Determination of science teachers' views on the problems encountered during the pandemic period

In this study, it was aimed to determine the views of science teachers who continue the teaching process online with distance education along with the Covid-19 pandemic on the problems they face in science education. In order to realize this purpose, the case science design, one of the qualitative research methods, was used in the study. The research was conducted with 12 science teachers working in Iğdır province. The research findings were obtained through the interview form sent to the participants. The interview form was sent to the participants by e-mail as a link. Then, the themes and codes created by applying the content analysis method to the answers contained in the interview form are presented in tabular form by interpreting. In the study, distance education in the COVID-19 pandemic process; a research was conducted to evaluate science teachers' preliminary knowledge about the concepts of epidemic disease and pandemic before the pandemic, their knowledge of online education, methods and techniques of processing science courses, how the materials they use have changed, students' participation in online courses and their interest in classes, their views on the places and times when online teaching is applied, communication and information sharing with colleagues. As a result of the research, it has been revealed that the vast majority of science teachers had knowledge about the concepts of epidemic diseases and pandemics before the Covid-19 pandemic. However, it has been found that the vast majority of science teachers do not have sufficient knowledge about distance education. During the distance education process, it has been seen that students do not have access to a computer/Internet, students do not actively participate in classes with reluctance, and they encounter problems caused by the system/internet connection. However, it is observed that they use innovative methods and techniques such as various web programs in live lessons, enrich and support live lessons with various web programs and documents. It was determined that the vast majority of the participants supported each other by exchanging ideas with their colleagues despite the difficulties experienced in live lessons. While science teachers consider the flexible structure of distance education that supports individual and independent learning and the intertwining of students with technology as positive effects, they stated that the inability to complete course materials and experiments, communication difficulties experienced with students, and social restrictions are negative effects. In addition, it has been revealed that the professional development of science teachers is positively affected in the distance education process. In the light of the findings obtained from the study, various suggestions are made. These suggestions are as follows; strengthening the technological infrastructure in the field of distance education, expanding the use of online resources such as online resources and interactive materials for science education, and providing students with hands-on experiences by using virtual laboratories and experiment simulators.