Investigating earth science teaching status quo and expected earth science literacy of students in the secondary school

[[abstract]]This study used survey research and interview to investigate secondary school science teachers’ perceptions on the constituent elements of earth science literacy of secondary school students and the factors that influenced their perceptions. This study took not only theoretical but also practical views to examine the status quo of earth science education at secondary school level in Taiwan and its relation to the development of scientific literacy. It is expected that the study of teachers’ perspectives on earth science literacy would provide useful information for school education improvement and curriculum refinement. After two pilot tests, the main study of a national survey of 1,000 secondary earth science teachers was conducted in May 2004, with a valid response rate of 70.2%. The survey study found that about 42% of the earth science teachers were earth science major in their teacher preparation programs. Regarding teaching preparation for the four sub-areas of geology, astronomy, oceanography, and meteorology, teachers who taught at high schools and at large size schools felt more confident in teaching than those who taught at junior high schools and at small size schools. The surveyed teachers all agreed that earth science as a subject matter was very daily life related and accords with the trends of the times. The teachers felt that related workshops and in-service education were needed and would be helpful for their teaching improvement. The study also found that the teaching equipments and multimedia technologies in the earth science classrooms were generally insufficient for teaching needs and there was a discrepancy existed between schools in urban and rural areas. The results revealed that the differences in teachers’ perceptions on earth science literacy of secondary school students were mainly influenced by the teachers’ seniority of teaching. As ranked by the teachers in the three scientific literacy dimensions of knowledge, skill, and attitudes, the most important components of secondary student earth science literacy were: knowledge related to environmental protection, applying what have learned in solving daily life problems, and the attitude to treasure life and resources and to appreciate the beauty of the nature. When asked about the preferred teaching goals in earth science education, the teachers ranked the goals in the order of attitude, knowledge, and skills, which was in accordance with the teachers’ views examined in the interviews. As for the teachers’ actual teaching goals, the results indicated a change of teaching emphasis and the ranking order became knowledge, attitude, and skill. The fact that the knowledge domain was drastically emphasized in the teachers’ actual teaching practice could manifest the impact of the high school/college entrance examinations on teachers’ teaching priorities. Finally, both in their preferred and actual teaching goals, the teachers reported no need for secondary school students to be equipped with higher-order scientific abilities. That is, for the earth science teachers, it would be quite enough for the secondary school students when they are able to acquire basic science knowledge, to have positive attitude on learning, and to have the ability to solve problems in their daily lives. Key Words： secondary school teachers, earth science literacy, level of teaching preparation, goals of earth science education