Determining the universal science literacy levels of preschool, classroom teachers and science teachers

Societies formed by science literate individuals are ahead of other societies in accessing information, using information and creating new knowledge and adapt to changing conditions faster. Teachers play an important role as an important mediator in incorporating science literacy into the classroom and helping students acquire science literacy. In order to raise science literate individuals, firstly, teachers should be role models and therefore should be science literate individuals. This study was conducted to determine the science literacy levels of preschool teachers, classroom teachers and science teachers as science education practitioners in schools and to determine the factors affecting this level. The research was conducted with 506 teachers, 156 of whom were preschool teachers, 167 were classroom teachers and 183 were science teachers, working in Yenimahalle district of Ankara province. The research is a descriptive type survey model and was carried out by applying a questionnaire form by face-to-face interview method with the participants. Demographic information of the teachers was collected with the questionnaire form and their science literacy levels were determined by using the Global Scientific Literacy Questionnaire (GSLQ) and their scores were grouped in 5 classes from "very low" to "very high". The mean score of the teachers who participated in the study was found to be 200.5±25.0. The highest mean score belonged to science teachers (221,9±14,8), followed by preschool teachers (192,6±18,8) and the lowest score was obtained by classroom teachers (184,5±22,5). While the majority of pre-school and primary school teachers had high science literacy level according to GSLQ, the majority of science teachers had very high science literacy level. While it was determined that the variables of educational status, type of high school graduated from, professional seniority, socioeconomic status had an effect on the universal science literacy score, the variables of gender, age, and environment of education had no effect. Based on the results of this research, in order to increase the universal science literacy level of teachers who encourage students and enable them to develop higher level thinking skills, discovery, innovation and new products, it is very important to refresh and improve the knowledge of teachers who take part in the education process for science literacy from pre-school to higher education with vocational training, courses and seminars and to follow these updates.