Determination on subject matter knowledge level of physics teacher candidates

SUMMARY Determination of Subject Matter Knowledge Lev®! of Physics Teacher Candidates It is known that teacher is the most important element affecting the application of educational programs at the desired level. Teacher qualification includes subject matter knowledge and subject education skills. This work is carried out to determine the level of subject matter knowledge in topics of mechanics and electricity-magnetism for teacher candidates who completed the 7th semester in their M.Sc. program united with the B.Sc. program. The sample for this research includes 33 teacher candidates attending their 4ft year in 2001-2002 spring semester in physics education program of K.T.Ü. Fatih Education Faculty, O.F.M.Â. Education Department and 5 academics working in K.T.Ü. Faculty of Science. In this study, which is carried out with case study approach, data have been obtained by investigating a survey and a test applied to teacher candidates, an interview with academics and documents concerning courses taken by teacher candidates. In the mechanics section the achievement is found to be approximately 50 % and in electricity- magnetism section it is about 26%. The findings of the survey show that teacher candidates criticizes tiie instruction processes of the related courses and they generally admit their lack of subject matter knowledge. The essential views of teaching lecturers are that teacher candidates are not interested learners and they study to pass the exams, not to learn. It is concluded that the reasons for teacher candidates being unsuccessful are the teaching methods, lack of interest in lessons and uncertainities in future employment. The study ends with the recommendation that for teacher candidates to catch a level of adequate subject matter knowledge, instruction methods and approaches to educational programs have to be modified according to the requirements of the century. Key Wordss Physics Education, Teacher Candidate, Subject Matter Knowledge, Mechanics, Electricity and Magnetism VI