Evaluating Information Technology Teacher Training Undergraduate Programs in Turkey
The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the undergraduate program of the Computer Education and Instructional Technology (CEIT) Department. CEIT department is an undergraduate program that trains information technology teachers. The study group of the study, which was designed according to the descriptive research model, was consisted of 461 CEIT graduates, who were selected by using the convenience sampling methods. Three instruments were used to collect data; a “Personal Information Form”, the “Pedagogical Competence Perception Scale for the CEIT Graduates”, the “Technological Competence Perception Scale for the CEIT Graduates”. The data collection tools were developed by the researchers.
When the results of the study are evaluated it is seen that the CEIT curriculum supports the participants in the acquisition of pedagogical competence more than the acquisition of the technological competence. When the pedagogical competence perceptions of the graduates are considered, it is seen that the graduates have high level competence perceptions about “Educational Planning and implementation, developing educational software and materials, educational communication competences, security and ethics in the use of information and communication technologies during the educational process, planning and implementation of the projects”. When their perceptions of their technological competence are examined, it is seen that the graduates have moderate level of competence perceptions about “ability to solve problems in relation to the hardware installation and using visual software”, while they have low level of competence perceptions about “ability to use system software and security of network and system”.
In this study, it was understood that the undergraduate program of the CEIT department, which trains future teachers of information technologies courses, is more sufficient in terms of developing pedagogical competence and less sufficient in terms of developing technological competence in students. In this context, the contents of the courses in the CEIT undergraduate program should be updated. Additionally, some studies should be conducted in order to develop the technological competence skills of the students attending the department.