Determining the Concept of Organic Agriculture Perceptions of Pre-service Classroom and Science Teachers Using Phenomenographic Method

Abstract

This study was carried out to determine the perceptions of pre-service classroom and science teachers related to the
concept of organic agriculture. The sample of the study consisted of 85 pre-service teachers, 57 from the Department of
Classroom Teaching and 28 from the Department of Science Teaching in Ağrı İbrahim Çeçen University, in the
academic year of 2016-2017. In the study, a semi-structured questionnaire which includes the statement “To me,
organic agriculture means……” was used as data collection tool. In this study, the organic agriculture perceptions of
the pre-service teachers were determined under five main categories. The ratio of 'natural agriculture, which has the
highest percentage among these categories, is 41% among the pre-service classroom teachers while this ratio is 65%
among pre-service science teachers. It is among the recommendations of the study that the subjects related to organic
agriculture are removed from the elective courses and placed in the science curriculum.