The Investigation of Science Process Skills of Elementary School Teachers in Terms of Some Variables: Perspectives from Turkey

Individuals benefit from science process skills while trying to solve problems through research (Bagci-Kiliç, 2003). To solve these problems individuals must acquire sufficient science process skills. Teachers must be able to understand these skills so that students can obtain the required proficiency (Mutisya, Rotich & Rotich, 2013). This study aims to investigate the science process skills of elementary school teachers in terms of gender, seniority, working place and their students' grades. This quantitative study was carried out as a survey. The study population consisted of 158 elementary school teachers from a province located in the Aegean region of Turkey. Researchers obtained study data from "Science Process Skills Test for Teachers (SPSTFT)". SPSTFT consists of 7 scenarios and 9 questions (multiple choice questions were explained with reasons). The results of the study revealed that the integrated skills of elementary school teachers are not sufficient. It also indicated that science process skill scores of elementary school teachers differed significantly by gender and seniority. This study suggests conducting some further studies to bring the science process skills of elementary teachers to the desired level.