Obstacles to teaching chemistry in the intermediate stage from the point of view of the subject's teachers and female teachers

Abstract

The current research aims to reveal the obstacles to teaching chemistry at the intermediate stage from the point of view of the subject's teachers. This is done by answering the following questions:

What are the obstacles to teaching chemistry at the intermediate stage from the point of view of subject teachers?
What are the proposals to reduce these obstacles or the appropriate solution to them from the point of view of the subject teachers?

The method used was the descriptive one. The current research community reached (110) secondary and intermediate schools (males and females) affiliated to the Third Rusafa Directorate / Baghdad. They served for five years in teaching chemistry at the intermediate and secondary levels for the academic year 2021/2022. To achieve the research objectives, a questionnaire was prepared of an open type (exploratory) and the second of a closed type (applied to the basic sample). Teaching methods, evaluation and exams, school administration) and a ninth field has been added showing the appropriate solutions to these obstacles from the point of view of the subject teachers, and the validity of the tool was verified by adopting 80% for the acceptance of the arbitrators. The stability of the tool was also verified by re-applying the questionnaire twice on The exploratory sample and between the two applications for a period of no less than 14 days, and after applying the search and data extraction tool, a set of results showed the most important of which are:

Failure to maintain teaching objectives in the form of observable and measurable behavioral objectives.
Neglecting the applied aspect and the weakness of scientific practices in teaching, limiting them to theoretical teaching and staying away from the laboratory.
The low educational level of students transferred from the primary stage to the intermediate stage has a significant and clear impact on the progress of teaching science, especially chemistry.
Providing the appropriate atmosphere for the student during his studies in the school, such as the class capacity, the quality of the seats, the good lighting, the distance of the class and others, has a significant impact on the students’ absorption.
The use of traditional methods of teaching does not contribute to making students the focus of the educational process.
Many schools have joint laboratories for subjects (physics, chemistry and biology), and this is a major obstacle that directly affects the educational process.

In the light of these results, the researcher developed a set of appropriate recommendations, and suggested conducting subsequent, updated research for this research.