Science and Mathematics are considered to be the heart and soul of a curriculum, mainly because, aside from language, at any given course outline or curriculum in a formal school and academic track, these two subjects would always be present. Even at times we thought that they are simply irrelevant to the whole course, it is still a must for every learner to take and give her fair share in studying these subjects often referred to as the Dreaded Two. It is on this key subjects that students find and prove that the “struggle is real”.
In one European country, almost 17% of 15-year olds in Ireland are low-achievers in mathematics and 11% of this group are low-achievers in science, while thousands more are struggling.
On the local scenario, according to the Philippine Education for All Review 2015 on the National Achievement Test administered for secondary students, High school students had an overall MPS of 51.41 for SY 2012-2013 in combined subjects of English, Filipino, Science, Mathematics, Social Studies and Critical Thinking. Comparing the test scores, secondary students scored high in Social Studies and Filipino, and scored low in Critical Thinking, Science and Mathematics.
With the current trends both internationally and locally, it is becoming alarming thus raising a challenge for educators on bridging the gap between performance outcome with Math and Science as compared to other subjects.
Majella Demopsey, a lecturer at the Education Department of Maynooth University, Ireland, recently proposed of a new method to improve learning and teaching in Math and Science subject which they call – Formative Assessment. It is developing tools that allow teachers to keep track of how their students are learning, rather than focusing exclusively on “summative assessments” such as school and state examinations.
FaSMEd – a project focusing on the use of technology in formative assessment in classrooms – will allow teachers to respond to the ongoing learning needs of maths and science students.” We are designing and using teaching and learning activities for science and maths teachers to support the development of best practice” explains Nihiam Burke, a Researcher in Maynooth University. “The first of these will allow teachers build on their prior knowledge with their students and to offer feedback. We are using videos and mobile technology and we are providing professional development sessions with the teachers.” It is hoped to build these into a tool kit for all teachers to use.
“Progress is tracked over time,” says Dempsey. “It’s not about summative assessment – a single exam, one point in time on a student’s learning curve – and it is certainly not about rote learning. Instead, we are looking at formative assessment, where teachers can modify how they teach and make informed decisions about what learning activities best support how their students’ learning. Formative assessment is not about testing students; it’s about an approach to learning. Indeed, there is a large body of research which suggests that formative assessment enables the development of the communicative, critical thinking and interpersonal skills that students will need throughout life.”
Formative assessment isn’t just about teachers reviewing their students’ work and giving feedback; students have to be involved in the process, and for example students in the three pilot schools engage in peer assessment and self-assessment of their learning. This is a key aspect of the development of critical thinking skills.
The FaSMEd activities set up an assessment at the start that clearly identifies, from the student’s answer, what her or his misconceptions or difficulties are. With these assessment loops built in, teachers then know how to adapt. It is a move away from a traditional drill and practice teaching technique; teachers are now being asked to teach conceptually and students have to really think about what they are learning.”
The project is still at an early stage of development. Due to the peculiarities of the Irish school year, the Irish team began their research a few months ahead of their international colleagues. There’s another year and a half to go before the three-year FaSMEd project wraps up in December 2016, at this point, it’s difficult to predict results.
In conclusion, various techniques and modern learning methods to improve education has been consistently developed all for one common goal: to increase participation that will increase the learning curve of students studying Science and Mathematics. Knowing the fact and reality that the two subjects are two of the difficult ones, it is a must that students be involved in the process, more than gauging their academic status and recall of the concepts taught using tests and evaluation exam, their feedback on how the concepts are taught must be reconsidered.
Formative assessment is an approach to deal with the situation in a holistic manner, composed of self assessment on how they are performing, how effective educators are, and what things must be improved are all important factors and methods to improve and bridge the gap between learners and educators.
By: JEAN E. ROQUE | TEACHER III | LIMAY NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL | LIMAY, BATAAN
