Determination of the relationships between middle school student's profiles and their cognitive development levels in the selected science topics

SUMMARY Determination of the Relationships Between Middle School Students' Profiles and Their Cognitive Development Levels in the Selected Science Topics It is believed that apart from cognitive equilibrium and ages, students' attitudes, beliefs, academic achievement, sex differences, physical experiences with teaching materials, social and enviromental conditions also affect students' cognitive development The aims of the study are to determine 1) 7th and 8th grade middle school students' cognitive development levels according to Piaget's theory by the help of the test based on the unit "Meeting Motion and Force: Energy" and to reveal the relationships among students' cognitive development levels and their profiles, 2) relationships between science teachers' assessment tools and students' cognitive development. A case study research methodology was used in this study. In order to determine students' cognitive development levels Science Cognitive Development Test (SCDT) was developed. Part I included 10 questions related to profiles of students, and Part II consist of 20 multiple-choice questions and 2 open-ended questions related to the concepts in the above mentioned unit. While first seven questions aim to measure students' concrete operational development, the rest of them measure formal operational development. Reliability coefficent of the SCDT was calculated as r = 0.66. The subjects (N = 445, female 195 and male 250) were drawn from 7 and 8 grade students at private and public middle school in the five cities in Turkey. At the same time a questionnaire developed and applied 59 middle school science teachers who had different teaching experiences in the 17 cities. With the help of survey questions, teachers' assessment tools and teachers' knowledge about students cognitive development was determined. From the collected data, the majority of subjects were found as the concrete operational level (%87). Ages (F(2)439) =.491, p>.05) and sex differences (^443)=.81, p>.05) between male and female students found nonsignificant. It was found that another conditions have direct effect on students' intellectual development. A relation between science teachers' assessment tools and students' cognitive development levels was not found. Instructional programs should have structured according to students' cognitive development levels. Teachers should sistematicaly evaluate students' cognitive development levels and have been obtained enough knowledge. Key Words : Science Education, Cognitive Development, Student profiles, Science Teacher