Prospective Teachers' View on Geography Fieldworks

Abstract

The purposes of the study are to examine thoroughly the components to constitute individual perceptions of prospective teachers concerning important acquisitions of geography fieldworks and to facilitate its applicability as a teaching method through their own observations and suggestions, and in this context to obtain information about the nature of geography learning in fieldworks. 155 female (43%) and 207 male (57%) prospective teachers (n=362) participated in the research. Obtained data were analyzed both qualitatively (i.e. inductive analysis) and quantitatively (i.e. Chi-square test). According to the results: (1) 4 main conceptual categories based on the prospective teachers' observations concerning the important acquisitions of fieldworks were identified. (2) 6 main conceptual categories based on the prospective teachers' facilitative suggestions for the application of fieldworks were identified. (3) Significant differences were not discovered between the principal categories of observations and suggestions with regard to the prospective teachers' gender. The study concludes that observation is a powerful research tool in determining, analyzing, and interpreting about prospective teachers' individual perceptions concerning fieldworks as a teaching method. The rationales behind this method are to improve the prospective teachers' communication skills through a broad range of contacts, their own life experiences, and more importantly encouraging their independent thinking.