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Social and Behavioral Sciences
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 31 (2012) 349 - 354
WCLTA 2011
Examination of learning styles of Turkish teacher candidates
A.Halim Ula§ a *, Oguzhan Sevim b, Esengul Tan c
aAtaturk University, Erzurum,25000, Turkey bAtaturk University, Erzurum,25000, Turkey cAtaturk University, Erzurum,25000, Turkey
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to define the learning styles of Turkish teacher candidates under a sum of six different learning styles in three basic dimensions and to set forth which learning styles are dominant. In the study, the screening model which is a quantitative research method has been used to determine the opinions of fourth grade primary school teaching department students about teaching elementary literacy. The study population is comprised of candidate students studying at Ataturk University, Kazim Karabekir Education Faculty, whereas the sample is comprised of 349 students studying at Turkish teaching department. The scale consisting of sixty articles measures six learning styles. These sixty articles have been divided into sets of 10 articles such that each set contains statements designed to identify dependent, independent, participatory learning, passive, cooperative, and competitive learning styles, respectively. In the analysis of data, frequency and percentage which are descriptive statistical techniques have been used. The researches carried out show that students do not have a single learning style, may have more than one learning style at the same time, and one of them is the dominant learning style
© 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of Prof. Huseyin Uzunboylu.
Keywords: Learning styles, examination, Turkish teacher candidates ;
1. Introduction
Until the Multiple Intelligence Theory and Constructivist Learning Theory which currently reign over the contemporary education and teaching system were incorporated into education programs, it was the Behavioral Teaching Approach according to which the education and teaching activities were carried out. In this teaching approach, learning was considered in the context of an action and reaction relationship and the intelligence of the individual was ignored. Freed of the influence of behavioral learning - teaching approach after the second half of 1950s, education started to take individual differences into account with the effect of cognitive education approach, and adopted the fact that every individual could have his/her own learning style (Veznedaroglu and Ozgur, 2005).
No matter how much development is achieved in education and teaching, the role of the teacher as a guide in the classroom has not seen any decline in importance, and the teacher remained as one of the most important elements of education. Despite the unchanged importance of the teacher, there have been important changes in the modern type of human being the teacher is expected to bring up. Bringing up students who know how, where and with what they can reach knowledge in the learning process is closely related to the teacher's success in classroom activities. In order to carry out the process successfully, the teacher who is the manager and guide of the classroom in the education environment has to know what, how and how much his/he r students can learn ((Be^oluk and Onder, 2010;
* A.Halim Ula§. Tel.: +90-533-575-8474 E-mail address: ahalimulas@hotmail.com
ELSEVIER
1877-0428 © 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of Prof. Huseyin Uzunboylu. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.12.066
Pehlivan, 2010). This, in return, brings about the issue of learning styles of the students. "Learning style is a multidimensional concept which is related to many issues like perception, absorbing knowledge, past experiences, environmental effect, hereditary attributes" (Gencel and Saracaloglu, 2009; 333).
When the teacher fails to provide the students with the knowledge and abilities of the disciplinary fields in a comprehendible manner in the learning - teaching process, or to invoke the interest, desire and excitement against the lesson in the students, attaining the goals will be delayed and success will fall. This, in return, will give rise to certain concerns in the educational environment (Beydogan, 2009). The increased concern in the educational environment will have a negative impact on the quality of education.
Identifying the learning styles of the students is one of important time frames in the teaching - learning process. "With such a process, learning methods and techniques are selected, learning settings equipped with the tools that satisfy the need are prepared, and it is possible to improve the student's success (§eyihoglu, 2010; 59). In addition, the problems which the teacher encounters or is likely to encounter in applying both the annual and daily curriculum can be prevented.
Just as teachers have to identify and know the learning styles of students, it is very important that students are aware of their learning styles. Researchers like Keefe, Dunn, Kolb, and Reiff who have specialized in learning styles that deal with individual differences and are based on a student-centered education approach state that students will be successful and efficient in their school and real life experiences if they are aware of their weaknesses and strengths (Ergur, 2010). According to Kolb (1981), learning style is a path which the individual takes in reaching and processing knowledge in line with his/her personal attributes and preferences. A much efficient process will be achieved if the student identifies his/her qualifications and how he/she can learn better.
In the literature, learning styles have been analyzed in terms of many variables, and efforts have been used to reveal the effects on such variables. When the studies carried out are evaluated in a general context, it is understood that identifying and knowing learning styles is a must for the new education programs developed in line with a contemporary teaching approach.
The study carried out by §eker and Yilmaz (2011) is one of the researches carried out in relation to learning styles. In that study, it was discovered that the students in the experimental group who were applied an education program designed taking different learning styles into account achieved increased success in social sciences whereas the students in the control group who were applied the ordinary education-teaching program did not show any difference. From that study, it is understood that increased success is achieved when learning styles and individual differences of students are taken into account.
In another study, it was concluded that "primary school second grade students adopted the audio learning style better as the grades proceeded, and they used kinesthetic and visual learning styles much more when they started the second grade of the primary school" (Eskici, 2008; 74). In the light of that study, it can be said that the ages and grades of the students have meaningful effects on their learning styles subject to developmental psychology.
In a study where Tuysuz and Tatar (2008) examined the effects of the learning styles of teacher candidates on their attitudes and successes in the chemistry course, the level of competitive and cooperative learning styles of the teacher candidates was found to be high, whereas the level of passive, participatory, dependent and independent learning styles was found to be moderate. These findings show that the teacher candidates are inclined to group and cooperative studies. Another important finding of the study is that there is a positive correlation between cooperative and participatory learning style and success compared with the negative correlation between passive learning style and success.
In a study carried out by Demir (2008), it was found that there was no difference in learning styles in terms of the gender variable of the Turkish Teacher candidates, while there was meaningful difference in learning styles in terms of the graduated high school variable.
The purpose of this study is to define the learning styles of Turkish teacher candidates under a sum of six different learning styles in three basic dimensions and to set forth which learning styles are dominant. To that end, the answers to the following research questions will be sought:
1. What is the level of Turkish teacher candidates with regards to dependent-independent learning styles?
2. What is the level of Turkish teacher candidates with regards to participatory-passive learning styles?
3. What is the level of Turkish teacher candidates with regards to cooperative-competitive learning styles?
2. Method
2.1. Research design
In the study, the screening model which is a quantitative research method has been used to determine the opinions of fourth grade primary school teaching department students about teaching elementary literacy. The screening model is ideal for wide sampling groups, and is a study method that "aims to collect data to determine certain characteristics of a group" (Buyukozturk, KiliQ Qakmak, Akgun, Karadeniz and Demirel, 2011; 16)
2.2. Participants
The study population is comprised of candidate students studying at Ataturk University, Kazim Karabekir Education Faculty, whereas the sample is comprised of 349 students studying at Turkish teaching department.
2.3. Collection of data
The scale consisting of sixty articles measures six learning styles. These sixty articles have been divided into sets of 10 articles such that each set contains statements designed to identify dependent, independent, participatory learning, passive, cooperative, and competitive learning styles, respectively. Each ten-article set corresponding to each learning style has been expressed in terms of frequency and % value specific to each set. The 5-point Likert scale (1 to 5) including the options strongly disagree, disagree, neither agree nor disagree, agree and strongly agree has been used.
2.4. Analysis of the Data
In the analysis of data, frequency and percentage which are descriptive statistical techniques have been used. Frequency distribution which shows the number of repetition of each data can be expressed with numbers as well as via graphs. The use of percentages is the simplest and the most widespread methods of summarizing the measurements performed. A measurement expressing the position of a certain measurement in a certain distribution relative to other measurements is called a percentage (Buyukozturk, 2009).
3. Findings
3.1. The findings from the first research problem
Findings of the research question 1, What is the level of Turkish teacher candidates with regards to dependent-independent learning styles?, are presented in Tables 1 and 2.
Table 1:Dependent learning style
% f % f 7,1 40,1 11,5 54,4
% f % f 15,6 106,4 30,5 123,0
% 35,2
When Table 1 is examined, it is observed that teacher candidates have a dependent learning style at a rate of 65,7%. These teacher candidates view the teacher as a source of knowledge and prefer to study under his/her guidance, and learn only as much as stated.
Table 2: Independent learning style:
1 2 3 4 5
f % f % f % f % f %
22,8 6,52 52,6 15,06 67,9 19,44 119,8 34,32 85,8 24,59
When Table 2 is examined, it is observed that candidate teachers have an independent learning style at a rate of 59%. These candidates are quite curious people. These types of people have a high level of self-confidence. These people are much efficient when they study individually.
3.2. The findings from the second research problem
Findings of the research question 2, What is the level of candidate Turkish teachers with regards to participatory-passive learning styles?, are presented in Tables 3 and 4.
Table 3 : Participatory learning style
1 2 3 4 5
f % f % f % f % f %
24,5 7,0 44,2 12,7 68,0 19,5 109,3 31,2 102,8 29,4
When Table 3 is examined, it is observed that candidate teachers have a participatory learning style at a rate 60%. People with participatory style enjoy what they learn and the act of learning, and exhibit proactive participation in the activities.
Table 4: Passive learning style
1 2 3 4 5
f % f % f % f % f %
72 20,6375 86,625 24,825 69,75 19,9875 70,625 20,2375 49,75 24,35
When Table 4 is examined, it is observed that 44% of the candidate teachers are people with a passive learning style. People with a passive learning style do not like participating in activities, and do not have much desire to learn.
3.3. The findings from the third research problem
Findings of the research question 3, What is the level of candidate Turkish teachers with regards to cooperative-competitive learning styles?, are presented in Tables 5 and 6.
Table 5 : Cooperative learning style
1 2 3 4 5
f % f % f % f % f %
26,9 7,7 40,4 11,6 57,3 16,4 117,2 33,6 107,0 30,7
When Table 5 is examined, it is observed that candidate teachers have a cooperative learning style at a rate 63%. People with a cooperative learning style enjoy sharing the learning process with others and like to cooperate. These types of people are much efficient in group study. 4.
Table 6: Competitive learning style
1 2 3 4 5
f % f % f % f % f %
41,9 12,01 57,8 16,56 62,8 17,98 90,4 25,92 95,8 27,46
When Table 6 is examined, it is observed that candidate teachers have a competitive learning style at a rate of 52%. People with a competitive style always see the learning environment in a gain-loss dimension, and try to win. Therefore, their purpose in group studies is to win, i.e., to be ranked the first in their groups. 4. Conclusion and Discussion
The individual's awareness about his/her own cognitive capacity and trends in the learning process is very effective on his/her ability to access and use knowledge. Individuals who are aware of their cognitive abilities and learning styles have the opportunity to absorb and use the information they access much efficiently (Guven, 2004). Similarly, teachers affect their students' success positively by identifying the learning styles of their students and preparing education plans which suit such learning styles (Ozbek, 2006).
Each learning style has its own network of educational behaviors. Grasha (2002; 34) suggests that students with a cooperative learning style are inclined to share what they know and what they think. Students with an independent learning style prefer individual study. Students with a dependent learning style need a guide in their studies, and are inclined to learn only when it is necessary.
The researches carried out show that students do not have a single learning style, may have more than one learning style at the same time, and one of them is the dominant learning style (Temel, 2002). In this study where the learning styles of Turkish teacher candidates are examined, 63% of the teacher candidates stated they had an independent learning style, while 63% stated they had a cooperative learning style. Based on this result, it is understood that candidates attach importance to cooperative learning, however it can be assumed that they believe they can succeed in it under guidance.
When the attitudes of Turkish teacher candidates with regards to dependent - independent learning, it is seen that the rates of dependent and independent learning styles are close to each other. It is striking that 67% of the teacher candidate who are intended to gain constructivist and cooperative learning approaches in the faculties have a dependent and teacher-centered teaching approach. Yet, 59% of the teacher candidates' expressing that they have an independent learning style may be evaluated as a sign of the conflict of teacher- and student-centered teaching approaches in the classroom environment. While the academics in the educational faculties try to impose a student-centered teaching approach to teacher candidates on the one hand, it is understood that the effects of the past experiences of the teacher-centered teaching approach continue to prevail, on the other hand.
While 60% of the Turkish teacher candidates stated they had a participatory learning style, 44% expressed they had a passive learning style. The New Turkish Teaching Program has been enriched with activities that will foster a participatory and interactive classroom atmosphere. A great majority of the teacher candidates' possessing a participatory learning style may be interpreted as a sign that they will focus on this learning style in the school where they are going to work. 44% of the teacher candidates stating that they have a passive learning style indicates
that the constructivist learning approach has not yet been internalized perfectly and put into practice by the candidates.
The positive effects of the cooperative learning approach on academic success and attitude have been proved by several scientific studies. The teacher candidates in educational faculties and the teachers at schools are tried to be introduced and imposed the importance of cooperative learning through seminars and scientific publications. 63% of the teacher candidates' favoring cooperative learning approach which allows to share and spread labor and knowledge and 52% of the teacher candidates' favoring competitive learning approach may be interpreted as an indication of the fact that the teacher candidates continue to compete within the group even in cooperative studies.
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