Primary School Teachers’ Understanding of Science Process Skills in Relation to Their Teaching Qualifications and Teaching Experience

This study investigated the understanding of science process skills (SPS) of 329 science teachers from 52 primary schools selected by random sampling. The understanding of SPS was measured in terms of conceptual and operational aspects of SPS using an instrument called the Science Process Skills Que...

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Main Authors: Shahali, E., Halim, L., Treagust, David, Won, Mihye, Chandrasegaran, Chandra
Format: Journal Article
Published: Springer 2015
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/15196
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author Shahali, E.
Halim, L.
Treagust, David
Won, Mihye
Chandrasegaran, Chandra
author_facet Shahali, E.
Halim, L.
Treagust, David
Won, Mihye
Chandrasegaran, Chandra
author_sort Shahali, E.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description This study investigated the understanding of science process skills (SPS) of 329 science teachers from 52 primary schools selected by random sampling. The understanding of SPS was measured in terms of conceptual and operational aspects of SPS using an instrument called the Science Process Skills Questionnaire (SPSQ) with a Cronbach’s alpha reliability of 0.88. The findings showed that the teachers’ conceptual understanding of SPS was much weaker than their practical application of SPS. The teachers’ understanding of SPS differed by their teaching qualifications but not so much by their teaching experience. Emphasis needs to be given to both conceptual and operational understanding of SPS during pre-service and in-service teacher education to enable science teachers to use the skills and implement inquiry-based lessons in schools.
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
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last_indexed 2025-11-14T07:11:14Z
publishDate 2015
publisher Springer
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-151962017-09-13T16:08:34Z Primary School Teachers’ Understanding of Science Process Skills in Relation to Their Teaching Qualifications and Teaching Experience Shahali, E. Halim, L. Treagust, David Won, Mihye Chandrasegaran, Chandra This study investigated the understanding of science process skills (SPS) of 329 science teachers from 52 primary schools selected by random sampling. The understanding of SPS was measured in terms of conceptual and operational aspects of SPS using an instrument called the Science Process Skills Questionnaire (SPSQ) with a Cronbach’s alpha reliability of 0.88. The findings showed that the teachers’ conceptual understanding of SPS was much weaker than their practical application of SPS. The teachers’ understanding of SPS differed by their teaching qualifications but not so much by their teaching experience. Emphasis needs to be given to both conceptual and operational understanding of SPS during pre-service and in-service teacher education to enable science teachers to use the skills and implement inquiry-based lessons in schools. 2015 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/15196 10.1007/s11165-015-9500-z Springer fulltext
spellingShingle Shahali, E.
Halim, L.
Treagust, David
Won, Mihye
Chandrasegaran, Chandra
Primary School Teachers’ Understanding of Science Process Skills in Relation to Their Teaching Qualifications and Teaching Experience
title Primary School Teachers’ Understanding of Science Process Skills in Relation to Their Teaching Qualifications and Teaching Experience
title_full Primary School Teachers’ Understanding of Science Process Skills in Relation to Their Teaching Qualifications and Teaching Experience
title_fullStr Primary School Teachers’ Understanding of Science Process Skills in Relation to Their Teaching Qualifications and Teaching Experience
title_full_unstemmed Primary School Teachers’ Understanding of Science Process Skills in Relation to Their Teaching Qualifications and Teaching Experience
title_short Primary School Teachers’ Understanding of Science Process Skills in Relation to Their Teaching Qualifications and Teaching Experience
title_sort primary school teachers’ understanding of science process skills in relation to their teaching qualifications and teaching experience
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/15196