Scientific and technological literacy level of selected science teachers

• Main Author: Reyes, Rosalie Carandang
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2004
• Subjects: Science > Study and teaching; Technology > Study and teaching; Science teachers; Literacy; Teachers; Rating of; Chemistry
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/3235; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/etd_masteral/article/10073/viewcontent/CDTG003804_P.pdf
• Institution: De La Salle University

The main purpose of the study was to determine the scientific and technological literacy (STL) level of selected science teachers. Significant variations among the different constructs of STL, significant difference between the STL level of teachers from urban and rural schools and significant relationship between the number of years of teaching and STL level were also determined. The subjects of the study were 99 teacher-participants of the Project Rescue Initiatives in Science Education (RISE) enrolled in Summer 2003 at Saint Louis University, Baguio and Philippine Normal University, Manila. The respondents were 32 elementary science teachers and 21 secondary science teachers from the National Capital Region (NCR) and 46 elementary science teachers from the Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR). The teachers from NCR were considered as respondents teaching in urban schools, whereas teachers from CAR were classified as teaching in rural schools. The STL level was identified through the use of the Scientific and Technological Literacy Test (STLT), which was developed and construct validated by Catris (1999). From the results of the test, two top scorers and two bottom scorers in each level (elementary and secondary) from the NCR were considered in the interview phase. Based on the outcome of the interviews, one high scorer and one low scorer in each level were chosen for the observation phase. With the aid of the Observation Guide, which was based on the behavioral indicators of the different constructs of STL, the teacher-respondents were observed for five days or one week. The scores obtained from the STLT were taken quantitatively while the data from the interviews and observations were treated qualitatively. In the quantitative analysis, descriptive and inferential statistics were used. The mean score provided information on the STL level of teacher-respondents considered. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied to test the significant differences among the mean percentage ratings of the respondents in the different constructs of STL whereas Dunnett T3 was utilized to determine which means were significantly different. Furthermore, t-test for independent groups was used to identify significant difference between STL level of urban and rural school-teachers. The Pearson-Product Moment correlation was also utilized to identify if the number of years of teaching is a valid predictor of STL. It was found out that the elementary science teachers have a low level of literacy in science and technology whereas the secondary science teachers have a high level of literacy. It was also identified that of the constructs of STL, the elementary science teachers were strongest in Concepts/Principles in Science and Technology (CPST) and weakest in the Nature of Science and Technology (NST) whereas the secondary science teachers have a comparable level of literacy in all the constructs. It was discovered that the teachers from urban schools have a higher level of literacy as compared to those from rural schools. However, the study revealed that there is no significant relationship between the number of years of teaching science and STL level. On the other hand, the qualitative analysis confirmed the results of the STLT. Based on the results of the interviews and observations, the high scorers performed better than the low scorers.