Abstract
Investigate of Postgraduate Dissertations on the Curricula of Physics, Chemistry and Biology Courses
The aim of this study is to reveal the tendency of postgraduate dissertations on the
curricula of physics, chemistry and biology courses in high schools of Turkey. In parallel
with the aim of this study, the research subject, research method, sampling, study group,
data collection tools and distribution in data analysis techniques of the aforementioned
postgraduate dissertations were examined. In this study using of screening model, 80
theses including 47 master’s theses and 33 doctoral theses were examined. For data
analysis, document analysis and content analysis methods were applied. According to
the conclusions of this study, curriculum assessment, academic achievement, learning
approaches, teaching models, teaching methods and techniques, coursebook analyses,
teaching materials and attitude research were the most frequently used subjects in
postgraduate dissertations. Quantitative research method, qualitative research method
and mixed research method were most applied methods respectively in these dissertations.
In quantitative research, survey model ranked first and experimental model ranked second
while case study model in qualitative research was the most preferred model. Majority
of sampling/study groups in these dissertations is comprised of students and teachers. As
data collection tools, scales, interviews, questionnaires, achievement tests, documents
and observation techniques were mostly used. As for data analysis techniques, descriptive
statistical techniques and parametric statistical techniques came first. In descriptive
statistics, percentage, frequency, arithmetic mean, standard deviation ranked first while
in parametric statistics t-test and ANOVA were mostly chosen. Except for descriptive
statistics in qualitative aspect, descriptive analysis and content analysis were used. In
line with the results of this research; it is suggested that experimental models, qualitative
and mixed research methods should be given more place in researches; the number of
postgraduate studies in physics, chemistry and biology courses in high schools should
be increased; research subjects should be determined in a way that contributes to the
related fields and should be original; various and appropriate sampling groups should be preferred in order to determine sampling groups; data collection tools should be varied,
data analysis parts should be stated in a more explanatory and detailed way; correct data
analysis methods should be chosen, and similar research should be performed on articles
and academic proceedings carried out in the related field.
Keywords
Curriculum, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Postgraduate Thesis.
