Opinions of science teachers on the problems faced by Syrian students in understanding science concepts

In this study, it is aimed to reveal the views of science teachers about the problems faced by Syrian secondary school students in understanding science concepts. Qualitative research management was used in the research because the research subject has a qualitative structure and requires a detailed examination. Data were collected using semi-structured interview forms. The study group of the research consists of 20 science teachers who work in the Suruç district of Şanlıurfa in the 2020-2021 academic year and have Syrian students in their classes. The opinions of the science teachers participating in the study were recorded and the frequencies were calculated by coding the data in similar themes in accordance with the content analysis methods. According to the science teachers participating in the research, Syrian students; It is seen that they have difficulty in understanding subjects and concepts such as force, friction force, heat, temperature, mass, weight, speed, pressure, simple machines, and abstract, verbal and visual subjects, and they have misconceptions in these subjects and concepts. According to the interviewed science teachers, it has become important that science subjects can be taught by supporting them with visuals so that Syrian students do not have misconceptions, and that it is important to teach the lesson by actively involving the students in the lesson with the laboratory method. According to the science teachers participating in the research, it is seen that there is a significant difference between Syrian students who know Turkish well and Syrian students who do not know Turkish well in understanding science concepts. Therefore, studies on Turkish language skills can be done for students with low Turkish understanding and speaking skills. Keywords: Syrian students, understanding science concepts, teacher opinions, misconceptions