Stavovi učitelja o primeni naučnog metoda u razrednoj nastavi

Abstract

The application of the scientific method in lower elementary grades, through problem-solving, introduces students to the stages of scientific research it- self. Bringing the process of science and scientific thinking closer to students is a great challenge for teachers of today. The aim of our research was to determine the attitudes of teachers towards the application of the scientific method in teaching, as well as to deter- mine whether there is a significant statistical difference in the attitudes of teachers who applied the scientific method in their work, compared to those who did not. The Socio- Demographic Questionnaire and the Questionnaire for Measuring Teachers’ Attitudes were applied as the research instruments. In order to determine the factors of the Questionnaire, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used and the existence of three factors was estab- lished. Comparison of the mean values of each group of factors, in particular, between teachers who used the scientific method and those who did not, was performed using the t- test for independent samples or the Wilcoxon test. The research was conducted on a sample of 100 teachers from four primary schools in the municipality of Novi Sad. The obtained results indicate that teachers are not sufficiently acquainted with the possibilities of apply- ing the scientific method. They believe that they need additional professional training on how to apply the scientific method in teaching and that better equipped classrooms would facilitate the implementation of this method in teaching.