Fen Bilimleri Dersinin Yaşamla İlişkilendirilme Düzeyi

Abstract

This study aims to reveal the extent at which the curriculum, textbooks and teaching-learning environment of science course encourage association between science and real life and the extent at which students can associate their attainments in science course with real life. The research was carried out with 274 seventh-graders from 12 secondary schools in the Ankara during the 2017-2018 academic year. In the scope of the qualitative data collection, “Themes and Indicators regarding Associating Science Course with Life” were identified. As for the quantitative part, in order to determine the associating science course with real life “Life Test in Science” and “Science Test in Life” tests were developed and used. The results of the study are as follows: (1)Concerning “Associating Science Course with Life” in the Curriculum, the largest emphasis was placed on “Scientific Research”, while the smallest emphasis was made on “Measurement and Evaluation”, (2)in textbooks, “Basic Concepts and Principles” received the highest emphasis, while “Science Communication” received the least emphasis, (3)in the teaching-learning context of science lesson, “Basic Concepts and Principles” became the most visible, while behaviors related to “Measurement and Evaluation” were the least mentioned, (4)the students cannot associate science course with life sufficiently and (5)the students’ levels of finding solutions for life problems requiring scientific principles and identifying the principle used in solving life problems in connection with science significantly vary depending on the socioeconomic status, parental education level, getting additional support, reading scientific journals, having internet access at home, and joining out-of-school science learning events.