THE COMPETENCIES OF SCIENCE TEACHER: A DELPHI STUDY

Abstract

In this study, the authors aim to identify the competencies of science teachers based on the opinions of experts in the field. The Delphi technique was used to attain consensus among experts on science education through 3 rounds with 13 experts from 13 different universities. In the first round of the Delphi technique, open-ended questions sent to the expert group, which were created after a detailed literature review about teacher competencies. Descriptive analysis was applied for the qualitative data obtained at the end of first round. As a result of the analysis, a 5-point Likert-type questionnaire consisting of 172 items in 10 categories was prepared. The questionnaire was sent to the experts in the second round. The experts indicated their participation levels for each item. The data obtained at second round were analyzed by quantitative methods. In the third round, the results of the analysis from the second round were sent to the experts and they were asked to re-evaluate their responses in the previous round by considering other experts’ opinions. By the conclusion of the third round, 161 items referring to competencies of science teachers were identified and categorized into competencies for the science curriculum, competencies to improve students’ cognitive characteristics, competencies to improve students’ affective characteristics, competencies to improve students’ psychomotor abilities, competencies for the objectives of the science curriculum, competencies for the content of the science curriculum, competencies for the learning-teaching process in science, competencies for evaluation in science, competencies for instructional technologies, and competencies for effective communication. Article visualizations: