Papers

Date: 2014.10.17

Posted by hristo kolev (Bulgaria)

Message: The article describes the results of a research survey concerning the teachers` ability to teach, work with resources such as course books, managing discipline in class and evaluating grades and results.
The paper states that activities that are student oriented have greater efficiency in keeping the students` attention and that in-service training of teachers can prove crucial for being able to achieve this kind of environment. It adds that an information- based approach inappropriate and would fail to engage students in the subject being taught. Surely a pore practical approach would influence the students greatly. Part of engaging students in the field of natural sciences is conducting enough experiments and practical work both inside and outside the school lab. The authors don`t mention the significance of that king of activities.
Results that analyze the discipline-managing techniques are shown. Generally teachers would have problems dealing with that issue during the first wears of service. The authors stress that the word “discipline” has a much broader sense than the “sitting” and “listening” type of behavior. It is believed that one should use specific methods to deal with such a complicated issue. There are few general techniques that could be taught to teachers but yet still being able to find the correct approach in each and every situation remains an individual quality that teachers must have.
When discussing the teachers` field knowledge the authors reach the conclusion that the university education proves inadequate for the teachers teaching a particular subject. Often the school environment together with the poorly written textbooks are to blame. It is true that few teachers have the broad knowledge that would allow them to make analogies with the everyday world or modern technologies. This kind of knowledge will surely be more effective in getting the students to be inspired by the subject and the teacher himself. In that sense an appropriate training could help bring the best in people that teach natural sciences.
In conclusion: After their research the authors conclude that appropriate training could help teachers to get better in their job. In this way newly developed methods and techniques can be taught to teachers so that they can apply them in their classroom.

Date: 2014.03.28

Posted by Mariusz Jarocki (Poland)

Message: The document is an analysis of the needs of chemistry teachers in Turkey, including classroom management, teaching methods and techniques, knowledge of general
teaching field, evaluation of learning products, recognition of curriculum and using coursebooks. Introduction is a description of the general situation of education in Turkey, then the authors define an aim ​​of the research and a descriptive survey method that was used in. The main part of the document is a list of findings. The authors mention such problems as an in-class discipline (to have a disciplined environment in education area is one of the most important thing for successful teaching). Then teaching methods and techniques are discussed. Conclusions show us that chemistry teachers show a positive approach to education in service and need courses that ground on new teaching methods and approaches. Field knowledge of teachers and their ability to use them effectively should be taken as an important point in the authors' next opinion. The similar, in the context of importance, findings are connected to evaluation of learning products and recognition of teaching program. The last mentioned problem is usage of coursebooks. The needs of Turkish teachers are listed competently but the cases were treated too briefly. The paper suffers also from too general conclusions. However, it is consistent with the objective of the project.

Date: 2013.06.20

Posted by Françoise Derwa (Collège Sainte-Véronique) (Belgium)

Message: The relevance of the paper resides in the presentation of the main characteristics and factors that influence the quality and effectiveness of a chemistry teacher training program in Turkey by reviewing selective international publications.
Researches on chemistry teachers' in-service education in Turkey have been analyzed in order to give a complete overview of the situation related to chemical education.
The chapter 4 of the paper called “Findings” is definitely the most important part for chemistry teachers.
Divided in 6 sub-chapters, this section illustrates all the findings of the researches about chemistry teachers' education.
Here are showed the findings related to in-class discipline but also the one related to teaching methods and techniques, the field of knowledge, the evaluation of learning products, the recognition of teaching program until the usage of course books.
The relevance of this section resides in the presentation of all the results of the researches that are easily accessible to the teachers.
The paper focuses more on the presentation and explanation of the results of the researches about chemistry teachers' in-service education in Turkey but in-service and pre-service training are considered and suggested like useful tools able to improve chemistry education.

Date: 2013.05.30

Posted by Effimia Ireiotou (Greece)

Message: This paper tries to review some research work done by Turkish researchers in the subject of which are the needs of in-service chemistry teacher training. This subject is of significant importance since knowledge of teacher needs can be a starting point for designing more effective teacher training programs. The issues which are underlined in the paper are quite important: teaching methods and techniques, field knowledge, student evaluation, effective use of textbooks, curriculum realization, class management. Some of these needs are also often pointed out by Greek teachers. For example, field knowledge and practical knowledge for the successful application of teaching methods and techniques are considered of central importance. The ability to manage a group of students effectively is very much needed in order to use the cooperative teaching approach and therefore teachers should receive training in that as well.
However the paper lacks in clarity and the language employed is obscure in many cases. I had difficulties in understanding what the authors meant at several points. In my opinion, the paper is useful for the debate but it could be much more so if it was presented clearly.

Date: 2013.05.07

Posted by David Sutton (Ireland)

Message: The publication does not inform the debate. The results presented are in relation to the Turkish experience and are based on a review of a few research papers in the area. The quality of the English is relatively poor but this may be as a result of a translation tool. However, it does distract from the ability of the reader to assimilate the information.
The research methodology is described as;
Descriptive survey method was used in this research. This method includes applications that allow us to analyze current situation. Especially the problems about the training of science teachers and possible solution recommendations are reviewed in this regard.
There is no evidence of a descriptive survey being used by the authors. There are no findings as a result of a survey conducted by the authors. All comment are in relation to other researchers work in the area. In effect this paper is a review of 11 research papers published in the following areas by separate working groups. (Perhaps this is a translation error and by survey the authors mean review? ). The areas are listed as:
1. Findings related to in-class discipline
2. Findings regarding teaching methods and techniques
3. Findings regarding field knowledge
4. Findings regarding evaluation of learning products
5. Findings regarding recognition of teaching program
6. Findings regarding usage of course books

This in effect means that the above areas are informed to the authors by the reading of two publications in the area. The review/survey is not extensive and severally lacking in any details or an ability to critically evaluate the work which was carried out by other authors. Some of the references used are over 15 years old and would question their relevance to the debate at this stage.