CHALLENGES FACED IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SCIENCE PROCESS SKILLS: A STUDY OF PRIMARY YEAR TWO PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS' PRACTICUM EXPERIENCE

Like teachers for all other subjects, primary science teachers are challenged by the harnessing of science concepts especially science process skills. The science process skills are the tools that students use to investigate the world around them and to construct science concepts. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the challenges pre-service teachers faced in the implementation of science process skills during practicum. A sample comprised 80 pre-service teachers at a Fijian university. Participants had completed one science education course and two practicum experience. This study used questionnaire as the main data collection method which was constructed for the purpose of this study. The participants were able to articulate their experiences, class size, being the most prominent hindrance in the implementation of science process skills. The findings have implications for both, teacher education at tertiary and primary levels in the area of science education.