Improving Science Process Skills in Science and Technology Course Activities Using the Inquiry Method

Abstract

The vision of science and technology curriculum is to raise students as science literate individuals. In this curriculum the importance of science literate individuals having scientific process skills and using the inquiry method as a teaching method during lessons are frequently emphasized. However, when the level of incorporation of this method in the books which are the main resources for the courses is examined, it is seen that the experiments in the books tended to be at the structured inquiry level and therefore, can make students acquire limited basic skills. In this study designed to make prospective classroom teachers realize what new experiments they can develop by adopting a critical look at the experiments in textbooks, the prospective teachers developed experiments at different levels of inquiry, identified the science process skills which can be developed using these experiments, and expressed the understanding they developed with this practice. The prospective teachers who identified the number of science process skills students can acquire thanks to the experiments they developed at the structured, guided and open inquiry levels realized that the higher the openness level of the inquiry applied, the higher number of skills students can develop. This research utilized case study which is one of qualitative research designs. The content analysis was applied to the data obtained from the prospective teachers' views. Under the theme of understanding the applications the categories of “perspectives on experiments” and perspectives on methods” were created. As a result of this research, conducting the experiments included in the course books at different levels of inquiry, the prospective teachers realized the skills that can be developed in students, the relation of these experiments with the daily life, and the fact that conducting experiments can increase students’ interest in the course. Moreover, thanks to these activities, the prospective teachers adopted the inquiry approach and they developed self-confidence in applying this approach.