TEACHING STRATEGIES FOR PROMOTING HIGHER ORDER THINKING SKILLS: A CASE OF SECONDARY SCIENCE TEACHERS

Abstract

Promoting students’ higher order thinking (HOT) is the main aim of all education studies and programs. Past research in science education has indicated that effective teaching strategies play a vital role in improving these skills among students. This study aimed at investigating strategies used by secondary science teachers in science teaching as well as to determine the association between the strategies used and variables such as gender and years of experience. The Strategies Use Survey Questionnaire (SUSQ) was developed and consisted of 31 questions in the form of a 5- point Likert scale and distributed among 212 7th grade science teachers in the IraqiKurdistan region. Data were analyzed by adopting descriptive and inferential statistics such as t-test and one-way ANOVA. Findings of the study indicated that the most popular strategy among 7th grade science teachers is the strategy for acquiring knowledge which focused more on memorizing basic concepts in science, while the least used strategy by science teachers is the strategy for applying knowledge such as problem solving and hands-on activities. Moreover, gender and experience were found to be significant factors for teaching strategies used among study participants (p < 0.05).