Asian Social Science; Vol. 9, No. 8; 2013 ISSN 1911-2017 E-ISSN 1911-2025 Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education 47 Inculcation of Science Process Skills in a Science Classroom Rose Amnah Abd Rauf 1 , Mohamad Sattar Rasul 2 , Azlin Norhaini Mansor 2 , Zarina Othman 2 & N. Lyndon 3 1 Faculty of Education, Universiti Malaya (UM), Malaysia 2 Faculty of Education, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Malaysia 3 School of Social Development and Environmental Studies, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia Correspondence: Rose Amnah Abd Rauf, Faculty of Education, Universiti Malaya (UM), Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia. Tel: 60-3-7967-5198. E-mail: rose_amnah@hotmail.com Received: February 12, 2013 Accepted: March 29, 2013 Online Published: April 25, 2013 doi:10.5539/ass.v9n8p47 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/ass.v9n8p47 Abstract Teachers play an important role for teaching science process skills in class through planning and arranging learning activities and teaching how to reach scientific information. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the teaching aproaches used in the teaching and learning process of a science class are able to provide the opportunity to inculcate science process skills and to identify which science process skills were inculcated (if any) during the lesson without actually planning to teach science process skills. This is a qualitative case study in two Smart Schools in Malaysia. 24 students aged 14 years old and two science teachers were the sample of this study This study revealed that the process of teaching and learning science that uses various teaching approaches in one science lessons has additional advantages in terms of providing opportunities for the inculcation of science process skills. It also managed to provide the students with the opportunity to learn independently in acquiring some of the skills. The use of various teaching approaches is in juxtaposition to each other. Science teaching and learning process is a dynamic process, where the movement from one teaching approach to another occur and not necessarily always occur in an orderly sequence. Hence, the use of various teaching approaches in a single lesson can create more opportunities for inculcation and acquisition of science process skills in the classroom. Keywords: science process skills, inculcation, teaching approach 1. Introduction We are in the era of science and technology where scientific knowledge has grown exponentially and technology has progressed at a rapid pace. Its effects can be clearly seen in all aspects of our lives. Science education plays a key role for the futures of societies. Globally, countries have continuously sought to improve the quality of science education particularly developing countries. As mentioned by Kirscher, Sweller & Clark (2006), disputes about the impact of instructional guidance during teaching and learning of science have been ongoing for at least the past half-century. Arguments being whether students learn best in an unguided /minimally guided teaching-learning environment or novice learners should be given direct instructional guidance on the concepts and procedures. Both arguments have been the focus of this research whereby the acquisition of science process skills can be achieved during the teaching and learning of science by providing opportunities to inculcate science process skills in their lessons. Acquiring science process skills is considered as “learning how to learn” because children learn how to learn by thinking critically and using information creatively and they continue to learn when making discriminating observations, organizing and analyzing facts or concepts, giving reasons for particular outcomes, evaluating and interpreting results, drawing justifiable conclusions and predicting what will happen if anything were to be changed (Martin et al., 2001). Process skills describe the types of thinking and reasoning required. Process skills can be divided into two categories, basic and integrated process skills. In science, basic science process skills help children to expand their learning through experience. Children begin with simple ideas, and expand to form new and complex ideas. It is hoped that emphasis on science process skills helps children discover meaningful information and