Teaching Science is not about preparing students for a world that is static and fixed, but it concerns getting students ready to cope with changes and challenges in their lives. Traditional direct instruction in Science generally focuses on mastery of content with less emphasis on the development of scientific skills and attitudes; students are the receivers while the teacher the dispenser. In most classroom contexts, teachers are preoccupied with academic activities in pursuit of the schools’ successes; often in the form of their students gaining as many A’s as possible.
Science education is the field concerned with sharing science content and process with individuals not traditionally considered part of the scientific community. The learners may be children, college students, or adults within the general public; the field of science education includes work in science content, science process (the scientific method), some social science, and some teaching pedagogy. Thus, it is said that Science education is very important to the development of any nation that is why every nation must take it very seriously in all institutions of learning.
A constant struggle for teachers in all disciplines of education is to ensure that
students not only understand the concepts and skills that they are taught, but also that
they can then analyze and apply those tools to different situations that arise. Because
Biology is a subject that relies heavily on rote memorization, it has traditionally been
taught through the use of lectures, note taking, and supplemental laboratory activities.
Education is a continually changing discipline; new research is constantly considering new methods to improve student gains in the classroom and increase overall knowledge retention. In order for students to be successful in school and in life, teachers need to constantly revise their teaching practices based on new methods that are introduced in order to ensure that students are engaged, invested, and increasing their academic
achievements.
Nevertheless, ways of learning science that lead to understanding can also help to develop learning skills that are needed throughout life in order to operate effectively in a world that is changing rapidly. Science teachers play a great role in addressing this problem in the science classroom. They should be responsible to guide students to ensure they undergo meaningful learning experience, prepare them to cope with the changes and demands of the world and meet the challenges that they will face in their life time. Teachers are the key players in improving the learning of all our children in school. The large majority of the world’s population have experience of being in school and the job of the teacher may seem obvious. However, detailed shows the complexity of the role of the teacher, especially where the teacher is responsible for the majority or the entire curriculum. Longer-term studies show that to change the fundamental practice takes time. They rely heavily on lecture and textbooks and teach many concepts just to finish the subject requirement. Students only listen and take notes during presentations.
Similarly, problem on learning science is one of the major concern in the education for many countries including Philippines. It is evident in the international studies that Philippines partook in including the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Studies (TIMSS) which conducts comprehensive assessment in the participating counties every after four years. Based on the 2003 result of TIMMS, which is the last participations of the Philippines in this study, the country ranked 40th among 42 participating countries in 1999 while 41st among 42 countries in 1995.
Reference:
Educators magazine (2006)
By: RUBELYN NUNEZ CARATIKIT
