Methods and techniques used by primary school teachers in teaching science

Purpose of the research; The aim of this study is to describe the teaching methods and techniques that primary school teachers use in teaching science lessons, the reasons why they prefer or not prefer these methods and techniques, the problems they encounter while using teaching methods and techniques, and the suggested solutions to these problems. A case study, one of the qualitative research methods, was used in the research. The participants of the research consist of 30 primary school teachers working in institutions affiliated with the Ministry of Education in Ordu province in the 2022-2023 academic year. In the study, data were collected throught a semi-structured interview form developed by the researcher. Content analysis method was used to analyze the data. As a result of the research, it was determined that the methods most frequently used by primary school teachers in teaching science lessons were experiment, explanation and question and answer methods. In addition, it was determined that the least preferred methods and techniques were travel, research and investigation, and STEM. The main reasons for choosing the most frequently used teaching methods and techniques are the student's interest/ attention, the method's opportunity for permanent learning, the student's activeness, and the ease of the method for the teacher. Economic reasons, the readiness level of students, and the opportunity for the students to be active are among the reasons for less used teaching methods and techniques. It has been observed that the problems encountered by primary school teachers in the use of teaching methods and techniques in science teaching consist of problems arising from students, teachers, schools, curriculum, education process and family.