The Effect of the Flipped Classroom Model on Pre-Service Teachers’ Digital Literacy and Digital Pedagogical Competencies

This study aims to analyze the effect of the flipped classroom model on the pre-service social studies teachers’ digital literacy and digital pedagogical competencies. The study employed one group pretest-posttest design, one of the weak experimental models. The working group of the study consisted of 28 sophomore studying at the department of social studies teaching in a Turkish state university during the 2019-2020 academic year. This study employed “Digital Literacy and Digital Pedagogic Competency Scales” as data collection tools. Descriptive statistics and multivariate variance analysis (MANOVA) were used during data analysis. The study results revealed that the flipped classroom model based activities had a significant impact upon the digital literacy and digital pedagogical competences of the participants. The study also examined whether there was a significant difference in pre-service teachers’ pre-test and post-test scores with regards to gender. A significant difference was identified across the pre-service teachers’ digital literacy post-test scores in favor of females. Based on the results, various recommendations were provided. educational digital pedagogical competence, web digital pedagogical competence and general digital pedagogical competence- were identified as .89, .81 and .76 (Yaman, Aydemir-İleri & Demirtaş, 2013). As a result of the confirmatory factor analysis performed by Yaman, Aydemir-İleri, and Demirtaş (2013), the fit indices were found at an acceptable level. 5 point likert type gradation was used to express agreement level. In this study, the Cronbach Alpha coefficient of the scale was examined and the Cronabch Alpha coefficient of the educational digital pedagogical competence sub-dimension was found .91, the web digital pedagogical competence sub-dimension was found .89, the general digital pedagogical competence sub-dimension was found .93 and the whole scale was found .95. Based on this result, the scale can be said to be reliable. Necessary permissions were obtained for the data collection tools. Confirmatory factor analysis was performed on both scales and a second level validity study was conducted. For this reason, analyses were made over the total score in the study.


Introduction
In the twenty-first century, great advances have been made in science and technology.
Developments in science and technology have affected people's lives and technology has gained a significant place in human life. Technology, which has such an important place in human life, has also affected educational research. Especially technological developments have made it necessary to organize technology-based teaching-learning environments. Scientists have developed studentcentered teaching-learning approaches by considering students' interests and needs based upon the technological developments and changes. One of them is the flipped classroom model. The flipped classroom model differs greatly from the traditional classroom model. Demiralay and Karataş (2014) defined the flipped classroom model as a "blended learning model" carried out the motivation of higher education students. On the other hand, Liu-Jie, Sheng-Quan & Shi-Deng (2021) revealed in their research that the flipped classroom model improves student participation and interaction outside of the classroom through peer coaching of students studying in higher education.
In the study conducted by Elian and Hamaidi (2018), it was concluded that the flipped classroom model significantly affected the academic achievement of students. Besides, Phoeun and Sengsri (2021), concluded in their research that the flipped classroom model improved students' attitudes towards speaking English in a positive way. In the study conducted by Tyger (2011) it was determined that the digital literacy levels of teacher candidates were low. In the research conducted by Tang and Chaw (2016), it was concluded that the hybrid learning model affects students' digital literacy.
Upon examining the related literature in Turkey, various studies were conducted to examine the effect of the flipped classroom model on pre-service teachers' attitudes towards geometry Studies revealed that using technology-based approaches in the teaching-learning process has numerous benefits (Debbağ, 2019;Özdemir, 2019). In this respect, it is fundamental to use technology-based teaching-learning approaches in teacher training programs and to conduct research in this line. Providing education to pre-service teachers who will raise new generations based on contemporary and technology-based approaches may contribute to the development of their digital literacy and digital pedagogical competences. Thus, pre-service teachers can acquire the 21st century skills and equip students with these skills when they begin their teaching. In this respect, the results of this study are expected to contribute to the relevant literature. Especially the activities based on the flipped classroom model will shed light on the faculty instructors working in teacher training programs. Besides, this study is thought to guide scientists who are willing to work in this field.
According to the previous studies' findings, it can be said that some socio-demographic variables are effective on digital literacy and digital pedagogical competence. One of these variables is the gender variable. It can be stated that especially gender roles affect individuals' access to digital technology. As a matter of fact, it can be stated that the patriarchal nature of the social structure in Turkey causes men to use digital technology more. When the studies conducted in Turkey were examined, it was found that there was a significant difference in favor of men in terms of digital literacy levels (Aslan & Aybek, 2020;Aslan, 2021;Bayrakcı & Narmanlıoğlu, 2021;Göldağ, 2021;Yazıcıoğlu, Yaylak & Genç, 2020). Likewise, in the study conducted by Bilge and Kılcan (2021), there was a significant difference in favor of males in terms of students' attitudes towards e-literacy.
Based on these results, it was examined whether the digital literacy and digital pedagogical competencies of pre-service teachers differed significantly in terms of gender in this study.
This study aims to analyze the effect of the flipped classroom model on the pre-service social studies teachers' digital literacy and their digital pedagogical competences. In this regard, answers to the following questions were sought: Is there a significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores of the experimental group regarding digital literacy and digital pedagogical competence scales?
Do the pre-test and post-test scores of the experimental group regarding digital literacy and digital pedagogical competence scales significantly differ across gender?

Research Model
This study utilized an experimental research model. Experimental research is a systematic model used by researchers to manipulate one or more variables and to control the rest of the variables (Özdemir & Doğruöz, 2020). A weak experimental design was used in the present study. In weak experimental designs, external variables or situations that may threaten the internal validity of the study cannot be controlled (Şahin, 2019). Weak experimental designs are used in situations in which the conditions in the field of education are unfavorable and the number of participants is low (Şahin, 2019). This study employed a weak experimental design since the number of participants was insufficient. The one-group pretest-posttest design is usually the one in which the experimental process is carried out on a single group and the group is measured twice (Şata, 2020). One group

Participants
The participants consisted of 28 sophomore pre-service teachers studying at the department of social studies teaching in a Turkish state university during the 2019-2020 academic year.
Convenience sampling method was used while determining the sample. In this sampling method, the researcher includes the participants in the immediate surroundings that s/he can reach (Özkan, 2019).
This study used the convenience sampling method as the pre-service teachers studying at the department of social studies teaching, which could be easily reached by the researcher, participated in the study. The working group held 17 female and 11 male pre-service teachers. Necessary permissions were obtained before the study was conducted. During data collection process, participant consent forms were distributed and signed to the teachers. The decision of the ethics committee was also taken (Number: E-87432956-050.99-173705).

Data Analysis
At first, the data were analyzed to determine as to whether the univariate normality assumption was met. The Shapiro-Wilks test was examined in terms of whether the univariate normality assumption was met or not. Seçer (2015) suggested that the sample should be 50 at most to use the Shapiro-Wilks test. As the number of the pre-service teachers in the experimental group was less than 50, the Shapiro-Wilks analysis result was examined in the present study. As a result of the analysis, the digital pedagogical competence pretest score (

Results
This section presents the results of the analyses related to the sub-problems of the study separately.   linearity, multiple correlation problem and homogeneity of variance-covariance matrices were examined and it was found that all these assumptions were not violated. Therefore, the Wilks'

Findings Regarding the Difference between Pretest and Posttest Scores of the Experimental Group
Lambda test was analyzed. A statistically significant difference was identified across the pre-test and post-test scores of the experimental group in terms of the combined dependent variables (F (1-54) =12.6, p=.00; Wilks' Lamda=.6; ƞ 2 =.32). Given the ANOVA results presented in Table 2 for the dependent variables, a significant difference was determined between the experimental group's digital literacy  Table 3 displays the one-way between groups MANOVA results related to whether there was a significant difference between pretest and posttest scores of the pre-service teachers in the experimental group in terms of their gender. As is seen in Table 3, one-way between groups MANOVA analysis was conducted in order to reveal whether there was a difference between the digital literacy and digital pedagogical competences pre-test and post-test scores of the experimental group in terms of their gender. In oneway between groups MANOVA analysis, digital literacy and digital pedagogical competences scales were dependent variables, while the experimental group's gender was an independent variable. Before executing one-way between groups MANOVA, the assumptions of normality, univariate and multivariate extreme values, linearity, multiple correlation problem and homogeneity of variancecovariance matrices were examined and it was found that all these assumptions were not violated. whereas a low level of effect on digital pedagogical pretest and posttest scores.

Discussion
The scientific and technological developments in the twenty-first century have made an effect on the field of education along with all areas of life. The need for organizing learning-teaching environments has sprung so that individuals can keep up with technological developments in the field of education. In this fashion, the demands of the Z generation will be met. The most prominent feature of Generation Z is their persistent use of digital technology in their daily lives (Polakova & Klimova, 2019;Pousson & Myers, 2018). Thus, this study attempts to develop the Generation Z pre-service teachers' digital literacy and their digital pedagogical competences.
The first problem of the study was constructed to uncover whether there was a significant difference between the digital literacy and digital pedagogical competence pretest and posttest scores of the experimental group. The analysis results demonstrated a significant difference in favor of the posttest scores of the pre-service teachers in the experimental group. Rested on this result, it may be wise to mention that the flipped classroom model applied in the experimental group had a significant effect on the pre-service teachers' digital literacy and digital pedagogical competences. The flipped classroom model is a student-centered teaching-learning approach based on technology. In studentcentered approaches, students are both physically and mentally active during the teaching-learning process. What is more, students are responsible for their own learning in student-centered approaches (Bayrakçeken, Doymuş & Doğan, 2015;Flumerfelt & Green, 2013;Foldnes, 2016). Similarly, student-centered activities based on the flipped model were applied to the pre-service teachers in the experimental group in order to enable them to be active in the process and to be responsible for their own learning in the present study. Also, the flipped classroom model allows students to practice in the classroom. Not only students are more active in the classroom but also time is used effectively by the teacher in the flipped classroom model (Aslan, 2021;Bishop & Verleger, 2013). Hence, this study