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Asia-Pacific Forum on Science Learning and Teaching, Volume 7, Issue 1, Article 2 (June, 2006) Sevilay KARAMUSTAFAOGLU, Bayram COŞTU and Alipaşa AYAS Turkish chemistry teachers’ views about an implementation of the active learning approaches in their lessons
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Discussion and Conclusion
In this study the thoughts of the chemistry teachers on active learning techniques are found out how often these techniques are used in the schools and what can be done to use the techniques effectively through interviews, questionnaire and observation methods. According to interview data it is clear that teachers do not use the student-centered methods. The most important reason for this is caused by the university entrance examination (OSS) system. Teachers think that the more questions they solve the more successful their students will be in the exam. This idea is also supported by the school administrators. In our country the quality of school is evaluated by the number of students who pass the university entrance exam. Than if it is so, this case is inevitable. The data obtained from the third section of the questionnaire supports the interview findings about university entrance exam. On the other hand, depending on the interview and questionnaire findings, teachers believe that active learning techniques are useful for permanent learning. In the related literature it is found out that there are teachers who believe that the teaching consisting active learning techniques is more effective. It is however determined there are teachers who believe student-centered learning can not be realized as the chemistry is a numerical subject. This belief shows that active learning techniques are necessary in teaching. From the interviews they confessed that they didn’t have any idea about active learning techniques. This case is proved during our observations at schools. According to the observation data, teachers prefer traditional teaching techniques such as solving problems, expressing and question-answer. This finding is in agreement with the findings of other national studies (Karamustafaoglu et al., 2001, Karamustafaoglu, 2003, Özmen, 2002, Demircioglu, 2002). It can be claimed that the chemistry teachers do not know active learning techniques and applications.
Based on the collected data, the level of chemistry teachers’ use of active teaching methods in their lessons was determined. It is also determined what the necessary procedures to use these methods effectively are. According to interview results, teachers do not use teaching techniques which requires students’ active participation. This possibly stems from the current way of applications of the OSS. Since this exam comprise of the multiple choices test items, teachers commonly think that the more test items they solve, the better learning occurs. Students also make great effort solving lots of multiple-choices questions in order to pass the exam in the school context. Moreover, teachers’ views are supported by the school administrators and they urge the teachers to solve many multiple-choices questions in school lessons. Thus, school administrators think that success of their students could rise in this way. Similar results are appeared in the third section of the questionnaire. In general, it can be said that OSS have a great impact on using active learning techniques in classrooms.
It has been determined that the current chemistry teaching program in the secondary schools is not student-centered. So the teachers do not feel themselves need to use active learning approaches in their classes. However, some studies indicate that using student-centered applications is necessary for the permanent learning as chemistry contains abstract concepts. It is believed that the teachers should benefit from the active learning approaches. For the reason to use these approaches effectively, the curriculum should be revised and improved which makes the student active. It has been observed the teachers have idea about active learning theoretically but not have any practice in their classes. This case is supported by a lot of studies in Turkey.
In parallel to the related literature (Sivan, et al., 1991; Sivan, et al., 2000; Scholes, 2002; Livingstone & Lynch, 2000; Notar, et al., 2002; Ünal, 1999; Kalem & Fer, 2003), the teachers have thought that using active learning techniques in science lessons are necessary for students’ permanent learning. Nevertheless, they mostly have the idea that these techniques are not used because science (chemistry) course is a numerical subject. This result indicates that the teachers having this idea do not believe active learning techniques. In addition, most of the teachers are also stated that they do not fully understand active learning. The evidence from the classroom observations shows the same results. According to observations, the teachers commonly make use of traditional methods eg: Lecturing, question-answer method, solving sample problems and so forth. These confirm the result of the study (Çepni, 1996) undertaken in our country.
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