Analysis of the science teachers' views about the new applied science unit in the science curriculum

In this study, it was aimed to determine the level of knowledge and views of science teachers about the science teaching curriculum updated in 2017. It was also aimed to determine the personal innovativeness levels of the teachers. The study was carried out using a mixed method approach. The study was carried out in the 2017–2018 school year on 22 science teachers working in Diyadin district of Ağrı province, Turkey. The data of the study were collected using the "Personal Innovativeness Scale" and a semi-structured interview form developed by the researcher. Moreover, a "Personal Information Form" was used to collect the demographic information of the teachers. Quantitative data were analyzed using the SPSS 22 package program, and qualitative data were analyzed using the descriptive analysis methods. The majority of the teachers were found to be knowledgeable about the changes in the curriculum. However, it was understood that the teachers only had superficial knowledge; that is, they did not have a good command of the updated curriculum. When the science teachers evaluated the Applied Science Unit, they stated that there would be problems in teaching the unit due to the lack of infrastructure of schools, crowded classrooms, inadequate course hours, and teachers' inadequacies at work. They also stated that the fact that the unit was at the end of the semester would also constitute an important problem. According to the Personal Innovativeness Scale scores, it was found that 59.1% of the teachers were highly innovative, 27.3% were moderately innovative, and 13.6% were slightly innovative. It was found that the personal innovativeness scores of most of the science teachers were in the "pioneer" category, followed by the "questioner" and "skeptical" categories, which were then followed by the "innovative" and "traditionalist" categories sharing equal weights. According to the quantitative data, the majority of the teachers were highly innovative. However, it was found that the teachers did not have thorough knowledge about the curriculum, according to the data obtained from the interview forms. This has shown that more in-service training is needed about changes in the curriculum. In-service trainings to be offered should be carried out to involve applications, just like the heading of the applied science unit implies. Moreover, every teacher should be given opportunities to create projects like a student. Keywords: Science Teachers, Science Education Program, Individual Innovation