摘要：The objective of this study is to present the perceptions of preservice social sciences teachers regarding the concept of geography. In the study, the study group consists of 46 preservice social sciences teachers, who receive education at Ahi Evran University. The data were collected in December, 2010. Mind maps were used as data collection tools and the preservice teachers were presumed to use the concept of geography as the main idea. The study is a qualitative research design.The collected data were analysed with the content analysis technique. According to the findings, preservice social sciences teachers used 245 concepts on their mind maps, regarding the concept of geography. These concepts were examined in terms of their common traits and put into six different conceptual categories. It was determined that preservice social sciences teachers placed the concept of geography into 18 different visual elements on their mind maps. Usually, it was observed that preservice teachers highly associate the concept of geography with the concepts of physical geography.
关键词：Geography education; perception of geography; mind maps; social studies teacher
