509 2 nd International Conference on New Trends in Education and Their Implications 27-29 April, 2011 Antalya-Turkey www.iconte.org Siyasal Kitabevi, Ankara, Turkey, 2011 ISBN: 978-605-5782-62-7 PRIVATE SCHOOL ELEMENTARY SCIENCE TEACHERS’ REFLECTIONS ON NEW SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CURRICULUM Nilay Öztürk, METU, onilay@metu.edu.tr Rıdvan Elmas, METU, relmas@metu.edu.tr Meltem Savas, METU, msavas@metu.edu.tr Abstract The goal of the study is to explore private school elementary science teachers’ opinions and reflections on the new science and technology curriculum in Turkey. New curriculum includes different aspects compared to the previous one such as student- centered activities, multiple assessment techniques, and student-teacher roles. Semi- structured interviews with four private school science teachers were conducted to understand their opinions over the new curriculum. Interview schedule comprises 23 questions in 9 themes; personal information, structure of change, acceptance of change, ideas about the change, feelings about the change, personal accountability for the change, implementation of the change, teacher sufficiency in change, and effect of change on teachers. As preliminary results, the teachers reported the insufficiency of teacher training, unpreparedness of students to the student-centered education, and heavy load of project assignments. All the teachers reported that using multiple assessment techniques in the evaluation process is an advantage for pupils. Keywords: Elementary Science and technology curriculum, curriculum evaluation, private school elementary science teachers INTRODUCTION The rapid developments and findings in science and technology ubiquitously raise debates over the aims and goals of the science education throughout the world. The swift change in science and technology coerce the change in educational systems to keep up with the needs of the society and global economy. Because of this advancements and changes in students’ needs, science curriculums are under pressure of all stakeholders. Turkey is one of the countries which have been trying to catch this developmental process since the beginning of 1920s. John Dewey, who is a very famous educational reformer in America, participated in the design process of Turkish science curriculums in 1920s (Demirbas & Yagbasan, 2005). The most crucial turning point of science teaching is the application of new science programs in Ankara Science High School in 1964. At the same time, new developments emerged in science education curriculums in the USA which would further shape Turkish science curriculums (Unal, Costu, & Karatas, 2004). There were attempts for reform and improvement on the curriculum in the years of 1968, 1973, 1992, 1993, and 2005. In 1973, Turkey started to implement an integrated science curriculum which was more modern than previous one and tried to make radical changes in the teacher role. This curriculum avoided student memorization and defined the teachers’ role as “guide” in the classroom. In 1980s, this curriculum was abandoned by the Ministry of National Education (MONE). In 1993, MONE initiated a project named Development of National Education (Demirbas & Yagbasan, 2005). Within the scope of this project, a new science curriculum was designed and disseminated. This curriculum aimed to implement student-centered instruction and raised students as individuals who were more creative and critical and knew how to reach the information. Ongoing emergent technologies and knowledge unveil the need for new skills and qualities for citizens. Science literacy, problem solving, creativity, and critical thinking are some of the famous examples of these skills. Science classes are vital places for developing these new skills. For the aim of developing these skills in Turkish elementary science students, a new curriculum was designed and disseminated in early 2005. With the new curriculum the name of the course was also changed from