Experiences of Turkish Middle School Science Teachers’ First Science Fair Projects Coordination

Abstract

This study aimed to reveal the experiences of science teachers conducting a science fair project for the first time. The research used quantitative data based on an online assessment survey for science fair projects. There are twenty-one questions (one of them is open-ended, the others are Likert type) developed by the researcher. The questionnaire was shared with science teachers on the science fair, 4006 science fairs, Tübitak science fairs themed social media pages between June and October 2018. 244 coordinator science teachers marked the survey. The data obtained from the questionnaire was presented in a tabular form by deducting % and frequencies. On the other hand, the last open-ended questions were analyzed by using content analysis. Based on these results, science teachers, who carried out the fair coordinator for the first time and to be able to do it again have some expectations of practicing positive experiences such as the students should gain scientific skills, the fair should be carried out in cooperation, the responsibilities were shared in a balanced way in the school, the school administrators should both support and help the process, the advisors should take ownership of the job, be appreciated by stakeholders with awards, etc. However, this first experience posed a sufficiently unexpected result at least for some of them.