Abstract
The present contribution provides the information on the realisation and partial results of concurrent projects - European and national, focused on the research of pupils/ students' skills in science subjects at the early stage of implementation of curricular reform and in connection with the application of IBSE method. The main aim of this research is to propose, on the basis of the results from a multilevel analysis of skills in terms of intended, implemented and achieved curriculum, a structural and interconnected system of pupils/ students' skills, which should be acquired in geography, biology and chemistry in elementary and grammar schools.
Another aim is to verify the extent and conditions of acquisition of the selected skills at different school levels. The basis for the proposed system is Inquiry Based Science Education (IBSE).
Partial analyses of the research first compare the opinions of teachers on the use of Inquiry Based Science Education with the pupils/students of elementary and secondary schools and on the skills which can develop this type of teaching. The teacher as the most important element in the process of IBSE implementation first has to accept this teaching strategy, then to study it thoroughly both in terms of content and also in terms of methodology so that he/she could actively apply it.
The present contribution describes the methodology and results of investigation focused on the opinions and experience of Czech teachers with the application of Inquiry Based Science Education in science subjects. The investigation was realised using a guided interview and a written questionnaire among 254 teachers of elementary and secondary schools in the Czech Republic.