Abstract

This study reveals the transformation of prospective science teachers into knowledgeable individuals through classical, combination, and information theories. It distinguishes between knowledge and success, and between knowledge levels and success levels calculated each through three theories. The relation between the knowledge of prospective teachers and their cognitive functions is defined through the results gained from three theories, and a case study that collected data through problem solving techniques in the procedural knowledge of electricity. The results reveal that prospective teachers have problems with such knowledge, which may explain why cognitive automatism is not used. Since processes of understanding are not used in cognitive automatism, it appears that prospective teachers are individuals that may differ in terms of their learning but do not use their cognitive functions. The study suggests that if the knowledge levels of independent variables are increased, cognitive functions may develop.

Key words: Classical calculation, cognitive automatism, cognitive functions, combination calculation, information calculation.