An evaluation of photography courses at Gazi University Department of Art-Craft Education based on student views

The scope of this study is an evaluation of the photography courses given at the Department of Art-Craft Education, Faculty of Education at Gazi University based on student views. Furthermore, by emphasizing the importance of photography courses in ensuring student proficiency in the subject matter, the necessity of the so-called courses was sought to be proved. In the study, a thorough literature review was conducted, and accordingly, student views were resorted to. In this manner, several points were made for more efficient courses.In Part I of the study, problem statement, purpose and significance of the study and its limitations were mentioned; and as for Part II, primarily, the concept of art was explained, and art education was dwelled on.Later on, starting from how the notion of photography first surfaced in the world, history of photography and its development from a technical and artistic perspective was studied in detail. Besides, the emergence of photography in the downfall of Ottoman Empire and the developments that took place in the field with the onset of the republic were cited.The relationship of photography to other branches of art was researched. Also, the place of photography as a branch of arts in art education was given and photography courses at Art-Craft Education Departments of Education Faculties were studied.In Part IV of the study, data hereby derived were tabularized to depict distribution according to variables such as department , class and gender; and data were further analyzed into subscales. The questionnaire designed by the researcher was given to a randomly selected group of students. The sample of the study consisted of 125 students who took photography courses and are still studying at the Department of Art-Craft Education. Data thus collected were analyzed by descriptive statistics techniques such as percentile, frequency, arithmetic average and standard deviation and t-test inferential statistic technique.In conclusion, it was found that:1.Photography courses significantly impact the education students receive at their departments;2.There are no significant differences in student views on photography courses based on sex, department or class variables.3.Students find themselves insufficient in the applied domain of photography courses.4.Based on student views, the photography shop of the school doesn?t possess sufficient technical equipment.5.Photography courses hold an important place in art education.In light of the findings above, suggestions by the researcher were made.