Views of Science Teacher Candidates on First Aid Training

First aid is a vital point in terms of preventing accidents that may occur in school environments where students spend most of their time or applying the right intervention. In this context, the biggest responsibility is to fall on the teachers. All teachers should have first aid knowledge to respond to sudden accidents that may occur in school settings. In particular, this requirement becomes more prominent in terms of science teachers use and experimenting in laboratory environments. Accordingly, the aim of the study is to determine the opinions of prospective science teachers, who are future teachers, on this subject. Based on this purpose, a total of 12 science teacher candidates who study at a public university in Istanbul in the 2019-2020 academic year have been formed. Easily accessible case sampling was used to determine the sample. Focus group interviews were conducted with prospective teachers who voluntarily participated in the research. Content analysis, one of the qualitative research techniques, was used to analyze the data obtained from the interviews. The data obtained from the research were interpreted and suggestions for the research results were made. According to the data obtained from the focus group interview conducted to determine how science teacher candidates define the concept of first aid, according to the data obtained from the focus group meeting, it is seen that the pre-service teachers opinions about the importance of first aid education are those who define it as emergency response in case of traffic accidents. In the focus group meeting to determine the idea, it was advocated by all participants that it is important for correct and conscious intervention. In the focus group meeting aimed at determining the views of science teacher candidates for the provision of first aid education in the undergraduate programs, the idea of mandatory delivery of these trainings in science education was emphasized. In the focus group meeting applied to determine the subjects that they think should be known especially in the first aid training asked to the participant-learner candidates, it has been determined that the issues of basic life support and first aid in disaster situations are perceived as the leading topics. According to the fifth and last focus group meeting, the opinions of science teacher candidates about which technique or techniques should be given first aid education were determined. Accordingly, show-making and making use of mock-ups are among the techniques that are deemed important in the first aid education compared to the participant science teachers. First aid education to be given to science teacher candidates should be like a compulsory course, but this compulsory course is not like an ordinary lesson, but it is enriched with demonstration techniques, supported with mock-ups, visual materials, reinforcing with expert invitations, and even technological features such as simulation and arduino will prepare future teachers for situations that require first aid.