective science teachers’ conceptual understanding of the atom by using concept maps. The research employed the case study approach, one of the qualitative research patterns. The research group consisted of 15 fourth-year prospective science teachers. The concept maps drawn by the participants were used to describe their conceptual understanding of the atom. For data analysis, the descriptive analysis method, one of the qualitative analysis methods, was used. The data obtained from the concept maps were divided into the categories previously defined by the researcher. The created categories were evaluated by two academics with expertise in physics education, and a correspondence analysis was conducted. As a result of the research, it was concluded that prospective teachers could establish successful and meaningful propositions in concept maps, however, most of the propositions were collected in the categories of “meaningless,” “improvable,” or “acceptable.”