Examination of Preservice Teachers’ Views on Peer Learning

This study aimed to examine the preservice teachers’ views on the process after entering Code.org and block-based programming (Scratch) training programs, which are carried out by the peer learning method. The study group of the research consists of 41 preservice teachers at the Computer Education and Instructional Technologies departments of a state university and took the Special Teaching Methods 2 course in the spring semester of the 2017−2018 academic year. Considering the criteria determined by the researcher, 7 preservice teachers were selected as educators. As students, 34 preservice teachers participated in the study. In this study, a qualitative research method was used to determine the opinions of preservice teachers on the Code.org and Scratch training programs, which are carried out by the peer learning method. As a data collection tool, the opinion form for the Code.org training programs, the structure of opinion determination on the Scratch training programs, and the personal information form were used. The total duration of the study consists of eight weeks. Data from the preservice teachers were collected weekly using data collection tools and a content analysis technique used in the analysis of the data. At the end of the study, the opinions of the preservice teachers on the study conducted with the peer learning method were determined. It can be said that preservice teacher generally has positive views on peer learning and are satisfied with the peer learning method.


Introduction
Constructivism, one of the most used pedagogical approaches, has a social learning process in principle. There are many methods used under this scope. One of them is peer learning. The concepts of constructivism and peer learning have been explained within this context.

Constructivism
Constructivism is a teaching and learning approach based on the assumption that learning (cognition) results from "mental structure". Learners learn by combining their previous knowledge with new information. Advocates of constructivism believe that learning is also influenced by the beliefs and attitudes of students as well as the context of teaching a thought. In psychology, constructivism is a learning theory that explains how people can acquire knowledge and learn. The theory suggests that people generate knowledge and meaning from their experiences. Piaget's Constructivist learning theory has a broad impact on learning theories and teaching methods in education and is an underlying theme in many educational reform movements (Bada & Olusegun, 2015).
The constructivist perspective supports students to learn through interaction with others. Students work together as peers and apply their combined knowledge to the solution of the problem. The dialogue resulting from this combined effort offers students the opportunity to test and refine their understanding in a continuous process (Tam, 2000). negotiate with others, and socially evaluate their contributions. This is important for real-world success, as they will always have a variety of experiences where they will have to collaborate with others and examine the opinions of others (Bada & Olusegun, 2015). A good introduction answers these questions in just a few pages and, by summarizing the relevant arguments and the past evidence, gives the reader a firm sense of what was done and why (Beck & Sales, 2001, pp. 100−102). The concept of peer learning has been analyzed below as it is significant to use the method of peer learning in which cooperation is critical and employed.

Peer Learning
Peer learning is defined as creating knowledge and skills through interaction between people who have similar characteristics or share a similar situation and in which no one acts as the professional teacher (Topping, 2005). The peer learning method involves asking students a question, giving them time to think, followed by discussing their answers with a peer, and finally explaining the results to the whole class (Zhu, 2007). The main goal of peer learning is to use student interaction during lessons and focus students' attention on basic concepts (Mazur, 1999). Discussions amongst peers enable them to get rid of monotonous learning, ultimately thinking for themselves and expressing their thoughts instead of simply absorbing the materials (Mazur, 1999). Topping argues that if peer learning is used in a planned way, it will support learning (Topping, 2005). The peer training method supports the development of knowledge and skill of both the teacher and student, which is why it should be encouraged to benefit from peer education (Rees, Quinn, Davies, & Fotheringham, 2016). In their study, Bene and Bergus (2014) stated that similar studies have shown that peer education positively affects teachers and students. Brannagan et al. (2013) however, argued that students who study with their peers may be more anxious than the lesson taught with the teacher. The reason for this anxiety potentially being due to the insufficient training of the educators. ChanLin (2012) states in his study that the interaction and collaborative process between peers contributes to the achievement of the academic goals of learning. Michinov, Brunot, Le Bohec, Juhel and Delaval (2011) stated in their study that the interaction of students with their peers is also a practical way of learning in an online environment. Puzziferro (2008) says that peer interaction has become a fundamental and widely accepted method for encouraging social participation in distance education environments. Knobe et al. (2010) pointed out that those who benefit most from the peer learning method are the teaching students who take part in peer education. It can be said that peer learning can make a very positive contribution among teaching students.
It is crucial to carry out activities and sample studies to improve the knowledge and skill of teachers and students about peer education (AbdulRaheem, Yusuf, & Odutayo, 2017). There are many advantages of peer learning (Mazur, 1997) however, more research is needed to make full use of the opportunities that the peer learning method can provide preservice teachers (Stenberg & Carlson, 2015). Exploring the use of this method and the options and effects it carries further will contribute to this topic's place within the literature.

Purpose of the Research
This study aims to examine preservice teachers' views on the process after entering Code.org and block-based programming training programs, which are carried out by the peer learning method. For this purpose, we looked for an answer to the following questions. 1) What are the satisfaction levels of the preservice teachers regarding the training programs carried out with the peer learning method?
2) What are the opinions of the preservice teachers about the training programs carried out with the peer learning method?

Method
In this study, a qualitative research method was used to determine the opinions of preservice teachers on Code.org and block-based programming training programs carried out with the peer learning method.

Working Group
The study group of this research consists of preservice teachers of the Department of Computer Education and Instructional Technology studying at a state university at a higher education level. They have also undertaken the 'Special Teaching Methods '2' course in the spring semester of the 2017−2018 academic year. Among the preservice teachers, 41 people, 24 (%) male, and 17 (%) female, seven preservice teachers were chosen as educators by the researcher. The other 34 preservice teachers participated in the study as students.

Educator Selection in Peer Learning
The researcher selected preservice teachers who had experience in block-based coding and Code.org to select pinions of the p g block-based p ed by the resea ection of stude held for three ut on the Code data, the bloc e then asked t ramming (Scr g program with

Prepar
The prese preservice chosen aim material o educators.

Data A
Content an organized researcher researcher

The Ro
During the a guide by

RQ1: Regarding
Findings r of the part The averag block-base  Vol. 10, No. 3;2021 program period and the overall peer learning method. The obtained data is explained below.  As indicated in Table 4, in the weekly distribution of preservice teachers' opinions regarding the process of teaching block-based programming, for week 4, it is seen that of the participants, 26.32% have found it enjoyable, 26.32% good, 15.79% beneficial, 17.79% informative, 5.26% successful, 5.26% didactic, and 5.26% easy. In week 5, 20% of the preservice teachers found it fun, 20% good, 16.67% useful, 30% informative, 3.33% successful, 3.33% impressive, 3.33% slow and 3.33% of them found it to be creative. Looking at week 6, it is seen that 30.43% of the preservice teachers found it enjoyable, 34.78% good, 26.09% useful, 4.35% challenging and 4.35% insufficient. As indicated in Table 5, 87.50% of the preservice teachers have positive and 12.50% negative views regarding the peer learning process. The statements of some of the preservice teachers who share these views have been stated. One of the preservice teachers said (P7) "There is nothing negative, I find peer learning to be useful in terms of asking questions to our friends more easily." In his statement he reported that asking questions to his peers is easier thanks to the peer learning process. Another preservice teacher (P21) stated that peer learning facilitates a straightforward learning process with the statement "it provides easy learning". One of the teachers said (P3) "It is easier and more efficient to get help from our friends when we get stuck." He states that getting help from his peers is easy and efficient. Another preservice teacher (P11) states that there is a feeling of enjoyable solidarity: "We have done it together with great fun and helped each other". One of the preservice teachers (P37): "I am very pleased with the lessons we have undertaken with our friends." Another preservice teacher (P27) stated that "It is very useful for learning together", another preservice teacher (P15) said "In my opinion, peer learning is quite useful and makes the lessons more understandable". With his expression, he that peer learning is useful as it makes the lessons more understandable. On the other hand, one of the participants (P35) stated that peer learning is not beneficial by saying, "It is not very useful." Another participant (P25) expressed that the content of the teaching program did not start from a sufficient level for himself/herself by saying, "They started from simple examples, and it was easy and boring as we had already known them."

RQ1: Findings on the Research Question "What Are the Satisfaction Levels of the Preservice Teachers Regarding the Training Programs Carried out with the Peer Learning Method?" Are Presented Below
The average satisfaction level of the participants with the platform of teaching programming is determined as 3.89 when evaluated from 1 to 5. Within this context, it is seen that participants were highly satisfied with the process of teaching programming. Likewise, the average satisfaction level is determined as 4.37 out of 5 when the data on teaching block-based programming is evaluated. In this regard, it is seen that participants were highly satisfied with the process of teaching block-based programming carried out with the peer learning method.

RQ2: Findings on the Research Question "What Are the Opinions of the Preservice Teachers on the Training Programs Carried out with the Peer Learning Method?" Are Presented Below
When the opinions of preservice teachers regarding the Code.org training programs are examined, it is seen that they are gathered around the perception of good, useful, fun, intense, instructive, successful, long, difficult, sufficient, boring and consistent. When the distribution of these perceptions is examined, it is seen that they reinforce the perception that the Code.org training program can be considered positive for learning.
It is seen that the opinions grouped as good, useful and entertaining each week are more significant than the other more negative perceptions. Concluding from this data, it can be said that preservice teachers see the peer learning method used in the Code.org training program to be a more enjoyable, beneficial and pleasant learning method.
When the opinions of preservice teachers regarding the block-based (Scratch) training program are examined, it is seen that the impressions "fun", "good", "useful", "informative", "successful", "educational", "easy", "instructive", "successful", "impressive", "slow", "creative", "challenging" and "inadequate" are present. Looking at the distributions, negative impressions are mentioned very little for this program. In general, it is detected that most of the preservice teachers share positive thoughts. It is seen that the impressions "fun", "good" and "useful" are more prominent than other impressions every week.
It can be concluded that preservice teachers find the peer learning method used in the block-based programming training program to be good and useful for their learning.
The collected data on the opinions of the preservice teachers on the peer learning method (87.5%) show that the majority had a positive opinion on the use of this method.
When we look at the positive thoughts on the peer learning method, it is seen that preservice teachers can communicate with their peers more easily and without hesitation. This way, they can communicate their problems comfortably and solve them by discussing them together, enjoying a fun process with their peers, and learning becomes more efficient. Opposing this point of view, a small percentage of preservice teachers (12.5%) are bored with this program and do not find it useful.
Studies are showing that the use of peer learning methods has a positive effect on students (Bene & Bergus, 2014). Consequently, our own results are aligned with those found in Bene & Bergus's study. During the block-based training program it is found that preservice teachers use expressions such as "insufficient", "boring", "slow" and "hard" Brannagan et al. (2013) stated that in their study, students were more anxious and stressed during the peer learning method. It was stated that the reason for this situation might be due to the insufficient level of educators. Contrary, preservice teachers in our study did not think that the educators were at an insufficient level, only 12.5% mentioning the words "insufficient", "boring", "slow" and "challenging". Brannagan et al. (2013), however, show that if educators are selected carefully, with the criteria determined by the study's researcher, they are found to be at a sufficient level. It was found that 87.5% of the preservice teachers who participated in the study had a positive opinion about the process. This finding can be in connection with the fact that peer learning stated in the literature supports improving students' knowledge and skills (Rees, Quinn, Davies, & Fotheringham, 2016) and increases peer interaction which is significant for academic success (Bohec, Juhel, & Delaval, 2011;ChanLin, 2012). The Preservice teachers who interacted with their peers in the peer learning method expressed that this method has been beneficial to them. This study was conducted in order to determine the opinions of preservice teachers about the peer learning method. As a result of the study, it was found that preservice teachers generally had positive views on peer learning. In conclusion, the use of the peer learning method on preservice teachers should be supported, and peer learning should be encouraged.

Suggestions
Peer learning is a method that can be viewed positively by preservice teachers. It is a teaching method that every student can complete without getting bored and collaboration is carried out effortlessly. Therefore, an efficient peer to peer interaction is ensured, ultimately affecting students in a positive way. Research on peer learning provides guidance for practitioners that want to use this method.
In this sense, studies that deal with different variables related to the peer learning method should be carried out to guide both practitioners and those working within this field. If collaborative work is considered, the peer learning method can be seen as an effective method of carrying this out. It is important to carry out similar studies in other disciplines of education.