Research Information System
JOURNAL OF SCIENCE EDUCATION AND TECHNOLOGY, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, SSCI, Scopus)
This study aims to qualitatively explore the barriers encountered by science teachers in Türkiye during the process ofintegrating a specifically developed e-Argumentation software into their lessons. The challenges were analyzed using Ert-mer’s (1999) model of primary (external) and secondary (internal) barriers, alongside Tsai and Chai’s (2012) frameworkof third-order barriers, within a qualitative case study design. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with12 science teachers and analyzed via thematic content analysis. Findings revealed significant primary barriers, includ-ing insufficient technological infrastructure, software usability issues, and curriculum constraints, alongside secondarybarriers such as adherence to traditional pedagogies and technology-related anxieties. Crucially, the study also identifiedthird-order barriers, specifically a deficiency in teachers’ pedagogical design capacity to orchestrate complex, technology-supported inquiry. Beyond cataloging these obstacles, this study’s primary contribution is to illuminate the synergisticrelationship between them. It argues that secondary barriers and third-order design deficiencies often emerge as rationalresponses to an ecosystem defined by systemic primary barriers. The findings therefore suggest that successful technologyintegration is less about providing tools and more about cultivating a supportive educational ecosystem that addressessystemic inequities and empowers teachers as key agents of educational change.