How to Motivate Science Teachers to Use Science Experiments

• Main Author: Josef Trna
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: International Institute of Informatics and Cybernetics 2012-10-01
• Series: Journal of Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics
• Subjects: science education; Motivation; experiments; Teachers' Professional Skills; Teachers' Training
• Online Access: http://www.iiisci.org/Journal/CV$/sci/pdfs/HEB469YG.pdf

A science experiment is the core tool in science education. This study describes the science teachers' professional competence to implement science experiments in teaching/learning science. The main objective is the motivation of science teachers to use science experiments. The presented research tries to answer questions aimed at the science teachers' skills to use science experiments in teaching/learning science. The research discovered the following facts: science teachers do not include science experiments in teaching/learning in a suitable way; are not able to choose science experiments corresponding to the teaching phase; prefer teachers' demonstration of science experiments; are not able to improvise with the aids; use only a few experiments. The important research result is that an important motivational tool for science teachers is the creation of simple experiments. Examples of motivational simple experiments used into teachers' training for increasing their own creativity and motivation are presented.