New Perspectives in Science Education

In education process both teaching and learning are fundamental factors. One school of thought says that effective teachers can bring good results whereas other school of thought claims that success depends mostly upon the learners’ effort and potential. There has been variety of teacher training strategies and at the same time there are different theories and strategies of learning. The current experimental study was conducted to explore the effectiveness of concept maps for pre-service program in Pakistan. Concept maps are graphical devices for arranging and linking information. These are utilized for creating connections between concepts in the form of connected boxes. One group Pre-test, Post-test design of experiment was utilized for the study. The course of “Teaching of General Science” was taught to 30 MA Education female students at International Islamic University Islamabad, for every concept the students were given the task to create their concept maps. The feedback was provided to them and they were given guidelines to re-design their concept maps.  After administering the pre-test the students were taught the course for 8 weeks by assigning them to construct their Concept Maps and post-test was taking as a mid-term exam. The data were analyzed by using t-Test. There was significant difference in the mean scores of pre-test and post-test, which strengthens the notion that Concepts Maps promote effective learning in pre-service teacher education in the subject of Teaching of General Science. The results pave the way for the utilization of concept maps as an effective strategy for making students’ learning effective at pre-service teacher education in Pakistan.

Keywords: Effectiveness, Concept Maps, Teaching of General Science, Experimental Study, Pakistan