The effects of elective courses on the personal development of prospective teachers

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the contribution of the elective courses, which were selected by the students themselves, to students' personal development during their undergraduate education. The study was carried out with 51 senior students studying at Faculty of Education, Turkish Education Department at Giresun University in Turkey. The research was carried out using a cross-sectional survey model as one of the qualitative research methods. A questionnaire was used as a data collection tool, consisting of multiple-choice and open-ended questions. In the analysis of the data, firstly frequency analysis for multiple choice questions was utilized and then it was presented by showing the percentage and frequency values on the table In the evaluation of open-ended questions, content analysis was used. The results gathered in the analysis of the data have been shown in graphs and tables for both visualization and for a more objective presentation. As a result, it is seen that it is common among the students that the number of elective courses is adequate for students, but that some courses cannot be selected by the students because of quota restrictions and that the elective courses should support the cultural development of the students and that the majority of the elective courses are not interdisciplinary. Also, almost 50 of these students thought that these courses do not contribute to their intellectual development at all. It is believed that the achieved results are expected to contribute to the teaching staff, especially to university administrators, in terms of reflecting the expectations and beliefs of the students on the creation and implementation of new elective courses in the restructured undergraduate programs.