Özet:

It has been aimed to examine the opinions of science teacher candidates' opinion on the use of virtual museums in science education in this study. 26 different science teacher candidates studying at 11 different universities participated in the research. The study was conducted as a case study model, one of the qualitative research methods. Maximum variation sampling, a purposive sampling method was used for choosing the study group. In the study, the interview technique and the interview form named opinions about the virtual museum were used as data collection methods and tools, respectively. The data was collected by the Google Forms web application. In the study, the data were analyzed using the content analysis method, one of the analysis methods. In the interviews, the candidates stated that the environment of virtual museums is virtual, can be visited with online interaction, does not require place and materials, provides fast, accurate, and reliable information, is less convenient than the real one, and has limited exploration possibilities. Candidates stated that they had no idea about most of the virtual museums that can be used in science education. They emphasized that virtual museums can be used in the teaching process of science education. Additionally, they remarked as advantages of museums that anybody can participate online independent from time and place, and it can provide equality of opportunity. Participants think that the lack of technology and technological skills may cause the possible problems of virtual museum use. It is recommended to conduct further studies for determining positive and negative aspects of it in detail since it is thought that integrating virtual museum applications into education and training activities can lead to the correct and effective use of virtual technologies.

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