Knowledge and Practices in Teaching Socio-scientific Issues Among Malaysian Primary School Science Teachers

Abstract

This research explored primary school science teachers’ knowledge and practices in addressing socio-scientific issues (SSIs) for teaching science. Using SSIs-based Instruction Questionnaire (SSIQ), teachers’ knowledge and practices on the meaning, approaches, interests, goals, and content knowledge of SSIs were studied. This instrument has been validated by two experts from a university. The reliability of this instrument is 0.974. There were 867 primary school science teachers from seven states in Malaysia participated in this study. The participants’ responses were analyzed by conducting quartile and correlation analysis. The results indicated that the teachers had an average level of knowledge and practices on SSIs. There is a strong positive correlation between their knowledge and practices. Therefore, there is a strong need for science teachers to enhance their knowledge and increase their practices to address SSIs in schools since these issues are pertinent in the 21st century.