AN INVESTIGATION OF BIOLOGY TEACHERS’ AND STUDENTS’ VIEWS ON TEACHING ABOUT VIRUSES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION IN TURKEY

Abstract

The dangers of viral diseases are taken into consideration, it is crucial to provide effective education to individuals and to do social researches on the subjects related to viruses in biology. The purpose of this study is to analyse virus-related subjects taught in secondary education in terms of the views of biology teachers and secondary education students. In this study was used-case study -one of the qualitative research methods-and content analysis. Participants which created for qualitative data consists of 26 biology teachers and 51 students. ''Semi-Structured Interview Form on Viruses'' was used as a data-collection tool. According to the results obtained from the study, the importance given by the students and teachers in learning viruses show parallelism with “linking the subject with daily life”. Students are well-aware that their life will be affected if the viruses are active in the environment. Additionally, the disadvantageous aspects are well-recognized by the students as one of the factors that increase the importance of viruses. Moreover, students claim that virus-related subjects can be learned effectively thanks to the competencies of the teachers in the field. Both students and teachers believe that virus-related subjects can be taught more effectively by using more visual materials.