Science and technology teachers’ attitudes towards educational research in Turkey

Scientific research is conducted in the field of education in order to produce theoretical information about education, specify the problems, and propose solutions to these problems (McMillan & Schumacher, 2010; Yıldırım, Ilhan, Sekerci, & Sozbilir, 2014). However, many studies show that there is a gap between educational research and practice (Greenwood & Maheadly, 2001; McIntyre, 2005; Vanderlinde & van Braak, 2010). For example, Kempa (2002) argues that scientific research topics have mostly been those that generally receive little attention from teachers. However, education researchers and teachers have commented that formal school education is not sufficiently based on scientific research findings (McIntyre, 2005). These negative viewpoints of the implementers (such as teachers and school principals) towards educational research are regarded as one of the most important reasons for the gap between research and practice (Kaestle, 1993; Gore & Gitlin, 2004; Yıldırım et al., 2014).

According to Zeuli (1994), teachers can be classified into two groups with regard to their opinion of educational research. For the first group of teachers, in order to consider research valuable or to use the outcome of the study, it is necessary that the research focuses on their own problems directly or offer them solutions. Otherwise, they will neither find the research valuable nor think of using it at all. The second group of teachers find research valuable if it contributes to understanding the problem regarding the relevant issue, rather than being related to their own problems. However, it has been observed that educational research makes very little contribution to solving problems especially those faced in practice, and implementers (such as teachers, directors and politicians) have negative attitudes towards educational research in general (Biesta, 2007; Everton, Galton, & Pell, 2002; Hemsley-Brown & Sharp, 2003; Yavuz, 2009). In addition, the implementers, in particular, are supposed to benefit from the research in terms of finding solutions to the problems they face, in practice in order for the research to reach its expected aim. It is possible to achieve this as long as the implementers are informed about the educational research, understand the results obtained, and adapt these results to their own situations (Yıldırım, Sozbilir, Ilhan, & Sekerci, 2010).

Teachers’ attitudes towards educational research and the effects of such research on teachers have been discussed in a number of studies (De Jong, 2004; Ekiz, 2006; Everton, Galton, & Pell, 2002; Korkmaz, Sahin, & Yesil, 2011a; Vanderlinde & van Braak, 2010). In the study concerning the value of educational research for informing classroom practice by Everton, Galton, and Pell (2002), the mean rating on the five-point interval scale was 4.03 for middle school teachers and 4.02 for primary teachers. Similarly, Korkmaz et al. (2011a) conclude that the attitudes of candidate teachers towards scientific research are at a high level. An examination of the studies that revealed the attitudes of teachers towards educational research shows that they appear to be carried out by collecting qualitative data (De Jong, 2004; Gore & Gitlin 2004; Korkmaz, Sahin & Yesil, 2011b; Vanderlinde & van Braak, 2010; Yıldırım et al., 2014). These qualitative studies were conducted to reveal the attitudes of implementers of education (such as teachers, directors and politicians) show that attitudes towards scientific research in general or towards educational research in general (Cousins & Walker, 2000; Everton, Galton, & Pell, 2002; Isakson & Ellsworth 1978; Korkmaz, Sahin, & Yesil, 2011a; Papanastasiou, 2005; Walker, 2010). A qualitative study conducted by Gore and Gitlin (2004) showed that teachers find research studies incomprehensible, irrelevant to their problems, and unreliable. In a qualitative study by Korkmaz and colleagues (2011b), an important number of teachers have positive attitudes towards scientific research whereas one-third of teachers have negative attitudes.

Ilhan, Sekerci, Sozbilir and Yıldırım (2013) developed a scale for measuring teachers’ attitudes towards educational research. The literature review showed that there are no surveys with large samples revealing the variation in the attitudes of science and technology teachers towards educational research in terms of some demographic variables. The aim of the current study, therefore, is to determine the attitudes of science and technology teachers working in Eastern Anatolia in Turkey towards educational research and to compare these attitudes with some demographic features (gender, years of teaching experience, teacher-training programme they graduated from, the location of the middle school they work, and educational background). This study sought to respond to the following research questions:

What is the level of science and technology teachers’ attitudes towards educational research?
Do the attitudes of science and technology teachers towards educational research differ according to their gender, teacher-training program from which they graduated, years of teaching experience, according to the location of the middle school where they work, and their educational status?