ANALYSIS OF PROSPECTIVE CHEMISTRY TEACHERS’ VIEWS ON MODELS ACCORDING TO SOLO (STRUCTURE OF OBSERVED LEARNING OUTCOMES) TAXONOMY

Abstract

: In this study it was investigated prospective chemistry teachers’ views on the nature of models and the use of models and modeling in chemistry teaching by using Structure of Observed Learning Outcomes (SOLO) taxonomy. A qualitative study was performed on 16 prospective chemistry teachers who attended the fifth grade. Three open-ended questions were used as the data collection tool. The assessment scale, prepared by the researchers, was employed to make the descriptive analysis of what understanding levels on the SOLO prospective teachers’ answers corresponded to. The views of the prospective teachers about the model definition were usually found to be in the pre-structural level, which is the lowest level and no view was identified to be at the highest level, which is the extended abstract. The prospective teachers’ views regarding the use of models were generally in the pre-structural and untistructural levels and no view in the extended abstract level could be identified.