SOBİD Project 1st Professional Development Program

Within the scope of the SOBİD project titled "Design and Implementation of a Climate Change Teaching Module with a Socioscientific Issues-Based Teaching Approach," carried out under the TÜBİTAK-supported 3501 – Career Development Program, the first teacher professional development program was held in person at Bahçeşehir University on 17-21 February 2024.

On the first day of the SOBİD Project professional development program, a general introduction to the project was given, and a pre-test was administered to the teachers before the program began. An icebreaker game was played with the science and social studies teachers who came from different districts and schools across Istanbul. This was followed by sessions and station activities on climate change, basic climate concepts and mechanisms, and the impacts of climate change.

On the second day of the program, sessions were held on the scope and rationale of environmental education and climate change education, climate literacy, and socioscientific issues-based education, and socioscientific issues-based examples were examined through group work.

On the third day of the program, socioscientific issues-based examples related to climate change were examined through group work, and the pedagogical approach of socioscientific issues-based education was discussed. In the final session of the day, the template for the lesson plans to be developed by the teachers was introduced.

The last two days of the program were devoted to module development sessions. Working in small groups with teachers from their own schools, the participating teachers selected a topic covering the impacts of climate change in Türkiye and developed lesson plans as a team. At the end of each of the two days, the teams shared their work with the Project Coordinator Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nilay Öztürk and the project researchers Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yasemin Özdem Yılmaz and Assist. Prof. Dr. Gaye Defne Ceyhan. Following the presentations, the teachers received feedback.

Throughout the project, the project's scholarship holders Ayşe Gül Çelenk, Naz Fulya Çibik and Nazmiye Ertuğrul also supported the project. The professional development program came to a close, with participants looking forward to meeting again at the project sessions to be held at the end of February and the beginning of March.