Knowledge and Opinions of Teacher Candidates about Energy and Energy Resources

Abstract

Article History: Received 29.11.2012 Received in revised form 26.02.2013 Accepted 12.12.2013 Available online 21.04.2014 Our world has been facing critical energy and environmental problems since the second half of the 20th century. At the root of this crisis this is the increase of the need for energy parallel to the increase in the world population. Energy appears to be a significant concept, not only regarding a society’s development-related requirements, but also the future of all existing societies. The concept of energy is also one of the fundamental concepts used in the scientific disciplines of Biology, Physics, and Chemistry, which are sub-branches of General Science, and it is also perceived as an abstract and complicated concept by teacher candidates. The purpose of the study is to identify the level of knowledge about energy, and opinions about different energy resources of science and technology teacher candidates, according to their undergraduate programs. In order to achieve this purpose, 383 teacher candidates, currently in the first and fourth years of study at Marmara University, Ataturk Faculty of Education, Department of Science Teaching, during the 2005-2006 (former program) and 2010-2011 (new program) academic years, were selected as the sample group. Consisting of seven open ended questions and prepared by the researchers, the assessment instrument was applied to the sample group and the resulting data were evaluated using the content analysis method from the qualitative data analysis methods. As a result of the research, the new undergraduate program on science has proven to be more successful compared to the previous program; however, the program’s content still requires enrichment in terms of energy and energy resources, particularly regarding the issues of alternative energy resources and nuclear energy. In addition, both programs have proven not to cause the teacher candidates to change their opinions on nuclear energy. © 2014 IOJES. All rights reserved