Carol Helfenbein

RGD 507

Review Article 1

Introduction
The article "The Using of the Teaching Methods and Techniques by Science and
Technology Teachers and Class Teachers" is a study to find out how science is actually being
taught in primary schools instead of teachers utilizing the best known techniques and strategies.
The study used a questionnaire on 95 teachers asking how they typically taught science and
technology. It was found that most teachers are using presentations in order to teach the material
to their students instead of inquiry and constructivism. The reasons the teachers gave for not
using mostly inquiry and constructivism was not because they did not know how, but that the
class sizes were too big, there was too much content to cover, and insufficient time. The teachers
frequently would use question-and-answer and demonstration. Other techniques, such as
snowball and fishbone were never used. Most of the teachers did not know the difference
between teaching strategies and techniques.
Review
From what I have observed in the classroom, science teaching techniques do not really
differ from primary school to middle school to high school. The best way students learn, no
matter what the age, is by constructivism and other brain based learning methods. I have also
observed that there always seems to not be enough time to get through the material each day in
class and units cannot be extended in length because there is a lot of material that has to be
covered during the school year. I do not this that is necessary an adequate reason to not teach
with the best methods for teaching science, however to a time cramped teacher, the best way will
seem like the fastest way to get through the content. I know that in 8th grade in Arizona, the
science teachers have to teach what amounts to four quarters of content in three quarters of the

Carol Helfenbein

RGD 507

Review Article 1

school year. This causes a lot of stress when extra duties and demands on their time is made,
such as focusing more on reading and writing practices.
I agree with the conclusion of the article; teachers are aware of better ways to teach
science, but do not use them mostly due to time constraints. They do try to incorporate the
methods as much as they can, when they can, but it is not the top priority to teach mostly using
constructivism and inquiry labs. Such lessons can take a long time to plan and set up and the
students tend to need a lot of help at first with those types of activities. That can be hard on the
teacher if the class is particularly large or has a large population of low performing students in
the class. In order to be able to fully utilize proper techniques and strategies, teachers should be
able to correctly differentiate between the two, otherwise how else would they know that they are
actually doing and how the student will reach the goal the teacher has set.
Conclusion
Teachers should be aware of how they are teaching, no matter what the circumstances of
the class are. The students should always come first and with that is using the best ways to teach
them science most of the time, not just sometimes or once in a while. This is why it is a good
idea for science teachers should get together and help each other out with the material and how
to present it. It is easier if teachers share lesson plans as much as they can and to reuse them
over the years as much as they can. The better techniques and methods that are used in the
classroom the better the students will understand the content and their science literacy will
improve as will their prospects in life. This study shows the deficiency in the use of the best
science teaching techniques and from it teachers can be aware of how they are presenting and
teaching science at all grade levels.

Carol Helfenbein

RGD 507

Review Article 1

Citation
Gunes, T., Dilek, N., Celikogolu, M., & Demir, E. (2012). The Using of the Teaching Methods
and Techniques by Science and Technology Teachers and Class Teachers. Cypriot Journal of
Educational Sciences, 7(2), 82-91.