Preservice teachers’ cognitive structures related to heat and temperature concepts

The purpose of this study was to determine the preservice teachers’ cognitive structures related to heat and temperature concepts. The study group was comprised of preservice teachers. The convenience sampling method was used to determine the study group. Word association test prepared by the researchers was used as a data collection tool. Cut-off point technique was employed to examine the cognitive structures. The frequency table was prepared by evaluating the responses of each stimulus words given by the researchers in the word association test. Content analysis was used to analyze the data. At the end of the study, preservice teachers’ cognitive structures related to the heat and temperature concepts were revealed. In addition, the findings obtained through content analysis showed that preservice teachers’ cognitive structures were insufficient. The findings about preservice teachers’ cognitive structures were compared with the studies in the literature and were discussed in details.