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Asia-Pacific Forum
on Science Learning and Teaching, Volume 15, Issue 1, Article 8 (Jun., 2014) |
Scores that elementary school teachers obtained from basic and integrated skills of SPSTFT are presented in Table 5.
Table 5. Scores that elementary school teachers obtained from basic and integrated skills of SPSTFT
SPS
Highest score
M
Success percentage
(M/Highest score)
Std. Deviation
Basic SPS
Observing
6
2.37
% 39
1.95
Classifying
6
4.04
% 67
1.70
Measuring
6
3.59
% 59
1.60
Inferring
2
1.01
% 50
0.83
Total
20
11.03
% 55
3.91
Integrated SPS
Formulating hypotheses
4
2.01
% 50
0.72
Identifying and controlling variables
8
3.04
% 38
2.27
Experimenting
12
5.93
% 49
3.30
Interpreting data
2
1.48
% 74
0.58
Total
26
12.47
% 48
5.06
Overall Total
46
23.50
% 51
7.99
As it can be seen in Table 5, elementary school teachers' success percentage (level of success) of basic skills and integrated skills were 55 % and 48 % respectively. These results indicate that elementary school teachers’ basic skills were better than their integrated skills.
A t-test was performed on dependent variables in order to detect whether the difference between basic and integrated skills were significant or not and the results are presented in Table 6.
Table 6. T-test results of basic and integrated SPS scores of SPSTFT
Measuring
N
M
Std. Deviation
Result
Basic Skills
158
0.55
0.19
t : 3.28
Sig: 0.000*
P<0.01
Integrated skills
158
0.48
0.19
As seen in Table 6, it was found that there was a significant difference between the basic and integrated skill scores of elementary school teachers (t (157)= 3.28, p<0.05), and this difference was in favor of basic skill scores.
The results of t-test performed to detect whether there was a difference between total scores of basic and integrated skills, and overall science process skills of elementary school teachers according to their gender are presented in Table 7.
Table 7. T-test results of basic and integrated skills and overall SPS scores of elementary school teachers for independent samples regarding their gender
SPSTFT
Gender
N
M
Std. Deviation
Result
Basic SPS
Female
70
12,24
3,36
t: 3.602
Sig:0.000*
P<0.01
Male
88
10,06
4,05
Integrated SPS
Female
70
14,10
5,04
t: 3.761
Sig:0.000*
P<0.01
Male
88
11,17
4,71
Overall SPS (Basic SPS + integrated SPS)
Female
70
26,34
7,36
t: 4.193
Sig:0.000
P<0.01*
As seen in Table 7, there was a significant difference between basic and integrated skill scores, and overall SPS scores of elementary school teachers according to their gender. It was detected that these significant differences were in favor of female teachers.
The ANOVA results of elementary school teachers' total scores of basic and integrated skills and overall science process skills of SPSTFT regarding elementary school teachers' seniority are presented in Table 8.
Table 8. ANOVA results of elementary school teachers' total scores of basic and integrated skills and overall SPS of SPSTFT regarding elementary school teachers' seniority
SPSTFT
Seniority
N
Mean
Std. Deviation
ANOVA results
Basic SPS
(0-5) years
20
13,1000
3,05907
F: 3.331
Sig: 0.012
P<0.05
(6-10) years
31
11,7419
4,68307
(11-15) years
31
11,4516
3,25411
(16-20) years
40
10,3500
3,27030
(21 and more) years
36
9,6667
4,26949
Integrated SPS
(0-5) years
20
15,7500
5,74800
F: 5.517
Sig: 0.000
P<0.01
(6-10) years
31
13,8387
5,59224
(11-15) years
31
13,0000
5,07280
(16-20) years
40
11,3250
4,17187
(21 and more) years
36
10,2778
3,78426
Overall SPS (Basic SPS + integrated SPS)
(0-5) years
20
28,8500
7,49228
F: 5.813
Sig: 0.000
P<0.001
(6-10) years
31
25,5806
9,42965
(11-15) years
31
24,4516
7,11261
(16-20) years
40
21,6750
6,33827
(21 and more) years
36
19,9444
7,34436
As seen in Table 8, elementary school teachers' basic, integrated skill scores and total scores of overall science process skills differ by their seniority. To determine where the difference is, Scheffé post hoc was run. Results are indicated in Table 9, Table 10 and Table 11.
Table 9. Post hoc analysis (Scheffé) for elementary school teachers' basic SPS scores of SPSTFT regarding their seniority
SPSTFT
(I) Seniority
(J) Seniority
Mean Difference (I-J)
Std. Error
Sig.
Basic SPS
0-5 years
6-10 years
1.35806
1.08967
.817
11-15 years
1.64839
1.08967
.683
16-20 years
2.75000
1.04048
.143
21 and more years
3.43333*
1.05958
.037
6-10 years
0-5 years
-1.35806
1.08967
.817
11-15 years
.29032
.96502
.999
16-20 years
1.39194
.90912
.673
21 and more years
2.07527
.93091
.295
11-15 years
0-5 years
-1.64839
1.08967
.683
6-10 years
-.29032
.96502
.999
16-20 years
1.10161
.90912
.832
21 and more years
1.78495
.93091
.454
16-20 years
0-5 years
-2.75000
1.04048
.143
6-10 years
-1.39194
.90912
.673
11-15 years
-1.10161
.90912
.832
21 and more years
.68333
.87283
.961
21 and more years
0-5 years
-3.43333*
1.05958
.037
6-10 years
-2.07527
.93091
.295
11-15 years
-1.78495
.93091
.454
16-20 years
-.68333
.87283
.961
* The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level.
Table 10. Post hoc analysis (Scheffé) for elementary school teachers' integrated skill scores of SPSTFT regarding their seniority
SPSTFT
(I) Seniority
(J) Seniority
Mean Difference (I-J)
Std. Error
Sig.
Integrated SPS
0-5 years
6-10 years
1.91129
1.37527
.748
11-15 years
2.75000
1.37527
.410
16-20 years
4.42500*
1.31319
.026
21 and more years
5.47222*
1.33729
.003
6-10 years
0-5 years
-1.91129
1.37527
.748
11-15 years
.83871
1.21796
.976
16-20 years
2.51371
1.14741
.313
21 and more years
3.56093
1.17491
.062
11-15 years
0-5 years
-2.75000
1.37527
.410
6-10 years
-.83871
1.21796
.976
16-20 years
1.67500
1.14741
.712
21 and more years
2.72222
1.17491
.257
16-20 years
0-5 years
-4.42500*
1.31319
.026
6-10 years
-2.51371
1.14741
.313
11-15 years
-1.67500
1.14741
.712
21 and more years
1.04722
1.10160
.924
21 and more years
0-5 years
-5.47222*
1.33729
.003
6-10 years
-3.56093
1.17491
.062
11-15 years
-2.72222
1.17491
.257
16-20 years
-1.04722
1.10160
.924
* The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level.
Table 11. Post hoc analysis (Scheffé) for elementary school teachers' overall SPS scores of SPSTFT regarding their seniority
SPSTFT
(I) Seniority
(J) Seniority
Mean Difference (I-J)
Std. Error
Sig.
Overall SPS (Basic SPS + integrated SPS)
0-5 years
6-10 years
3.26935
2.16353
.684
11-15 years
4.39839
2.16353
.392
16-20 years
7.17500*
2.06588
.020
21 and more years
8.90556*
2.10379
.002
6-10 years
0-5 years
-3.26935
2.16353
.684
11-15 years
1.12903
1.91606
.986
16-20 years
3.90565
1.80507
.326
21 and more years
5.63620
1.84833
.059
11-15 years
0-5 years
-4.39839
2.16353
.392
6-10 years
-1.12903
1.91606
.986
16-20 years
2.77661
1.80507
.669
21 and more years
4.50717
1.84833
.209
16-20 years
0-5 years
-7.17500*
2.06588
.020
6-10 years
-3.90565
1.80507
.326
11-15 years
-2.77661
1.80507
.669
21 and more years
1.73056
1.73301
.910
21 and more years
0-5 years
-8.90556*
2.10379
.002
6-10 years
-5.63620
1.84833
.059
11-15 years
-4.50717
1.84833
.209
16-20 years
-1.73056
1.73301
.910
* The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level.
As seen in Table 9, Table 10 and Table 11, in terms of seniority, significant differences in basic skill scores were in favor of 1-5 year-teachers compared to 21 and more year-teachers; in integrated skill scores were in favor of 1-5 year-teachers compared to 16-20 year-teachers and in favor of 1-5 year-teachers compared to 21 and more year-teachers; in overall science process skills scores were in favor of 1-5 year-teachers compared to 16-20 year-teachers and in favor of 1-5 year-teachers compared to 21 and more year-teachers.
Researchers observed that most of the low-seniority elementary school teachers were working in the villages and most of the high-seniority teachers were working in the city center. Therefore, seniority had to be controlled in ANCOVA analyses. Then, the differences between basic and integrated and overall SPS of elementary school teachers were analyzed through ANCOVA. According to their working places, total scores of basic and integrated skills and overall SPS of elementary school teachers are presented in Table 12.
Table 12. Descriptive statistics of total scores of basic and integrated skills and overall SPS of elementary teachers according to their working places
SPSTFT
Working place
N
Mean
Corrected Mean
Basic SPS
Village
25
11.72
11.13
Town
39
12.05
11.72
District
25
11.72
11.25
City center
69
9.95
10.52
Integrated SPS
Village
25
13.84
12.53
Town
39
13.12
12.40
District
25
13.04
12.00
City center
69
11.39
12.64
Overall SPS (Basic SPS + integrated SPS)
Village
25
25.56
23.66
Town
39
25.17
24.13
District
25
24.76
23.26
City center
69
21.34
23.16
ANCOVA was computed to detect whether the difference between corrected scores of SPS of the teachers were significant or not, and the results are presented in Table 13.
Researchers observed that low-seniority elementary school teachers were working in the villages and high-seniority teachers were working in the city center. For that reason, differences between basic and integrated and overall science process skills of elementary school teachers were analyzed in terms of their seniority.
Descriptive statistics of total scores of basic and integrated skills and overall science process skills of elementary school teachers according to their working places are presented in Table 12.
Results of ANCOVA test performed to detect whether the difference between corrected scores of science process skills of the groups were significant or not are presented in Table 13.
Table 13. ANCOVA results of total scores of basic and integrated skills and overall SPS of elementary school teachers according to their working places
SPSTFT
Source of Variance
Sum of Squares
Df
Mean Squares
F
Significance Level (p)
Basic SPS
Seniority
71.426
1
71.426
5.000
.027*
Working place
28.908
3
9.636
.675
.569
Error
2185.421
153
14.284
Total
21629.000
158
Integrated SPS
Seniority
354.510
1
354.510
15.415
0.000**
Working place
6.382
3
2.127
0.093
0.964
Error
3518.603
153
22.997
Total
28588.000
158
Overall SPS (Basic SPS + integrated SPS)
Seniority
744.189
1
744.189
13.073
0.000**
Working place
21.729
3
7.243
0.127
0.944
Error
8709.926
153
56.928
Total
97285.000
158
*P<0.05
**P<0.01According to the ANCOVA results presented in Table 13; there was no significant difference between total scores of basic and integrated skills and overall science process skills of elementary school teachers in terms of their working place (F(3-153) = 0.675, p>0.05; F(3-153) = 0.093 , p>0.05; F(3-153) = 0.127, p>0.05).
ANOVA results of elementary school teachers' basic and integrated skill scores and overall SPS scores of SPSTFT regarding their students’ class levels are presented in Table 14.
Table 14. ANOVA results of elementary school teachers' basic and integrated skill scores and overall SPS scores of SPSTFT regarding their students’ class levels
SPSTFT
Students’ Grades
N
M
Std. Deviation
ANOVA result
Basic SPS
1st grade
48
12.00
3.75
F : 2.398
Sig: 0.070
2nd grade
35
10.25
3.96
3rd grade
32
9.96
3.58
4th grade
43
11.37
4.07
Integrated SPS
1st grade
48
12.47
5.21
F: 1.500
Sig: 0.217
2nd grade
35
12.34
4.59
3rd grade
32
11.09
4.32
4th grade
43
13.58
5.63
Overall SPS (Basic SPS + integrated SPS)
1st grade
48
24.47
7.96
F: 1.886
Sig: 0.134
2nd grade
35
22.60
7.65
3rd grade
32
21.06
6.67
4th grade
43
24.95
8.89
As seen in Table 14, elementary school teachers' basic and integrated skill scores and total scores of overall SPS did not differ significantly by their students’ grades. However analyzing arithmetic means of SPS of elementary school teachers, it can be seen that 4th grade teachers had the highest score and 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade teachers followed in that order respectively.
Copyright (C) 2014 HKIEd APFSLT. Volume 15, Issue 1, Article 8 (Jun., 2014). All Rights Reserved.
