Investigation of the views of the science of science teachers on FeTeMM and sociopecative issues

As a necessity of the present century, the information is thought to be gained by questioning, multi-way thinking and structuring with our current knowledge. It is among the aims of education curriculums to educate individuals with these skills. The first step to achieve this student profile is to establish an interdisciplinary connection between science and other disciplines. These multidisciplinary approaches are those that are most related to technology, engineering, and mathematics. In recent years, the Science Course Curriculum has been changed to ensure interdisciplinary integration. With these changes, FeTeMM education, which enables the learning of these disciplines in-depth, allows the information learned to be associated with daily life, and has positive effects on 21st-century life skills, was included in the science curriculum in 2017. It is necessary to investigate the opinions and information of teachers about this educational approach to be successful at the desired level. In this context, the first aim of the research was to examine science teachers' knowledge and opinions about STEM education. Another essential point for improving the education system is that the knowledge learned in the science course can be used in daily life. The socio-scientific subjects learned in the science course are facilitated by the daily use of this information. Socio-scientific issues enable the students to be intertwined with the situations taking place in their environment and thus make them understand the lesson more easily. Moreover, Socio-scientific issues contribute not only to thinking and discussing individuals but also to their social development. In this respect, it is necessary to investigate the knowledge and views of the teachers on these issues in order to enable the students to reach an adequate level in socio-scientific subjects. Thus, the other purpose of this study was to explore the knowledge and opinions of the science teachers about socio-science issues. The research was carried out with the phenomenology as the type of qualitative research methods. The sample of the study was consist of 50 voluntary science teachers working in the central districts of Van Province (namely, Tusba, İpekyolu, and Edremit). In the research, the data were collected by using an open-ended questionnaire (including seven FeTeMM questions and seven socio-scientific subjects), the semi-structured interviews, and classroom observations. The analysis of the data was evaluated by content analysis from qualitative analysis methods. After the research, the findings were coded under the identified categories. As a result of the study, it was determined that science teachers did not have sufficient subject matter knowledge regarding STEM and socio-science subjects. In addition, it was observed that they had difficulties in applying STEM education and socio-scientific subjects in class. Especially it was found that most of the science teachers were not adequate in the use of teaching methods/strategies and the evaluation of their students in STEM education. The suggestions related to the study were discussed.