Examination of Context Based Question Writing Skills of Science Teachers Participated in a Scientific Literacy Course

Abstract

In parallel with the current importance of scientific literacy, context-based questions have begun to take place in assessment and evaluation systems. In this study, in which this importance was taken into consideration, an in-depth examination of teachers’ context-based question writing skills in the scientific literacy course developed for science teachers was aimed. In the study, a case study model from qualitative research was used. The study group consists of 25 science teachers working in middle schools in Bursa. Teachers were given theoretical and practical context-based question writing training on the basis of scientific literacy developed by the researchers. “Form consisting of national and international questions”, “unstructured observations” and “context-based open-ended questions prepared by teachers” were used as data collection tools in the study. The data obtained were analyzed using descriptive analysis. The findings from the study showed that teachers learned context-based question structures that measure scientific literacy. Although teachers had some deficiencies in writing context-based question, it was understood that their ability to write questions had improved through the scientific literacy course. We concluded that developing more context-based questions by teachers will decrease the deficiencies identified in the study.