Abstract:

In order to train qualified teachers, arrangements should be made in the undergraduate curriculum of teacher training institutions in accordance with the requirements of the recent times. For this purpose, the courses and content of 25 undergraduate programs have been arranged to be implemented as of 2018-2019 academic year. This new program was applied only on 1st-year undergraduate students during the 2018-2019 academic year. Primary school teaching is among primary areas of teaching that underwent the most of revisions due to its complex structure. In the new primary school teaching undergraduate program, the changes in the content of all courses, particularly of science courses are the most striking aspect of the program. The field courses such as General Physics, General Chemistry and General Biology were removed in the new primary school teaching undergraduate program. In this content, the aim of current study is to determine the opinions and evaluation of academicians about the Elementary Science Course in Primary School that includes all subjects of field courses in former program and being taught in only one term in the new program. This study is a qualitative research and data was obtained with a semi-structured interview form. The participants who attended the study were determined by criterion sampling method. The study was carried out with ten academic staff working in Fırat University and Inonu University in the spring semester of 2018-2019. The content analysis method was used for data analysis. According to the results, academicians generally stated that they found the content and duration of the Elementary Science Course in Primary School insufficient. Finally, the participants have also stated that teachers who are equipped in the field of science will not be raised with this content.

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