SCIENCE TEACHERS’ PREPAREDNESS AND PRACTICES IN SMARTPHONE-BASED PHYSICS EXPERIMENTS

Abstract

The advancement of smartphone technology has reaped several benefits in many sectors. In education, teachers have yet to fully adopt in their classrooms, which calls for their preparedness. This mixed-methods study has examined the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and classroom practices of 58 randomly selected in-service science teachers from public high schools in the Eastern Visayas region of the Philippines regarding smartphone-based physics experiments. Using validated and reliable instruments, this paper uncovered a disconnect between teachers’ positive attitude towards smartphone implementation and their practical and theoretical knowledge and skills. Most teachers have a low conceptual understanding (f = 23) of smartphone-based experimentation and struggle to apply skills in data collection, analysis, and interpretation. Even more profound was the lack of practical skills among surveyed teachers. The average teacher score was only 1.30 out of 15, placing them at an absent skill level. During the classroom observations, these findings were confirmed: the use of smartphones in science classes was rarely or never observed. Qualitative insights indicated that teachers were genuinely perplexed by fundamental concepts such as repeated data collection, unit representation, and graphing. These results imply that presumptions about teachers' baseline preparedness cannot be used to design effective continuing professional development programs. Rather, CPD must start with the basics, employing scaffolding techniques that develop competence and confidence from the ground up. Even the most passionate educators will find it difficult to turn their idealistic perspectives of technology into worthwhile educational opportunities for their pupils if these fundamental gaps are not filled. This needs assessment provides the evidence base for creating focused, useful professional development that meets teachers where they are.