AN INVESTIGATION OF ELEMENTARY STUDENTS’ SCIENTIFIC LITERACY LEVELS

Scientific literacy has become the major goal of science education in many countries as well as Turkey. In line with this goal, the purpose of this study is to investigate the scientific literacy level of elementary students in Turkey. In this study, the scientific literacy level of students is investigated through “Scientific Literacy Test” adapted by the researchers. The test was administered to 946 elementary students enrolled in 6th, 7th and 8th grades in nine cities during the academic year of 2008-2009. The results of the study showed that 8th grade students significantly differ in their scientific literacy level compared to 6th and 7th grade students. However, eight graders have also some difficulties on some items related to the nature of science.