Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the characteristics of lessons developed by student
teachers for Teaching Practice Courses in the department of Elementary Science Education with regards to
certain variables such as their difficulties in composing theory/practice, their interactions with mentors, nature of
their teaching etc. The research design used for the study was a descriptive survey method. A questionnaire
composed of open-and closed-ended questions was administered to 24 science student teachers studying in the
last year of Elementary Science Education in a government university in Istanbul After the analysis of students’
answers to the questionnaire, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 3 student teachers selected from
the research group by means of the purposive sampling. Data were analyzed and interpreted by using
quantitative and qualitative methods. The findings revealed that there were difference among student teachers in
the quantity of hours taught in one semester because arbitrary applications of mentors. Nearly half of pre-service
teachers didn’t talk with their mentors about their lessons plans before their teaching. On the other hand, it is
very difficult to qualify that the recommendations and requests of mentors about student teachers’ lessons for
their pedagogical and professional development because mentors ask student teachers to teach for particularly
solving questions in exams.

Key words: Teaching practice, teacher education, elementary science education.