Abstract
The current study aims to determine prospective teachers’ opinions about WebQuest applications by both introducing them to the WebQuest teaching materials and obtaining their experiences in the WebQuest design process. This study employs phenomenology as a qualitative research approach. The study was conducted in the spring semester of the 2017-2018 academic year with the third year undergraduate students in the social studies education department of a state university in Ankara. Two different data collection tools, a Peer Evaluation Form and an Interview Form, were used. Content analysis was used to analyze the data obtained. According to the findings of the study, social studies preservice teachers think that teacher supervision of Webquest teaching activities is advantageous. Preservice teachers defined the specific principles of WebQuest teaching activities as a weak factor. Additionally, preservice teachers emphasized that WebQuest teaching activities are difficult to implement in environments where Internet and computer facilities are not available. Even though almost half of the participants stated that they wanted to include WebQuest teaching activities in their classes when they started the teaching profession, they expressed about their concerns.
Highlights
It is important to create information resources from which students can benefit during their learning
Focusing on social studies preservice teachers‟ views about WebQuest implementation, first, the elicited opinions will be presented, and the peer evaluation results will be discussed
In the interviews held with the preservice teachers, the participants were firstly asked the question of “What are the strengths of WebQuest when you think about the WebQuest you've prepared?” As the strengths of WebQuest, the most important factor stressed by the preservice teachers (n = 18) is “the control of the resources by teachers”
Summary
It is important to create information resources from which students can benefit during their learning. The Internet is one of the major resources of accessing information. It is almost impossible to check and verify every fact and document found on the Internet. Creating a website or sharing information on the Internet is very easy (Açıkalın & Duru, 2005; Akçay & Şahin, 2012; Kobak-Demir & Gür, 2018). Different types of data on the Internet may cause learners to get confused about different concepts, which leads students to have difficulties in organizing and verifying the information they receive. Biased use of the Internet or websites disturbs families, educators, managers, teachers, and other stakeholders in the field of education (Yoder, 1999). Students need systematic support to help them gain lifelong learning skills (Peterson, Caverly & MacDonald, 2003; Faichney, 2002)
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