Determination of Science Teacher Candidates’ Approaches to the Concept of Chemistry with Metaphors

Abstract

The role of science teachers in the formation of students’ approaches to chemistry subjects is very important. Metaphors can be used as a data collection tool to determine what meanings science teachers, who are preparing to step into the teaching profession, attribute to some concepts. It is important to know how chemistry is perceived by science teacher candidates and what meanings they attribute to this concept. With this in mind, the aim of the study is to determine the science teacher candidates’ approaches to the concept of chemistry through metaphors. Participants of the study are 104 teacher candidates attending the science teaching program of the mathematics and science education department of a medium-sized education faculty in Central Anatolia. A qualitative research method was used in the study, and “Phenomenology” was chosen as the design of the research. As the data collection tool, a form consisting of 1 question was used for the specified concept. The obtained data were analyzed with content analysis technique. The correctness of the determined metaphors and the created categories were checked by two expert faculty members, and the metaphors and categories were finalized. As a result of the analysis, it was determined that the teacher candidates produced 47 metaphors for the concept of chemistry. It is seen that among the metaphors produced by science teacher candidates, the most used ones are life, water, and kitchen. The researcher states that the data collected through metaphors can be supported with different data collection tools, and more in-depth information can be reached.