The effect of mobile technology based stem practices on teacher candidates' engineering design skills, systems thinking intelligences and teacher self-efficacies

This dissertation examines the impacts of FeTeMM applications through mobile technology on the students' engineering design skills, system thinking intelligence and teaching self-efficacy. With the use of cameras, sensors, internet and applications, mobile technologies have enabled the experiments and measurements to be carried out in a controlled way in both the design process and the FeTeMM applications as in laboratory materials. One of the experimental research models, "Pre-test and post-test control group semi-experimental research model" was used in this study. The study group of this research was formed by determining one of the two classes as the experimental group and the other as the control group according to the unselected (unbiased) assignment method of the two classes in the third grade in Dokuz Eylül University Science Teacher Education Department of Dokuz Eylül University. Experimental and control groups were pretested and posttested before and after application. The experimental group was taught with FeTeMM applications based on Mobile Technology and the control group was taught only with FeTeMM activities.Four different measurement tools were used in this master's thesis. One of these is adapted to the Turkish language with the name of "Mühendislik Tasarım Becerileri Ölçeği" of 5 Likert type scale developed by Moazzen, Miller, Wild, Jackson, Hadwin (2014) as "Engineering Design Survey" in order to measure the engineering design skills of teacher candidates. Another one is adapted to the Turkish language with the name of "Sistem Zekâ Envanteri" of 5 Likert type scale developed by Törmänen, Hämäläinen and Saarinen (2016) as "Engineering Design Survey" in order to measure the system intelligence of teacher candidates "Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale" developed by Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk Hoy (1990) and adapted to Turkish by Yeşim Çapa, Jale Çakıroğlu and Hilal Sarıkaya (2005) was used to measure the self-efficacy beliefs of teacher candidates. In order to determine the missing aspects of the FeTeMM applications based on the mobile technology developed within the scope of the research, the "Semi-structured Interview Form for Practice" was developed by the researchers with expert opinions. In the FeTeMM designs based on the Mobile Technology Based FeTeMM activities, both in the experimental group and the control group, it was observed that the students did not produce the alternative design at the expected level, did not create the model and did not develop the revisions they created. It has been understood that students in the experimental group have difficulty using the sensors in mobile technology in their FeTeMM designs. In the design process, the control group was found to be more successful than the experimental group in respect of respect for team members, listening to each other and effective communication skills. It was understood that the experimental group designing FeTeMM activities with mobile technology only developed at the level of teacher competence according to the control group designing FeTeMM activities. While there was no significant change in the teacher self-efficacy of the teacher candidates towards the students and the teaching strategies, only a significant change in the classroom management dimension was observed in favor of the experimental group. It was also observed that the interviewees who had conducted the interviews regarded FeTeMM as a probing-based learning approach, that they considered the activities as solution-focused and that the activities were multidisciplinary interdisciplinary work but that FeTeMM applications were not suitable for school conditions at the moment. Teacher candidates have indicated that teacher and teacher candidates must be trained and FeTeMM should be spread throughout the country in order for the FeTeMM activities to be implemented.