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The purpose of this study was to delve into the interaction between pre-service chemistry teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and content knowledge (CK) while teaching electrochemistry. Two pre-service chemistry teachers enrolled in practice teaching course in chemistry education program participated in the study. All PCK components were included in the current study. Qualitative methodology was used and the participants were selected through purposeful sampling. Data were collected through electrochemistry content test, Content Representation (CoRe), semi-structured interviews, video stimulated recall interviews, classroom observations and field notes. Results indicated that the level of CK impacted PCK: basic level of CK is a prerequisite for developing PCK, while a high CK does not guarantee a high PCK to the same extent. Pre-service teachers with weak content knowledge had problems in recognizing students' possible misconceptions, using vertical and horizontal relations in the curriculum and using the topic-specific instructional strategies effectively. The level of content knowledge did not have a strong impact on choice of subject-specific instructional strategies, assessing students' understanding, and science teaching orientations of pre-service teachers. This study highlights that the quality of PCK depends on the interaction between content knowledge and the components of PCK. From a methodological perspective, this study demonstrates the possibility of making pre-service teachers' PCK more accessible by utilizing video stimulated recall interviews. Implications for pre-service teacher education aim to support pre-service teachers to establish a bridge between their content knowledge and teaching knowledge through teacher education program.

This study aimed to capture the development of interaction among the components of pre-service chemistry teachers' enacted PCK throughout the school experience course. Data were collected from four pre-service teachers using content representation (CoRe), observations, field notes, and semi-structured interviews. Secondary analysis was conducted by re-analyzing the pre-existing data for the previous study (Ekiz-Kiran B., Boz Y. and Oztay E. S., (2021), Development of pre-service teachers' pedagogical content knowledge through a PCK-based school experience course, Chem. Educ. Res. Pract., 22(2), 415-430.) from a different perspective to find out the interaction among the components of pre-service chemistry teachers' enacted PCK. In order to analyze data, we used three approaches: an in-depth analysis of explicit PCK, an enumerative approach, and the constant comparative method. Results were presented as PCK maps, and results indicated that the development of the integration of the PCK components was idiosyncratic. Moreover, the most significant development was seen in the connections between knowledge of curriculum and other components, especially knowledge of assessment. Additionally, knowledge of instructional strategy (KoIS) was the most frequently integrated component with the other PCK components. Implications for research and science teacher education are included.

The purpose of the study was to reveal the relationships among teaching concerns, their sense of efficacy and their preferences of a classroom environment of pre-service science teachers. Data were gathered from 623 pre-service science teachers. Based on the structural equation modelling results, the pre-service science teachers' sense of self-efficacy was negatively associated with their concerns. In addition, the pre-service science teachers' sense of efficacy was positively associated with the constructivist learning environment. Moreover, pre-service science teachers' concerns were positively related to their constructivist learning environment. The findings shed light on pre-service teacher and teacher education experiences and outcomes.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of a microteaching lesson study on pre-service chemistry teachers' collective pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) regarding solubility concepts. Three pre-service chemistry teachers participated in this study. Data were collected by means of lesson plans, semi-structured interviews, observations, and field notes. Results indicated that participants' PCK shows uneven development in terms of its components. Specifically, pre-service chemistry teachers' collective PCK was developed in all subcomponents with respect to the knowledge of instructional strategies component whereas only in some of the subcomponents with respect to the knowledge of curriculum, learner, and assessment. Time of assessment, knowledge of students' alternative conceptions, and knowledge of the goals and objectives of the curriculum were the subcomponents changed in terms of knowledge of assessment, knowledge of learner, and knowledge of curriculum, respectively. Reflection on action, content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and previous experiences of participants were determined as factors influencing their collective PCK development. The present study has several implications for teacher educators.

The purpose of this longitudinal study was to explore the development of pre-service chemistry teachers' pedagogical content knowledge regarding the effect of temperature on reaction rate topic as they took pedagogical content knowledge courses throughout the teacher education program. Pre-service teachers' pedagogical content knowledge was examined under five components: Orientations toward science teaching, Knowledge of curriculum, Knowledge of instructional strategies, Knowledge of learners, and Knowledge of assessment. Two pre-service chemistry teachers participated in the study. Data were collected through a vignette and semi-structured interviews over two years. Analysis of data revealed that both participants' pedagogical content knowledge components showed development. However, there was an uneven development of components of pedagogical content knowledge. Moreover, the degree and pattern of development were different for some components of pedagogical content knowledge for each participant. The present study has some implications for teacher educators and teacher education programs.

The purpose of this study was to improve the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of pre-service chemistry teachers using a school experience course enriched with PCK development tools such as CoRe as a lesson planning form, observations of mentor teachers' teaching by using an observation form prepared based on PCK components, discussion sessions on these observations, and reflections on their teaching. Some valuable results of the study indicated that pre-service teachers' science teaching orientations did not change during the study. However, all participants' knowledge of learners and knowledge of instructional strategies improved by the end of the study. Knowledge of curriculum and knowledge of assessment are the components of PCK in which some pre-service teachers showed no improvement.

Background: Based on the literature review, shared characteristics of integrated STEM (I-STEM) curriculum includes an engaging and motivating context, student participation in engineering design activities, opportunity to redesign, engaging in mathematics or science content, having student-centred pedagogies, and teamwork and communication. These principles and more were used to analyse STEM activities published in NSTA journals. Purpose: It was to determine the extent to which the STEM activities published in three NSTA journals (Science and Children, Science Scope, and The Science Teacher) between the years 2013 and 2020 reflected the shared characteristics of I-STEM education. Sample: A total of 161 STEM teaching activities were analysed during the study. Methods: A STEM rubric (abbreviated as RACSTEM) developed by the authors. Expert panel reviews and intercoder agreement calculations provided support for the content validity and reliability of RACSTEM. The rubric was composed of seven main categories, namely, integrating different disciplines, real-world problem, learner-centeredness, teamwork, communication, redesign, and assessment. STEM activities were analysed based on RACSTEM through content analysis and reported using descriptive statistics. Results: Different combinations of STEM and non-STEM disciplines were integrated into the activities. 76% of the activities included real-world problems. Learner centred strategies (e.g. project-based learning) were utilized in 81% of the STEM papers. In 94% of the papers, students mostly participated in group work. Analysis revealed that 58% of the papers asked learners what they would change at the redesign stage. Finally, in the assessment aspect, the most problematic one, results showed discrepancies between the integrative nature of STEM and its assessment. Conclusion: It was unclear how many I-STEM activities were published in NSTA publications that fit the requirements for I-STEM once the NGSS was launched. The findings of this study, as well as the development of the RACSTEM instrument, seem to have the ability to resolve ambiguity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to examine the interactions between in-service chemistry teachers' science teaching orientations and other components of their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). Two experienced chemistry teachers participated in this study. Data were collected through interviews, classroom observations, and field notes as the participants taught the mixtures unit. The results indicated that the participants held solid foundation purposes, in which students use science to be successful in their exams or next classes, along with everyday coping and correct explanations purposes. When participants' correct explanations and solid foundation purposes interacted together with the same PCK component, solid foundation appeared to be the reason for their correct explanations purpose. The teaching strategies that teachers preferred to use interacted with their solid foundation and correct explanations purposes, and the participants altered curricula only if they believed it would lead students to achieve better scores on examinations. Participants' beliefs about science teaching and learning indicated aspects of teacher-focused beliefs that prevent teachers from focusing on students' prerequisite knowledge, learning difficulties, and misconceptions. These beliefs interacted with all the sub-components of knowledge of instructional strategies. In addition, there was an interaction between knowledge of curricula and beliefs about science teaching and learning for participants that were more knowledgeable about the curriculum. Moreover, what the teachers assessed was related to their correct explanations and everyday coping beliefs, while the way they assessed was related to their solid foundation beliefs. Last, none of the participants emphasised the aspects of the nature of science during their instruction.

In this study, we examined the effect of School Experience (SE) and Practice Teaching (PT) courses on pre-service chemistry teachers' beliefs towards chemistry teaching over a one-year period. To reach this purpose, participants' beliefs and experiences towards chemistry teaching were monitored closely throughout the varied phases of the two practicum courses. Two pre-service chemistry teachers participated in the study. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews, observation notes, CoRes and reflection papers. Semi-structured interviews focusing on the pre-service teachers' beliefs regarding chemistry teaching were conducted three times while participating in the SE and PT courses. During the PT course before their teaching experiences the participants prepared CoRes, and after their experiences they critiqued their own performances. Moreover, the participants were observed during their student-teaching experiences to identify how they transfer their beliefs into their teaching. Data were analyzed via inductive analyses. Results indicated that both pre-service teachers had stable core beliefs derived from their own experiences as students that remained constant during these courses and guided their practical instruction. Although both participants attended the same courses during the teacher education program, their attitudes while taking the educational courses were different. Factors that shaped pre-service teachers' beliefs towards teaching were presented as the practicum courses enriched with CoRes and reflection papers, observing their mentors, experiences gained from microteaching sessions, and pedagogical and methods courses taken during the pre-service teacher education program. Implications for the formation of pre-service teachers' beliefs towards teaching throughout pre-service teacher education programs were provided.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of case-based learning (CBL) over traditionally designed chemistry instruction (TDCI) on 10th grade students' perceived motivation about chemistry as a school subject. Two classes were randomly selected from a high school. One class was assigned to be an experimental group and the other was assigned as a control group. A total of 45 high school students from 10th grade were the participants of the study (25 experimental and 20 control group students). Students in the experimental group were taught by case-based instruction while the control group students received traditional instruction. Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) was administered to both groups of students as pre- and post-tests to measure their perceived motivation. The results of one-way MANOVA based on gain scores revealed that CBL was an effective method for promoting students' motivation towards chemistry. (Contains 4 tables.)

The purpose of this study is to investigate prospective chemistry teachers' expectations and experiences of teaching practice. Six (four females and two males) pre-service chemistry teachers taking a School Experience II course participated in the study. A case study design was employed. The data were collected from multiple sources including observations, lesson plans, and semi-structured interviews before and after the school experience course. Pre-service teachers' expectations and experiences were categorized regarding the faculty, placement school, and teaching practice. It was found that school experience courses are crucial for pre-service teachers in deciding whether to continue in the teaching profession. It is also concluded that the harmony between pre-service teachers' expectations of and experiences in the school experience course had an influence on their opinions related to the teaching profession. (Contains 2 tables.)

As a review study, the present study was carried out in order to introduce PCK construct to researchers and evaluate which aspects of PCK were studied in our country, and, finally, make recommendations in light of the analysis of the studies for further research. For this purpose, ERIC database, YOK (Higher Education Council) database were searched by using "Pedagogical Content Knowledge" as keyword. Moreover, journals published in Turkey and which are possible to be reached electronically were searched using the same keyword. 28 studies in the science education context were analyzed by means of standards obtained from the related literature. Results showed that large part of the studies were conducted with pre-service teachers as case studies. Moreover, PCK was studied in terms of its components rather than as a whole. In addition to that, participant teachers and pre-service teachers have some shortcomings regarding to PCK, pedagogical knowledge, and subject matter knowledge. Findings will hopefully provide some insight for researchers since shortages of the related literature will be determined by this study.

The purpose of this study was to describe Turkish preservice chemistry teachers' beliefs about the importance of teaching chemistry in high schools. For this purpose, 45 pre-service chemistry teachers were administered a questionnaire involving open-ended questions which asked what the importance of teaching chemistry is, and why we teach chemistry in high schools. Based on the written responses, 12 pre-service teachers were chosen to be interviewed to obtain more elaborated information about their beliefs. Data analysis revealed that most of the pre-service teachers expressed that chemistry should be taught in order to explain daily life events. However, a very small number of them believed that teaching chemistry was important in terms of developing generic skills like critical thinking, and of creating curiosity and interest. This study suggests that chemistry should be taught both in high schools and universities in a way which emphasizes the importance of developing scientific skills.

In this study, a mixed-method design was employed to investigate pre-service chemistry teachers' Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) development. For effective technology integration in instruction, knowledge about technology is not enough; teachers should have different knowledge types which are content, pedagogical, and technological. The 17 pre-service chemistry teachers who enrolled in the Instructional Technology and Material Development course participated in the study for one semester. The purpose of this course was to learn how to integrate simulations, animations, instructional games, data-logging, virtual labs and virtual field trips into chemistry instruction considering factors such as chemistry subjects and students' possible alternative conceptions or their previous chemistry knowledge. A survey and interviews were used to gather data on the pre-service chemistry teachers' TPACK framework both before and after the semester. A mixed between-within subjects analysis of variance was conducted to examine the differences in the pre-service teachers' TPACK at two time periods considering also the gender factor. For the qualitative data, deductive analysis based on existing codes and categories was applied. The quantitative and qualitative findings of this study revealed that the pre-service chemistry teachers' TPACK improved partially on some components. In addition, based on these findings, gender was not found to be a significant variable in technology integration. For further development in the TPACK framework, more context related technology applications in a learning and teaching environment are needed.

This study examined the relations of preservice science teachers' attitudes towards technology use, technology ownership, technology competencies, and experiences to their self-efficacy beliefs about technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK). The present study also investigated interrelations among preservice teachers' attitudes towards technology use, technology ownership, technology competencies, and experiences. The participants of study were 665 elementary preservice science teachers (467 females, 198 males) from 7 colleges in Turkey. The proposed model based on educational technology literature was tested using structural equation modeling. The model testing results revealed that preservice teachers' technology competencies and experiences mediated the relation of technology ownership to their TPACK self efficacy beliefs. The direct relation of their possession of technology to their TPACK self efficacy beliefs was insignificant while the indirect relation through their technology competencies and experiences was significant. The results also indicated there were significant direct effects of preservice teachers' attitudes towards technology use, technology competencies, and experiences on their TPACK self efficacy beliefs.

This study investigates the effect of structuring cooperative learning based on conceptual change approach on grade 9 students' understanding the concepts of mixtures and their motivation, compared with traditional instruction. Among six classes of a high school, two of them were randomly assigned to cooperative learning group where students were instructed by Cooperative Learning based on Conceptual Change (CLCC), the other two classes were randomly assigned to traditional learning group where students were instructed by Cooperative Learning based on Conceptual Change without well-structuring the basics of cooperative learning (CLCC(-)), and the remaining two classes were randomly assigned to control group where students were instructed by Traditional Instruction (TI). Mixtures Concept Test (MCT), motivation section of Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) except goal orientation sub-scales, and Achievement Goal Questionnaire (AGQ) were assigned to the sampled students before treatments are commenced as pretests and after treatments are completed as post-tests. According to post-test scores, there were statistically significant mean differences among the groups exposed to variations of cooperative learning based on conceptual change and traditional instruction with respect to students' understanding the concepts of mixtures and their motivation. Results drawn upon this study revealed specifically that students exposed to CLCC had better understanding and lower alternative conceptions about the concepts of mixtures, perceived contents related to chemistry more valuable, felt greater control over their own learning, dealt better with sense of worry and emotionality during tests, adapted performance avoidance goals less, and mastery approach goals more than students instructed by CLCC(-) and TI.

Background: Investigating factors contributing to chemistry achievement is important since it enables us to make more concrete instructional decisions related to improving students' chemistry achievement. Purpose: This study aimed to investigate how students' perceptions of learning environment, self-efficacy and gender are related to chemistry achievement. Sample: Three hundred fifty six high school students with the age range of 14 and 19 from three different schools in the same district were the participants. Design and methods: A structural equation model was designed and tested. Constructivist learning environment survey, self-efficacy scale were the instruments of the study. Information about students' gender and their chemistry grades belonging to the previous semester were also collected. Results: The model testing showed that chemistry self-efficacy beliefs, students' perceptions of constructivist learning environment (through chemistry-self efficacy) and gender were significantly related to chemistry achievement. Moreover, the findings showed that students' chemistry self-efficacy beliefs mediated the relation of students' learning environment perceptions to their chemistry achievement. Conclusions: The present study has some educational implications for teachers, teacher educators and curriculum developers. First of all, self-efficacy was found to have an effect on students' achievement. Therefore, teachers should consider students' self-efficacy beliefs and devise their instruction accordingly. Another implication of this study is the necessity of considering gender differences in designing teachers' instruction.

The main purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of case-based instruction on remedying 10th grade students' alternative conceptions related to gas concepts. 128 tenth grade students from two high schools participated in this study. In each school, one of the classes was randomly assigned as the experimental group and the other class, instructed by the same chemistry teacher, was assigned as the control group. The students in the experimental groups were instructed by case-based instruction based on conceptual change conditions while the control group students received traditionally designed chemistry instruction. As pre-tests, the science process skills test, the attitude and motivation towards chemistry and the gas concept test were applied to both groups of students. As a post-test, the gas concept test was administered to both groups of students to determine their alternative conceptions and understanding of gas concepts. One-way ANOVA was used to assess the effect of case-based instruction on students' understanding of gas concepts. The results revealed that case-based instruction was an effective method for overcoming students' alternative conceptions about the gas concepts.

The purpose of this study was to examine experienced chemistry teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for two different topics in chemistry to better understand how PCK is specific to topic, including whether all components of PCK are topic-specific and to what degree. To explore the topic-specific nature of PCK, we examined two experienced teachers' PCK using a case study methodology. Multiple data collection strategies were used, including a card-sorting activity, Content Representation (CoRe), semi-structured interviews, observations, and field notes. The data collected were analyzed both deductively and inductively. Results revealed that the teachers used more content-based and teacher-centered instruction to teach electrochemistry, whereas their instruction was less teacher-centered, and included Science-Technology-Society-Environment discussions and implicit NOS instruction to teach nuclear reactions. The teachers also varied in the extent of their knowledge of learners and curriculum in comparing their PCK for each topic. In regard to assessment, the teachers' assessment practices were at the general PK level; they lacked topic-specific PCK for either topic. We provided recommendations for professional development programs, pre-service teacher education programs, and curriculum developers to support teachers in developing topic-specific PCK.

The purpose of this study was to model the relationship between pre-service chemistry teachers' epistemological beliefs and their preference to use constructivist-learning environment in their future class. The sample was 125 pre-service chemistry teachers from five universities in Turkey. Two instruments were used in this study. One of the instruments was constructivist-learning environment scale developed by Taylor, Fraser and Fisher. The other instrument was Epistemological Questionnaire (EQ) developed by Schommer. In order to analyse data, Structural Equation Modelling was conducted by using LISREL 8.7. The results provided evidence for the good fit of the hypothesised model. Pre-service chemistry teachers' epistemological belief scores were found to be correlated to their constructivist-learning environment scale scores with the value of 0.35. This study revealed that pre-service chemistry teachers with sophisticated epistemological beliefs favoured constructivist-learning environment in their future class.

In this qualitative case study, we examined the nature of integration among pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) components. To attain the goal, two experienced chemistry teachers' teaching redox reactions and electrochemical cells was observed. The data were collected through card-sorting activity, content representation (CoRe) tool, observation, and interviews. The data analysis included three steps, namely; in-depth analysis, enumerative approach, and constant-comparative methods. Results reveal that knowledge of learner and instructional strategy components were central in the integrations. However, knowledge of assessment and curriculum were less effective in shaping teachers' teaching. Additionally, the integrations were specific to topic taught. More coherent integration was observed in both teachers' teaching electrochemical cells topic. With the quantification of PCK integration, this study provides an opportunity to discriminate integrations regarding their type, quality, and strength. Implications for both pre- and in-service teacher education programs were suggested.

Learning is a social event and so the students need learning environments that enable them to work with their peers so that they can learn through their interactions. This study discusses the effectiveness of cooperative learning compared to traditional instruction in terms of students' motivation and understanding of chemical kinetics in a high school chemistry course. Participants were 110 eleventh grade students from two different schools. The researchers administered the Reaction Rate Concept Test to measure the students' understanding of chemical kinetics, the Science Process Skill Test to decide whether the groups were different in terms of their science process skills before instruction, and the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire to assess students' motivation for a chemistry course. Results of the experiment showed that compared to traditional instruction, cooperative learning enabled better understanding of the concepts of chemical kinetics and improved students' motivation to study chemistry for both schools. (Contains 7 tables and 2 figures.)

Background: Case-based learning (CBL) is simply teaching the concept to the students based on the cases. CBL involves a case, which is a scenario based on daily life, and study questions related to the case, which allows students to discuss their ideas. Chemical kinetics is one of the most difficult concepts for students in chemistry. Students have generally low levels of conceptual understanding and many alternative conceptions regarding it. Purpose: This study aimed to explore the effect of CBL on dealing with students' alternative conceptions about chemical kinetics. Sample: The sample consists of 53 high school students from one public high school in Turkey. Design and methods: Nonequivalent pre-test and post-test control group design was used. Reaction Rate Concept Test and semi-structured interviews were used for data collection. Convenience sampling technique was followed. For data analysis, the independent samples t-test and ANOVA was performed. Results: Both concept test and interview results showed that students instructed with cases had better understanding of core concepts of chemical kinetics and had less alternative conceptions related to the subject matter compared to the control group students, despite the fact that it was impossible to challenge all the alternative conceptions in the experimental group. Conclusions: CBL is an effective teaching method for challenging students' alternative conceptions in the context of chemical kinetics. Since using cases in small groups and whole class discussions has been found to be an effective way to cope with the alternative conceptions, it can be applied to other subjects and grade levels in high schools with a higher sample size. Furthermore, the effect of this method on academic achievement, motivation and critical thinking skills are other variables that can be investigated for future studies in the subject area of chemistry. (Contains 3 tables.)

The main purpose of this study is to evaluate eleventh grade Turkish pupils' comprehension of various general chemistry concepts which in turn enables to investigate chemistry concepts which are easier and harder for students to comprehend. Examining the effect of gender and last semester chemistry course grades on pupils' comprehension of general chemistry concepts is also within the scope of this study. The sample consists of 88 students from two Anatolian high schools in the center of Isparta, Turkey. The Chemistry Concepts Inventory (CCI), that includes non-mathematical conceptual items, was administered to students in order to collect data. Results indicated that the percentage of correct responses of students for all questions ranged from 4.5 % to 75 %. Students have troubles especially with the following chemistry concepts; "Chemical formulas and equations, macroscopic versus atomic and molecular properties, solutions, chemical reactions, properties of atoms". Two-Way ANOVA results indicated that there is no statistically significant effect of gender and chemistry course grades on students' comprehension of chemistry concepts. (Contains 4 tables and 4 figures.)

This study examined the relationship between prospective teachers' concerns about their teaching and their beliefs about their sense of efficacy. Three hundred and thirty-nine prospective teachers participated in this study. Two instruments, the "Teaching Concerns Checklist" and the "Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Beliefs Scale", were used to elicit the participants' teaching concerns and their sense of efficacy. Canonical correlation analysis, conducted to explore the relationships between these two constructs, revealed that concern variables were negatively correlated with efficacy variables. This means that if teachers believe their efficacy is weaker, they tend to have more concerns about teaching. The results of this study have implications for teacher education programmes. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.)

This study aimed to explore pre-service chemistry teachers' beliefs about constructivism and the influence of their beliefs in their teaching practice. For this purpose, semi-structured interviews were carried out with eight pre-service teachers in order to understand their belief structures. Pre-service teachers' beliefs about constructivism were classified in three categories which are weak, moderate, and strong conceptions of constructivism. For detailed exploration, three cases of pre-service teachers representing these three categories were selected. The findings of this study showed that most pre-service teachers in this study did not have a strong conception of constructivism and the relationship between the pre-service teachers' beliefs and their practice was not clear-cut.

The present study aimed to evaluate whether a chemistry laboratory course called "Laboratory Experiments in Science Education" based on constructivist instruction accompanied with concept mapping enhanced pre-service chemistry teachers' conceptual understanding. Data were collected from five pre-service chemistry teachers at a university in Ankara by means of a concept test and semi-structured interviews. Results showed that pre-service teachers had some alternative conceptions about chemistry topics. Moreover, using constructivist instruction accompanied with concept maps as an instructional tool was effective to promote conceptual understanding. Participants thought that concept maps were useful especially in recognizing the relation between different chemistry concepts.

The purpose of this study was to obtain prospective chemistry teachers' conceptions about acids and bases concepts. Thirty-eight prospective chemistry teachers were the participants. Data were collected by means of an open-ended questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. Analysis of data indicated that most prospective teachers did not have difficulties about macroscopic properties of acids and bases. However, despite chemistry instruction, most of the prospective teachers were found to have problems in understanding the neutralization concept, the distinction between strength and concentration of acids and linking the acids and bases topic to daily life. These findings have some implications for teacher education programs.

The purpose of this study was to examine the teaching concerns of Turkish student teachers and how these concerns differ among year groups within the teacher education programme. Data were collected from 339 student teachers using the Teacher Concerns Checklist. Analysis of the data, including both descriptive statistics and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), showed that student teachers held more task-related concerns, but had the fewest self-survival concerns. In addition, fifth-year prospective teachers were found to have significantly lower self-related concerns than did second- and third-year student teachers. (Contains 4 tables.)

The aim of this study is to compare the effectiveness of conceptual change text instruction (CCT) in the context of energy in chemical reactions. The subjects of the study were 60, 10th grade students at a high school, who were in two different classes and taught by the same teacher. One of the classes was randomly selected as the experimental group in which CCT instruction was applied, and the other as the control group in which traditional teaching method was used. The data were obtained through the use of Energy Concept Test (ECT), the Attitude Scale towards Chemistry (ASC) and Science Process Skill Test (SPST). In order to find out the effect of the conceptual change text on students' learning of energy concept, independent sample t-tests, ANCOVA (analysis of covariance) and ANOVA (analysis of variance) were used. Results revealed that there was a statistically significant mean difference between the experimental and control group in terms of students' ECT total mean scores; however, there was no statistically significant difference between the experimental and control group in terms of students' attitude towards chemistry. These findings suggest that conceptual change text instruction enhances the understanding and achievement.

The purpose of this study was to investigate prospective chemistry teachers' knowledge about instructional strategies, one component of pedagogical content knowledge about introducing particulate theory, as well as sources of this knowledge. Twenty-two prospective chemistry teachers participated in the study. Data were collected by the means of a vignette, semistructured interviews, and lesson plans. Analysis showed that concrete objects, computer animations, and expository teaching were the preferred teaching techniques by prospective teachers. Several issues, such as general pedagogical knowledge, subject matter knowledge, and knowledge about students' difficulties, were found to be the main factors for choosing a teaching strategy to make an introduction to particles.

In order to study the beliefs of Turkish prospective chemistry teachers about teaching chemistry, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 prospective teachers. Analysis of the interviews revealed that most of the prospective teachers held intermediate (transition between constructivist and traditional) beliefs about chemistry teaching. Most of the student teachers exhibited inconsistencies in their beliefs about teaching chemistry. The findings indicate the complexity of the teachers' belief systems and imply the significance of identifying prospective teachers' beliefs for the design of teacher education programs. (Contains 1 figure.)

The aim of this study is to discuss the experiences of prospective teachers during their school placements. For this aim, 41 prospective teachers taking School Experience II and Teaching Practice courses wrote and submitted a one- to two-page reflection of their field-based experiences at the end of the semester. Prospective teachers' written responses indicated that most of them experienced problems in their school placements. Student teachers in their second teaching placement said that they observed similar issues, repeated similar activities as they did in their first school placement. Student teachers enrolled in the last teaching practicum said that they did not feel like the teacher of the class and did not get enough chance to practice. (Contains 2 tables.)

The purpose of this research study is to explore year 6, 8 & 11 (13, 15 and 17 years old respectively) Turkish pupils' views about the particulate nature of matter within the context of phase changes. About 300 pupils participated in the study. Questionnaires distributed to year 6, 8 and 11 pupils included 6-item open-ended questions about (a) arrangement and movement of particles in a solid, liquid and gas and (b) application of particulate ideas to explain phase changes. In addition to questionnaires, semi-structured interviews were carried out with pupils. Results indicated that many pupils, even older ones, had difficulties in applying the particulate theory to explain phase changes despite science teaching. The study has several implications for both teachers and curriculum designers.