An investigation on constructivist classroom characteristics in ELT methodology II courses

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2003
Kesal, Füsun
The purpose of this study was to investigate to what extent constructivist classroom characteristics existed in ELT Methodology II courses in ELT departments. Secondly, the aim was to explore the extent to which constructivist learning activities and evaluation strategies were perceived to be useful by the students and the instructors. Thirdly, the study also attempted to find out the extent to which the students and the instructors in ELT departments had constructivist conceptions of learning and teaching. Finally, it was aimed to find out whether students̕ perception of constructivist classroom characteristics differed according to certain variables such as university, sex, type of high school the students graduated from, expected average score in the course and perceived competency in English. Subjects of the study involved 410 students taking ELT Methodology II course (Özel Ögretim Yöntemleri II) during 2001-2002 academic year in ELT departments of four universities (Middle East Technical University, Gazi University, Çukurova University and Dicle University) and 15 instructors teaching this course at these universities. Data were collected between May ا July 2002 through administration of a questionnaire (Constructivist Classroom Characteristics Questionnaire) to the students, interviews with the students and the instructors and observation of students̕ microteaching practices in ELT Methodology II classes. Data analysis was carried out through both quantitative (frequencies, means, standard deviations, one-way ANOVA) and qualitative analysis techniques. The results of the study indicated that majority of the students and the instructors perceived the classroom characteristics to be constructivist although there were a few differences in their perceptions. Observations of microteaching also showed that classroom characteristics were constructivist with respect

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Citation Formats
F. Kesal, “An investigation on constructivist classroom characteristics in ELT methodology II courses,” Ph.D. - Doctoral Program, Middle East Technical University, 2003.