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pp. 133-157 | Article Number: ijese.2014.008
Published Online: April 10, 2014
Abstract
In Turkey, a new Turkish High School Physics Curriculum (THSPC) was put into practice, starting initially with the Grade 9 in the 2008-2009 education-year. When compared with the previous ones, this curriculum emphasized the importance of students’ active involvement in learning, use of real-life contexts and development of new skills. Even though what is intended with the new curriculum reflects the global trends in science/physics education, its success (or failure thereof) depends a great deal on teachers since they are the main actors to put the curriculum into practice. Whether teachers can implement the curriculum as intended by the curriculum developers remains an important question. A teacher’s belief is an important factor, among others, that affects his/her implementation of the THSPC. In this regard, the aim of this study was to investigate physics teachers’ beliefs related to the teaching of physics according to the THSPC. Four physics teachers from different schools participated in this study. Data were collected through interviews, classroom observations and an open-ended questionnaire. According to our findings, physics teachers believed that teaching physics based on the THSPC helped students use their skills, become more interested in physics lessons, relate physics to their daily life and understand physics better. However, teachers believed that factors such as students’ interest in physics, the university entrance exam, inadequate laboratory facilities, limited lesson hours per week, and lack of information and communication technologies affected the implementation of the THSPC. For more effective implementation of the THSPC, making some changes in the curriculum should be necessary.
Keywords: curriculum implementation, physics education, teacher beliefs, Turkish high school physics curriculum
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