Science and Technology Teachers’ Views About the Causes of Laboratory Accidents

Abstract

Aim of this study was to determine science and technology teachers’ views about the causes of the problems encountered in laboratories. In this research, phenomenology, a qualitative research design, was used. 21 science and technology teachers who were working in elementary schools in Eskisehir during the 2010–2011 spring semester were the participants of this study. A semi-structured interview form was prepared to collect data. The interview form included three sections. Content analysis was used to deeply analyze and understand the written answers which were obtained from open ended questions. Approxiamately half of teachers expressed that, lack of caution and lack of necessary safety precautions were the causes of laboratory accidents. Moreover, they also expressed that, insufficient science content knowledge and lack of knowledge were influential in the problems encountered. It is thought that, the findings of this study will contribute to determining the causes of problems encountered in laboratories

Keywords

• Causes of problems encountered in laboratories, content analysis, science and technology teachers’ views