PROSPECTIVE SCIENCE TEACHERS' UNDERSTANDING REGARDING STATIC AND KINETIC FRICTION
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Authors: Fulya Zorlu, Yusuf Zorlu
Keywords: frictional force, kinetic friction, science education, static friction
Abstract: The aim of this study is to determine and investigate prospective science teachers' understanding of static and kinetic friction topics. The study was performed with the participation of 32 prospective science teachers (5 males and 27 females) who were third-grade students in the faculty of education at a public university. In the research, there is a problem case related to static and kinetic friction and three parts related to this situation. The first section (applied force is 2 N), the force applied to a wooden block is smaller than the kinetic friction and the determination of the static friction, the second section (applied force is 6 N) is equal to the kinetic friction applied to the wooden wedge and the third section (applied force 9 N) It is related to the fact that the force applied to the wooden block is greater than the kinetic friction. The data obtained from the three sections were analyzed by content analysis method. According to results obtained from the study, it was understood that the prospect science teachers who participated in the study knew the frictional force as only kinetic friction and did not know the static friction comprehensively. According to results, it can be said that the prospect science teachers who participated in the research can explain the application of a force greater than kinetic friction to an object and know the concepts of kinetic friction and maximum friction correctly. It can be stated that some prospect science teachers did not know the friction force correctly. Therefore, it is necessary to teach subjects such as friction force comprehensively during the education and schooling period from mid-school to university education.