Examination of the Views of Science Teachers Trained in a Project on Socioscientific Issues

Abstract

Socioscientific issues (SSIs) have a scientific basis, have a dilemma in their nature and are often discussed under political and social influences. Teachers perceive SSIs as a difficult subject to teach. This project was carried out to guide teachers in overcoming this difficulty and to enable them to include practices that they can adapt more easily to their lessons. The purpose of the current study is to evaluate the views of science teachers on the teaching of SSIs and the project carried out within the scope of a funding project for teaching SSIs. The study was designed according to a single-group pre-test post-test experimental design. The study group the study comprises teachers from different branches of science (15 middle school science teachers, four biology teachers, three physics teachers and two chemistry teachers) from various provinces of Türkiye. As the data collection tools of the study, the Project Participation Form, the Scale of Views on Teaching Socioscientific Issues, the Know-Want-Learn Form and the Project Evaluation Form were used. Quantitative and qualitative data analysis methods were used together in the evaluation of the data. Because of the study, the implemented project activities contributed to the development of the participants’ views on the teaching of SSIs and caused a positive development in their views on the project. Suggestions were made considering the results of the project so that guidance could be provided for teachers and teacher educators.