Middle School Students’ Understanding of Scientific Inquiry: An Investigation of Gender, Grade Level and School Type

Yıl 2020, Cilt: 49, 162 - 189, 01.05.2020

Nihal Dogan Çiğdem Han Tosunoğlu Ferah Özer Banu Akkan

https://doi.org/10.9779/pauefd.515080

Cited By: 9

Öz

Scientific inquiry (SI) is one of the most important components in achieving the goal of scientifically literate students. Although it is expressed differently in terms of understanding and skill in curricula, it is obvious that students who have an adequate understanding of SI will develop the inquiry skills concurrently. Development of inquiry skills and understanding require careful planning and implementation of inquiry-based strategies and classroom practices. However, before planning and implementing the inquiry-based strategies there is a need for descriptive studies that examines the current state of students’ views in order to plan the quality and the content of the practices. Therefore, the aim of this study is to descriptively present the SI views of a total of n = 599 5^th, 6^th and 7th-grade students studying at five schools with different socio-economic status in Turkey. The primary data source of the study is the responses of students gathered from the Views About Scientific Inquiry (VASI), that is developed by Lederman et al. (2014), open-ended questionnaire. The results showed that middle school students' views about all aspects of SI are inadequate. Moreover, the in-depth analysis showed that the majority of students who hold informed views about SI are the 6th-grade students studying at upper-middle socioeconomic state schools.

Anahtar Kelimeler

scientific inquiry, middle school students, scientific literacy

Ortaokul Öğrencilerinin Bilimsel Sorgulama Görüşleri: Cinsiyet, Sınıf Düzeyi ve Okul Türü Değişkenlerinin İncelenmesi

Öz

Bilimsel
sorgulama (BS), bilim okuryazarı öğrencilerin hedefine ulaşmada en önemli
bileşenlerden birisidir. Öğretim programında ‘anlayış’ ve ‘beceri’ olarak
farklı ifade edilmiş olsa da BS hakkında bilinçli düzeyde görüşlere sahip olan
öğrencilerin bu konudaki becerilerinin de daha fazla gelişeceği açıktır.
Sorgulama becerilerinin ve anlayışının geliştirilmesi, sorgulamaya dayalı
stratejilerin ve sınıf içi uygulamalarının dikkatli bir şekilde planlanmasını
ve uygulanmasını gerektirir. Ancak, sorgulamaya dayalı stratejileri planlama ve
uygulama öncesinde, uygulamaların kalitesini ve içeriğini planlama adına
öğrencilerin bu konudaki hazırbulunuşluluklarını ve görüşlerini inceleyen
betimleyici çalışmalara ihtiyaç vardır. Bu nedenle bu çalışmanın amacı, sosyo ekonomik
düzeyleri farklı beş okulda öğrenim gören toplam n = 599 5, 6 ve 7. sınıf
öğrencilerinin bilimsel sorgulama hakkındaki görüşlerinin betimsel olarak
ortaya konulmasıdır. Çalışmanın birincil veri kaynağı, Lederman vd. (2014)
tarafından geliştirilen, açık uçlu Bilimsel Sorgulama Hakkında Görüşler
Anketi’ne (VASI) verilen öğrencileri yanıtlarıdır. Çalışma sonuçları,
ortaokul öğrencilerinin bilimsel sorgulamanın tüm bileşenleri hakkında
görüşlerinin yetersiz düzeyde olduğunu göstermiştir. Çalışmanın sonuçları
derinlemesine incelendiğinde ise, bilinçli düzeyde görüşlere sahip olan
ortaokul öğrencilerinin büyük bir kısmını, özellikle üst-orta sosyoekonomik
düzey okulların 6. sınıflarında öğrenim gören öğrencilerin oluşturduğu
görülmüştür.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Bilimsel Sorgulama, Ortaokul Öğrencileri

Kaynakça

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