PEDAGOGICALLY DESIRABLE SCIENCE EDUCATION: VIEWS ON INQUIRY-BASED SCIENCE EDUCATION IN TURKEY

The aim of this research is to investigate the aspects of science education, which are pedagogically desirable for the individual in the society of 21st century. The research was conducted by Curricular Delphi Study method in three rounds with international comparisons. In the first round, an open-ended survey was used, and in the next two rounds the instrument was structured to answer the refined research questions of the study, such as the priorities and practices towards the inquiry-based science education. The paper reports on the findings of a survey collected from 125 stakeholders of science education, including scientists, science educators, and education administrators from Turkey. In the results of the differentiated analyses according to the sample groups, all stakeholders emphasize the role of science education in the survival of a country. They all put a great emphasis on the curriculum. The stakeholders emphasized the significance of engagement with the interdisciplinary relations of the sciences, their findings and their perspectives with regard to their role in enhancing individual intellectual personality development. It is suggested that scientific inquiry includes the ability to consolidate the inquiry processes with scientific knowledge, scientific reasoning and critical thinking to advance scientific knowledge.