Effectiveness of an in-service training program regarding inquiry-based teaching for physics teachers

The purpose of the research was, in accord with the revised Physics Teaching Program, to facilitate the adaptation of physics teachers to the curriculum by exploring the effectiveness of an in-service program of education on inquiry-based teaching. The study was conducted in cooperation with the Provincial Directorate of National Education in the city of İzmir. Within the framework of a 20-hour in-service program of education (ISPE), a group of 9th grade physics teachers (N=26) from İzmir who volunteered to participate in the study were offered a training program on inquiry-based teaching. The in-service education was prepared in conformity with the 9th-grade syllabus and involved the interactive participation of the volunteer teachers in activities designed for inquiry-based teaching. The research was of quasi-experimental design using a pretest-posttest scheme. Firstly, prior to and following the implementation, the teachers participating in the in-service education were each given activity worksheets (see Attachment-1) and the Inquiry-based Learning-Teaching Framework Evaluation Form (see Attachment-2) and the Views on the Nature of Science Questionnaire (for teachers) (see Attachment-3) were administered. Additionally, in an effort to evaluate the effects of the in-service training and how teaching strategies changed, an analysis was made of the teachers' diaries (see Attachment-4), which contained their remarks, recorded on the evening of the same day of teaching, about the activities they performed with their students in the classroom. In the second stage of the study, the changes implemented in the classroom by the teachers who attended the ISPE were investigated with the performances of their own students. At this point, the effect of the in-service education on the students was assessed using three different data collection instruments. The first of these was the "Views on the Nature of Science Questionnaire (for students)" (see Attachment-5) to assess the effects of inquiry-based teaching on the views of students regarding science and the nature of science. The second tool was the "Science Process Skills Test" (see Attachment-6) that was used to ascertain the association between inquiry-based teaching and science process skills. These were administered as a pretest and a posttest. Lastly, the students' diaries (see Attachment-7), which they were asked to keep after each activity, were studied in order to understand the extent of their participation in the inquiry process. It was thus made possible to explore whether or not the instruction had made an impact and caused any changes in the way students participated in their own learning process. The quantitative data gathered from the research were analyzed with the SPSS 16.0 package program, using frequency, percentages and the paired-samples t-test. Quantitative data were assessed using descriptive analysis. The results of the study determined that the ISPE had been successful in that there had been positive changes in the teachers' views regarding the nature of science and in their ideas about inquiry-based science education. On the other hand, despite the success of the program of education, it can be seen that the strategy of inquiry-based teaching and the process of knowledge transfer to students remains largely challenging for teachers. Although teachers appear eager in the beginning, they are resistant to carrying their training experiences into the classroom. At the conclusion of the study, it was seen that no significant difference could be found in students' scientific process skills or in their views regarding the nature of science. Keywords: nature of science, science process skills, physics education, in-service teacher education, follow-up of teacher implementation, inquiry based science education, reflective journal writing