High school science teachers’ views on science process skills

Abstract

The current research is a descriptive study in which a survey model was used. The research involved chemistry (n=26), physics (n=27), and biology (n=29) teachers working in Science High Schools and Anatolian High Schools in Turkey. An inventory that consisted of seven questions was designed to ascertain teachers’ think about the importance of science process skills in teaching science, to identify the frequency of these skills and the problems teachers encounter during their practice in class, and to specify their identification levels on these skills. The results of the study showed that these skills in general have a positive effect on teaching science and that the in-class activities promote conceptual learning. Most of the teachers participated in the study argued that these skills can only be gained effectively through laboratory activities in which both teachers and students engage; and almost all of them thought that central-examination-based teaching poses a great obstacle. Teachers are more successful in identifying skills of observing, predicting, experimenting, and inferencing than other skills.