An evaluation of the third grade science curriculum based on teachers' views

In this research, it was aimed to evaluate the 3rd grade Science Curriculum (SC) which was prepared by Ministry of Education and Board of Education and implemented for the first time in the 2014-2015 academic year based on teachers' views. Qualification levels of teachers for the program, the views on the development process of the program, their opinions about the program development process, the implementation process and views about better implementation of the curriculum were investigated. Mixed research methodology were used in the research. The research was conducted in Şanlıurfa Province with 110 third grade classroom teachers working at primary schools tied to the Provincial National Education Directorate (PNED). A questionnaire developed by the researcher was used to collect data for the research, and a true-false test and semi-structured interviews were used. The analysis of quantitative data obtained in this study were performed using SPSS software package 20.00. Data were analyzed by arithmetic means, standard deviations, mode, median, range, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and independent samples t-test and content analysis. According to the findings, teachers' cognitive competence level of 3rd grade SC was 'moderate'. It was revealed that the majority of the teachers did not receive any training related to the new science curriculum. They learned what they know from the internet. The PNED email was the source which teachers accessed information about the new curriculum at lowest level. It was found out that teachers found the outcomes of the curriculum, its content and teaching-learning process at a 'high' level; however, they found measurement-assessment at a 'moderate' level. It was concluded that teachers perceived the general structure of the curriculum, the outcomes of the curriculum, the level of the outcomes, the content and teaching-learning process positively, but they stated that they that incompetencies related to the new curriculum.