Level of knowledge of Science Instructors in Conducting Scientific Research and its Implications to Teaching

Abstract

- Scientific reflective thinking is what characterizes reflective teachers. Teachers who apply scientific principles in teaching are a product of scientific research. Thus, the knowledge of the instructors in scientific research has great implications for teaching. This study aims to assess the level of knowledge of the Science Instructors in conducting scientific research and determine its implications for their teaching methodology used. The respondents of the study will be the instructors of all science courses on the CEU Manila campus. The researchers will utilize an online survey questionnaire using scales to assess the instructor's level of knowledge in conducting scientific research in terms of information-seeking skills and research methodology. It will also identify the instructor's teaching and assessment methods. Further, it will determine the implications of instructors’ knowledge in conducting scientific research and the teaching and assessment methods used. Descriptive statistics that include frequency and percentage, mean and standard deviations will be used. Science Instructors have satisfactory knowledge of information-seeking skills and the highest knowledge is the basic searching, gathering, and storage of information or data in disk or email. However, critiquing and validation of information gathered is the lowest rated. Instructors mostly used basic teaching methods such as lectures and classroom discussions. However, the instructors as utilized collaborative classwork which is considered a constructivist approach to teaching. Instructors need to attend continuous training in the conduct of the research process so they will have increased knowledge and information on other strategies for the teaching and assessment process. This study is limited only to the participants the study and does not generalize the conclusions to all science teachers.