Özet:

The purpose of this study was to examine how preservice early childhood teachers used graphs as a mental tool in a science methods course to make sense of their data and how graph use facilitated preservice teachers’ internalization of scientific concepts. Twenty-six preservice early childhood teachers participated in the study. Data were collected through participant observation technique. Field notes were kept to record observations and discourse taking place during the classroom observations. The current study utilized a Vygotskian framework in the analysis and the interpretation of the study data. The results demonstrated that using the graph as a mediating tool facilitated preservice teachers’ understanding of the targeted science concepts by organizing their data in a way that could reduce the burden of cognitive load to process information, which made it possible for higher psychological functions, such as seeing patterns and deriving conclusions from the pattern, to operate more efficiently. 

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