The effect of concept maps applied on renewable energy sources on academic success and attitudes of students

The aim of this study is to determine the effect of science teacher candidates who take the environmental science course supported by concept maps on their academic achievement and attitudes. At the same time, it is to determine the opinions of science teacher candidates who take the environmental science course supported by concept maps. Concept maps are teaching materials that connect concepts accurately and meaningfully. Concept maps not only help students learn science concepts in a meaningful way, but also help teachers teach students concepts. The sample of the study consists of 60 science teacher candidates studying at the 3rd grade of science education in Amasya University Education Faculty. The research was carried out in the spring term of the 2018-2019 academic year and teacher candidates were divided into two groups as control and experimental groups. In the quantitative dimension of this research, "pre-test and post-test experimental design", which is one of the quantitative research types, was used. Renewable Energy Resources Achievement Test to determine the success of the students and the Renewable Energy Resources Attitude Scale for Science Teacher Candidates to determine their attitudes were applied as pre-test-post-test. In the qualitative aspect of the study, 25-30 minutes of semi-structured interviews were conducted about the environmental science course supported by concept maps with 5 teacher candidates selected on a voluntary basis from the experimental group by using the "Semi-Structured Interview Form" prepared by the researcher. The data obtained in the research were analyzed with the SPSS 25.0 package program. When the findings about the academic achievement post-test scores of the experimental and control group teacher candidates were examined, it was found that the average of the post-test achievement scores of the experimental group students after the concept map teaching program was higher than the average of the students post-test success scores after the concept map and post-test program. It was also determined that there was a statistically significant difference between the concept map applied to the experimental group and the traditional narrative applied to the control program and the Post-Test achievement scores of the education. Considering the results of the attitude pre-test and post-test scores of the experimental and control group teacher candidates, it is seen that there are significant differences between the experimental and control group attitude scale pre-test score averages. However, this difference was not found to be statistically significant. When the data obtained from the qualitative dimension of the research were examined, teacher candidates stated that they had positive thoughts about environmental science supported by concept maps, and stated that they would use concept maps in their professional life in the future. They also reported that there were improvements in their cognitive and emotional skills, especially in their psychomotor skills, as their motivation for the lesson increased. According to the data obtained from the research, it was concluded that the success of the science teacher candidates participating in the study increased with the concept map technique. In addition, it has been suggested that before using concept maps in teaching, students should be informed about the creation of concept maps and activities containing concept maps should be included in the textbooks.