Humans have always been curious about the world around them.  The imaginative and inquiring human mind has responded to the wonder and awe of nature in different ways.  One kind of response from the earliest times have been to observe the physical and biological environment carefully, look for any meaningful patterns and relations, make and use new tools to interact with nature, and build conceptual models to understand the world.

            Science is a dynamic, expanding body of knowledge covering ever new domains of experience.  How is this knowledge generated?  As with many complex things in life, scientific method is perhaps more easily defined.  But broadly speaking, it involves several interconnected steps: Observation, looking for regularities and patterns, making hypotheses, devising qualitative or mathematical models, deducing their consequences: verification or falsification of theories through observations and controlled experiments, and thus arriving at the principles, and theories and laws governing the physical world.

            In view of modern developments in science and its importance in today’s world, science teaching has assumed a significant place in secondary school curriculum. At present, the K to 12 Basic Education Curriculum is implemented because of the government’s concern about the quality of science education and to develop more the critical and creative thinking skills of students. One of the goals of this new curriculum is to enable students who are able to experience the richness and excitement of knowing about and understanding the natural world.

            In the Philippines, unmistakably there are so much more things to be learned by the elementary and high school students… We are still far from achieving the real quality science education.  Another thing, even at its best, science develops competence but does not encourage inventiveness and creativity. The K to 12 Science Curriculum must be used to serve as instrument of social change to reduce indifference to science subject.  Textbooks are a great help as instruments for easy access and affordable resource to science education.  Teachers must encourage alternative references and textbooks within the broad guidelines of the national curriculum framework. They must also consider paradigm shift, rote learning should be lessened if not totally discouraged.  Inquiry skills should be supported and strengthened by language, design and quantitative skills.  Science teachers should encourage students more to do science investigatory projects to hone up inventiveness, creativity and critical thinking.  Teachers of science are encouraging most of all to revisit the approaches and strategies they are using to their students.

            Clearly, for experiment- based science learning to be effective, there must be space and time for students and teachers to plan experiments discuss ideas, and critically records analyze observations…  A good pedagogy must essentially be a judicious mix of approaches, with the inquiry approach being one of them.

            By looking at the present science educational scenario, activity-based teaching has been accepted as good strategy for science education in the secondary school as students actively participate in the process of learning.  This approach consisted of different activities for the all round development of children from the elementary up to the secondary level  Activities should be prepared by low cost materials which is available in the locality. 

            The learning environment won’t be conducive for students unless/until a teacher devised a good strategy of teaching.  It has been observed that activity- based approach science teaching is the cornerstone of better intellectual development and it leads to critical pedagogy. Though this approach, it gives emphasis on the direct participation of the students in learning process, the students getting the right concept while engaging themselves and different activities.  It must be realized that a difficult concept is simplified by presenting rather it needs prerequisite ideas, experiences and activities at the different levels.   It is very much clear that activity-based approach has direct impact on students’ achievement.

Reference:

Global Journal of Human Social Science Linguistics and Education.Vol 13 Issue 4.Global             `Journalists Inc.(USA).

By: Marita M. Marcelino |T-I| Bagac National High School Parang, Bagac