IMPLEMENTATIONS DIFFERENCES OF JIGSAW TECHNIQUE IN TEACHER EDUCATION: ONLINE OR FACE-TO-FACE?

The Covid-19 pandemic all over the world has led to a digital transformation in the learning-teaching process. When it comes to the 2021-2022 academic year, some institutions in higher education have completely switched to face-to-face education, while some institutions have started to carry out educational activities based on the hybrid education model. It can be argued that giving the lessons face-to-face or online, and synchronously and/or asynchronously online can bring about differences in practice and in the learning processes of students. Thus, the aim of this case study is to evaluate an implementation carried out by using the Jigsaw technique, one week face-to-face and one week online simultaneously within the scope of a subject of a course, from the perspective of students. The participants consist of 47 third-year pre-service teachers who attend the course of “Curricula of ICT” in the department of Computer Education and Instructional Technology in a state university in the 2021-2022 Fall Semester. Pre-service teachers were divided into groups of six or seven during the implementation process, which was carried out one week face-to-face and the other week online via Zoom using the Jigsaw technique. Although the subject that the groups discussed during the two weeks was the same, only the sub-topics of specialization were changed. After the implementation, the data were collected through the written reflection reports of the pre-service teachers and semi-structured interviews. The data were analyzed through content analysis using the Maxqda 2018 program.As a result of the analysis of the data, some of the pre-service teachers found the online lesson and some of the face-to-face lesson more advantageous or more disadvantageous regarding the implementation of the jigsaw technique. For example, advantages such as the ease of use of ICT in the collection, sharing, and reporting of data, the saving of time in the process, the more efficient the learning, and the better focus on the lesson were mentioned regarding the online implementation. In addition, it was stated that the online implementation has disadvantages such as not being able to manage time, not being able to read body language, not being able to make eye contact, experiencing distraction, and encountering infrastructure problems. In the face-to-face implementation, the pre-service teachers stated that they express themselves better by using body language and making eye contact in a more friendly environment and that more permanent learning was achieved, but they had more difficulty in collecting and reporting the data. On the other hand, there were also pre-service teachers who stated that there was no difference between face-to-face and online jigsaw applications. In addition, it has been revealed that the use of Jigsaw technique in learning-teaching processes, whether online or face-to-face, offers various opportunities to pre-service teachers.As a result, while planning the online or face-to-face use of the Jigsaw technique in learning-teaching processes in future studies, improvements can be made in the organization of the environment, considering the findings of this study and taking precautions over disadvantageous situations. Thus, it can be argued that a more effective and efficient learning-teaching process can be realized.