The application of a primary science delivery evaluation questionnaire

The purpose of this investigation was to apply a validated curriculum evaluation instrument, the Science Curriculum Implementation Questionnaire (SCIQ), in an educational context in which a science curriculum review had recently been completed and, by so doing, ascertain the accuracy and potential value of the instrument as a curriculum delivery evaluative tool. The study begins by exploring the themes generated from an extensive case study attempting to identify the broad and complex factors influencing science program delivery at a large urban intermediate (Years 7 and 8) school in New Zealand. Following this, the results of the subsequent application of the SCIQ in the case study school are discussed. Responses to the SCIQ reaffirmed the themes identified in the case study and, by way of standard deviation analysis, gave a similar description of the variability in the staff perceptions pertaining to the factors influencing science program delivery. Limitations and recent practical applications of the SCIQ are also discussed