Conducting science fair activities: Reflections of the prospective science teachers on their expectations, opinions, and suggestions regarding science fairs

To conclude, the aim of the current study was to understand prospective science teachers’ expectations, opinions, and suggestions regarding science fair practices. Within the scope of the study, it was hoped that giving prospective teachers opportunities to participate in science fairs would lead them to actively participate in science fairs in future. It is believed that it might be beneficial to provide prospective teachers with science fair opportunities within the scope of Community Service and/or Teaching Methods courses to help them gain rich experiences. Providing prospective teachers opportunities to develop their instructional skills in a community of practice situated in authentic activities is believed to help them learn to teach more effectively and gain broader perspectives. Moreover, creating such opportunities for students in schools through cooperation with universities might be fruitful both for prospective teachers and students in terms of supporting science education. It would also be appropriate to give seminars regarding science fair practices within the scope of teacher training programs. While planning these seminars, it might be recommended to take prospective teachers’ opinions about the difficulties they encountered during and their suggestions regarding science fair practices into consideration.

Finally, it should be noted that this study had some limitations. First, the data analysis lacked a strong discussion of efforts to verify the themes observed. Thus, future research is recommended to verify the themes through member checking. It is also suggested to interpret the experience more deeply with respect to the emotions involved. Exploring the possible origins, causes, and nature of prospective teachers’ feelings as well as how they relate to appreciation of science is believed to contribute to the findings of the study. Also, in addition to the prospective teachers, it is recommended to collect qualitative data from the participant students in order to understand possible contributions of science fairs on students’ learning.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Hüsnüye Durmaz is an assistant professor at the department of mathematics and science at the University of Trakya. Her research focuses on science education, chemistry education, and prospective teacher preparation. Her recent publication is on the effect of an instructional intervention on elementary students’ science process skills in the Journal of Educational Research, 2016.

Emrah Oğuzhan Dinçer is an assistant professor at the department of mathematics and science at the University of Trakya. Her research focuses on science education, physics education, and prospective teacher education.

Aslıhan Osmanoğlu is an assistant professor at the department of mathematics and science at the University of Trakya. Her research focuses on mathematics education, initial teacher education, and technology use in teacher education. Examples of her work can be found in various publications, including Teaching and Teacher Education, Educational Research, Education and Science, and Australian Journal of Teacher Education.