TEACHING LEARNING PROCESS OF SCIENCE CLASSROOM AT SECONDARY LEVEL SCHOOLS: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY

The objective of this paper is to find out the profile of teachers teaching science at secondary level and to study the classroom transaction process of science at secondary level with reference to constructivist approach of teaching. The study was conducted through qualitative method. For this study researcher selected 20 secondary schools from Vaishali district of Bihar, India. The investigator used information blank for teachers for developing their profile and observation schedule for examining teaching learning process. The investigator used frequency, percentage and qualitative descriptions and accordingly interpretations are made. The study found that i) Teachers teaching science are well qualified as 60.86% have B.Sc., B.Ed. and 39.13% have M.Sc., B.Ed. qualification, ii) 30.43% of science teachers have attended in-service programmes like science pedagogy, ICT in teaching etc. organised in last three years, iii) 78.26% of teachers never test the previous knowledge before teaching and 73.91% of teachers never engage students to create interest to topics, iv) 82.60% of teachers never encourage learners for asking questions in class and 86.95% of teachers distributes questions throughout class, v) 78.26% of science teachers never use locally available things as teaching learning materials and illustrates concepts with variety of examples from the local context, 82.60% of teachers never change method as per the mood of learners, vi) 52.17% of teachers never allow students to interact with each other in class, 78.26% of teachers never encourage group work and 91.30% of students never activates learners during teaching in class, vii) no teachers teaches how to learn a topic, suggests other learning materials for references and uses ICT in classroom. 60.86% of teachers never encourage self-reflection, 91.30% of teachers never encourage divergent thinking among learners and 73.91% of teachers never focus on process of learning in class, viii) 86.95% of teachers never asks questions as per the objectives of the lesson, ask question beyond textbook and provides home assignment that requires enquiry. The study has suggested implications for teachers, teacher educators and government to improve quality of science education at secondary level.