Evaluation of teaching practice course in accredited social studies teaching programs

When accrediting a teaching program, one of the most important issues for the evaluators is the Teaching Practice course, which falls under the Faculty-School Cooperation standard area. This course is one of the most important elements of teacher education. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the views of instructors, pre-service teachers and mentor teachers on the Teaching Practice course conducted in accredited Social Studies Teacher Education programs. In the study, the survey model, one of the quantitative research designs, was used to reveal the views of stakeholders on the teaching practice course. The participants of the study consisted of 239 pre-service teachers studying in accredited social studies teaching programs and taking the Teaching Practice course, 40 mentor teachers guiding these candidates, and 20 instructors conducting the teaching practice course. The data were obtained from the Social Studies Teacher Education programs of Anadolu University, Ankara University, Atatürk University, Bartın University, Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University and Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University, which are accredited by the Association for Evaluation and Accreditation of Teacher Education Programs authorized by the Higher Education Quality Council. The data were collected with the "Teaching Practice Course Evaluation Questionnaire" developed by Aslan (2015) according to Stufflebeam's context, input, process, product (CIPP) model. The data obtained were analyzed with the help of SPSS package program in accordance with the aims and sub-problems of the study. The demographic information of the practicum instructor, practicum teacher and pre-service teachers were analyzed with frequency and percentage analysis. Frequency, percentage, arithmetic mean and standard deviation values of the participants' responses to each item were analyzed. As a result of the study, the majority of the items in the context, input, process and product sections of the questionnaire were highly favorable. However, there were also aspects open for improvement. These are; providing the necessary materials to the candidates at the beginning of the implementation process, conducting the two-hour theoretical course regularly and finally improving the measurement and evaluation skills of the candidates. The responses indicated that mentor teachers expressed more positive opinions than other stakeholders. In addition, the study concluded that accreditation provides a standard for the Teaching Practice course and that these standards are implemented. For this reason, it is recommended that accreditation studies should be expanded in Social Studies Teacher Education programs across Turkey.