Investigation of the Cognitive Structures of Prospective Preschool Teachers on the Concepts of Circle, Disk and Annulus with the Word Association Test*

This study aimed to investigate the cognitive structures of prospective preschool teachers and to identify their misconceptions about the concepts of circle, disk and annulus. In the study, the Word Association Test was used as the data collection instrument. The study was conducted in the fall semester of the 2014-2015 academic year with the participation of 120 prospective preschool teachers. The prospective teachers were presented with three basic geometrical concepts frequently used in preschool education and were requested to write down the words each key concept evoked in order of significance within 30 seconds. Their replies were matched with the key concepts and converted into a frequency table and concept maps that represent the cognitive structures of the prospective preschool teachers were constructed based on this frequency table. The cutoff point method was used in the construction of the concept maps. The cutoff point is designated as a value three-five lower than the number of answers for each key concept and is determined by reducing this value by designated intervals until all key concepts are revealed. The first part is constructed by recording the key concepts and the answers above the cutoff point. In the concept map generated through this method, all the parts were constructed by determining all the answers given by the prospective teachers for the key concepts. Data analysis showed that the prospective preschool teachers associated the geometrical concepts of circle, disk and annulus mostly with examples from daily life, had misconceptions about the key concepts and had difficulty in differentiating between these concepts. Keywords: misconception, word association test, circle, disk, annulus