Identifying the difficulties in developing hypothesis formation skills in science classes
Keywords:
Scientific Process Skills, Secondary School, Science Teaching, Hypothesizing Skills, Variable DeterminationAbstract
One of the key components of scientific literacy is scientific process skills. Among scientific process skills, the ability to formulate hypotheses can be considered a higher-order skill. Therefore, it is of great importance to develop and foster this skill in science classrooms. This is because experimental and observational activities, which are inherent to the nature of science, frequently require this skill. The aim of this study is to identify the current state of sixth-grade students' hypothesis-forming skills and to determine the challenges they face in developing this skill. The participant group of the study consists of 42 students attending a middle school located in the city center of Nevşehir. The study was conducted using an exploratory mixed-methods research design. A mixed-methods design is one that involves the collection and integration of both qualitative and quantitative data. In this context, to obtain detailed and comprehensive data considering the challenges in developing hypothesis-forming skills, the quantitative phase of the study included the administration of the Scientific Process Skills Test, the Science Anxiety Scale, and the Science Learning Motivation Scale to the participants. In the qualitative phase of the study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight students selected according to predetermined criteria. In addition, data triangulation was sought through 16 weeks of classroom observations. According to the findings obtained from the analysis of quantitative and qualitative data, the average score students received on hypothesis-forming questions was moderate (M = 2.85) on a six-point scale. The minimum and maximum scores obtained from the hypothesis-forming questions were 2 and 5, respectively. It was observed that students had difficulty identifying the factors to be controlled and the variables to be manipulated in experimental setups. This difficulty in identifying variables was also reflected in their ability to formulate hypotheses. This is because a hypothesis is generally constructed using variables. Furthermore, it can be said that students had difficulty in reading comprehension in the hypothesis-related questions, and thus were unable to establish a meaningful connection between the scenario presented in the question stem and the listed options.
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