Instructional Evaluation of the Integrative Approach in Teaching Biology
Content
INSTRUCTIONAL EVALUATION OF THE INTEGRATIVE APPROACH IN TEACHING BIOLOGY Author: Maria Theresa H. Alvarez Thesis Adviser: Virgilio U. Manzano, PhD Abstract The integrative approach in teaching biology was assessed by evaluating the planned and implemented biology instruction, describing students’ atitude toward biology when it is taught using such approach, and by elucidating the advantages, disadvantages, and problems or difficulties associated with teaching and learning integrative Biology. Planned and implemented instructions were evaluated based on the Five Standards of Authentic Learning. A researcher-made Biology Attitude Scale Instrument was administered to second year high school students, with an equivalent version that was answered by their biology teacher. Student responses from an open-ended survey questionnaire and focused group interview were comparatively analyzed with the resposses of their biology teacher to a semistructed interview.
Integrative biology instruction, when planned and implemented appropriately, develops high-order thinking skills, depth of understanding of biological concepts and their relevance to real-world issues and other areas of study. When Biology is the core subject of the unit, or when the theme is directly related to its content, authenticity instruction becomes more extensive. It is therefore crucial for teachers to ensure the authenticity of integration to effectively facilitate construction of meanings and prevent confusion and difficulties brought by the different perspectives presented by different teachers on a single theme or topic.
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Compared to traditional teaching, it poses greater demands to teachers on mastery of content, creativity, innovativeness, and resourcefulness.
Generally, students demonstrate positive attitude toward Biology when it is taught using integrative approach. Themes that students find most enjoyable are those that are relevant to their experiences and interests. Collaborative planning and team teaching also help teachers improve mastery of subject matter, reinforce each other’s instruction and motivate students to learn. Limited understanding of what integrative instruction is and insufficient preparation time make this approach demanding and difficult. Therefore, administrative support is crucial in implementing a school-wide move from the traditional subject-centered instruction to an integrative approach.
Introduction The trend in biology instruction and curriculum design is to show connections to physics and chemistry; to help students become familiar with the natural world through the application of key science concepts (McNeil,1999). The Philippine Basic Education Curriculum (BEC) also mandates an integrative approach to resolve problems on information overload in the sciences and to further emphasize application of concepts and technology. Reformers from the integrative education movement contend that teaching facts and skills in a school day artificially compartmentalized into separate subjects fails to prepare students for a swiftly changing world. Through integrative education, educators seek to improve
students’ basic skills in language arts and mathematics while also teaching thinking skills, physical and sensing skills, and social skills (Shoemaker, 1989). Furthermore, integrative
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approach to instruction addresses three needs in education: authenticity, meaningfulness, and efficiency (Gavelek, Raphael, Biondo, and Wang, 1999).
Being the key players in the teaching-learning process, both teachers and students provide invaluable feedback regarding their experiences on integrative approach applied to high school Biology. This study attempted to answer the following research questions: (1) Does biology instruction using the integrative approach satisfy the five standards of authentic instruction? (2) What is the attitude of students toward Biology taught using the integrative approach? (3) What are the advantages of using the integrative approach in teaching Biology? (4) What are the difficulties and problems encountered by teachers and students?
Conceptual Framework The integrative approach in teaching high school Biology is characterized by attributes that set it apart from the traditional mode of science instruction. This particular approach is hypothesized to have significant implications on encouraging a more positive student attitude towards and interest in Biology. It also satisfies the standards of authentic learning such as development of high-order thinking skills, depth of knowledge, and connectedness to the world, substantive conversation and social support for achievement. Students perceive that they learn and understand better the lessons, explicitly appreciate the creativity of their teacher, as well as, the opportunity to share ideas and engage in group activities. The teacher also consider that engaging in integrative biology instruction gives opportunity to improve mastery of the subject matter, expand repertoire of teaching strategies, and develop greater collegiality. 3
Feedbacks from students shed light on the effectiveness of the choices for instructional materials and ambiance of the learning environment. Teachers’ feedbacks affirm the many possibilities for innovative uses of instructional materials and other means to maximize resources that can be tapped to improve instruction. The problems and difficulties cited by students and teachers provide the basis for recommendations. They highlight the challenges and other areas for explorations, as far as integrative Biology instruction, is concerned. Figure 1 presents the conceptual paradigm.
Standards of Authentic Learning
Development of HOTS Depth of knowledge Connectedness to the world Substantive conversation Social support for achievement Challenges, possibilities& areas for further explorations
Biology Attitude Scale Integrative Approach in Instruction for High School Biology Positive Attitude towards Biology
Student &Teacher Feedbacks
Perceptions about Integration Intrinsic Motivation Learning performance Teaching-learning Experience Interpersonal skills Collaborative experience Learning environment Resources
Figure 1. Conceptual framework for evaluating integrative biology instruction
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Methodology
(1) Evaluation of Biology Instruction vis-à-vis Five Standards of Authentic Learning
Planned instruction for Biology was evaluated using the rubrics set by Newmann and Wehlage (Newmann, King, and Carmichael, 2007) for the five standards of authentic learning. The said standards are: (1) high-order thinking skills, (2) deep knowledge, (3) substantive conversation, (4) connectedness to the workd, and (5) social support for student achievement. Actual biology classes were observed and documented to evaluate the implemented instruction vis-a-vis five standards of authentic learning.
(2) Biology Attitude Scale A researcher- made Biology Attitude Scale, patterned after the Modified FennemaSherman Attitude Scale, was administered to 63 second year high school students to describe student attitude towards Biology. An equivalent version was accomplished by the biology teacher to elicit teacher-perception about student attitude towards the subject.
(3) Open-ended Survey Questionnaire An Open-ended Survey Questionnaire was also answered by the second year students. The questions aimed to gather data about students’ feelings and perception about their biology subject, advantages, problems and difficulties associated with the integrative approach and their personal understanding about integration. The answers were compared and categorized to facilitate analysis.
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(4) Focused Group Interview to Key Student Informants and Semi-structured Interview to Biology Teacher A focused group interview was conducted to six purposely selected students while a semi-structured interview was conducted to the biology teacher to validate the answers in the open-ended questions.
Results and Discussion
(1) Evaluation of the Planned and Implemented Instruction
Planned instruction for Lesson A was evaluated high for standards 1 (HOTS), 2 (deep knowledge), and 5 (social support for student achievement) while low for standards 3 (substantive conversation) and 4 (connections to the world beyond the classroom). There are a total of 52 specific indicators cumulative for the five standards. As the over-all assessment, Lesson A satisfied 37 out of the 52 indicators. Lesson B was evaluated as high for all five standards and satisfied 51 out of 52 indicators.
The over-all assessment of planned instruction would clearly indicate that when the theme is directly related to the core subject or naturally linked with the lesson content of a particular subject, the authenticity of planned instruction becomes more extensive. This is exemplified by Lesson B where the theme is on biodiversity which is a basic lesson in Biology. Table 1 summarizes the evaluation of the planned instruction based on the five standards of authentic instruction.
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TABLE 1 Assessment of planned instruction for two lessons in Biology vis-a-vis Five Standards of Authentic Instruction
Standard Objectives Standard 1 High Order Thinking Synthesizing or Generalizing Explaining or problem-solving Hypothesizing or arriving at a conclusion Standard 2: Deep Knowledge Students encounter and express details, distinctions, and nuances, on a central concept Students encounter and explain different applications of a central concept Standard 3: Substantive Conversation Teacher-student interaction Student-student interaction High High High Low High Low Low Low High High High High High High High High Low High Low High High High High High High High High High High Low High High High High High High High High High High High High High High High High High High Lesson A Learning Content Experience Lesson B Learning Content Experience
Learning Outcome
Objectives
Learning Outcome
High
High
High
High
High
High
High
High
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TABLE 1 (continued)
Standard Objectives Lesson A Learning Content Experience Lesson B Learning Content Experience
Learning Outcome
Objectives
Learning Outcome
Standard 4: Connections to the World beyond the Classroom Addressing an actual public problem or some contemporary significance Building on student’s personal experiences to teach important ideas in the discipline Having students communicate their knowledge to others beyond the classroom in ways that assist or influence others Low Low Low Low High High High High
Low
Low
High
Low
High
High
High
Low
Low
Low
Low
Low
High
High
High
High
Standard 5: Social Support for Student Achievement Acknowledgement or praise for participation Teachers convey high expectations for all students Encouragement for all students to participate in the learning experience High High High High High High High High High High High High High High High High High High High High High High High High
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In planning for integrative biology instruction, teacher’s mastery of content (breadth and depth) and teaching repertoire (variety and creativity) are very crucial. Mastery of content would definitely be significant in ensuring that deep knowledge and connectedness to the world are satisfied. Variety and innovativeness of learning activities would help in achieving satisfactory level of substantive conversation and social support for student achievement. Both would enable the teacher to come up with activities that are relevant and appropriate in developing high-order thinking skills.
Evaluation of the implemented instruction revealed that Lesson A satisfied 7 out of the 13 indicators and was evaluated high for standards 1 while low on standards 2, 3, 4, and 5. Comparing this with the evaluation of the planned learning experiences, where Lesson A satisfied 9 out of the 13 indicators, it can be inferred that the planned instruction was not fully implemented. Lesson B was evaluated to be high for all five standards satisfying all of the thirteen indicators. Table 2 summarizes the evaluation of the implemented instruction for the two biology lessons.
Lesson A satisfied all of the three indicators for HOTS. Accomplishing the concept mapping activity enabled the students to explain the interconnections of the functions of the three organ systems. Lesson A was evaluated as high for standard 1 (HOTS) and low for one of the two indicators for standard 2 (deep knowledge). The two tasks mentioned above enabled the students to encounter and explain the applications of a central concept – in this particular lesson, the circulatory, endocrine, and nervous systems, on the context of human emotions or feelings that they really experience.
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TABLE 2 Summary Assessment of the implemented instruction (learning experience) for two lessons in Biology vis-a-vis Five Standards of Authentic Instruction
Standard Standard 1 High Order Thinking Synthesizing or Generalizing Explaining or problem-solving Hypothesizing or arriving at a conclusion Standard 2: Deep Knowledge Students encounter and express details, distinctions, and nuances, on a central concept Students encounter and explain different applications of a central concept Standard 3: Substantive Conversation Teacher-student interaction Student-student interaction Standard 4: Connections to the World beyond the Classroom Addressing an actual public problem or some contemporary significance Building on student’s personal experiences to teach important ideas in the discipline Having students communicate their knowledge to others beyond the classroom in ways that assist or influence others Standard 5: Social Support for Student Achievement Acknowledgement or praise for participation Teachers convey high expectations for all students Encouragement for all students to participate in the learning experience Low High Low High High High Low High Low High High High High Low High High Low High High High High High High High High High Evaluation Lesson A Lesson B
The discussion was limited to the three organ systems and the theme. There were not much opportunities for students to express details or distinctions of the three organ systems in other contexts. Nevertheless, all students were involved in explaining their 10
generalizations through the concept map and their reasoned conclusions in the predicting drill and follow-up quiz. The indicator for explaining a central concept was considered satistified and evaluated as high. Interaction between the teacher and the students was limited to short responses to low and high-level questions. For this reason, Lesson A was considered low for standard 3 (substantive conversation).
Of the three indicators for standard 4, Lesson A satisfied only one which pertains to building on students’ personal experiences to teach important ideas in the discipline. This was explicity done through eliciting human emotions, thoughts, and feelings that students associate with various images. Concept of love was used as a context, in the hope that it is an ideal theme that adolescents are most interested in. Lesson A was also evaluated as low for standard 4.
One out of the three indicators for standard 5 was satisfied by Lesson A. Since the teacher dominated the discussion, there were very limited opportunities for students to express themselves and be affirmed, despite the occassional affirmations given by the techers to those who volunteered to recite. Both worksheets for Lesson A were also assigned as individual works so there was no opportunity for students either to participate in cooperative learning or to support their peers. Therefore evaluation for standard 5 was also low.
Lesson B was evaluated as HIGH on HOTS, deep knowledge, and connectedness to the world. All students spent majority of the time gathering, analyzing data, forming 11
reasoned conclusion, and generalizing connections of the lesson with real-world issues concerning biodiversity, ecological principles, and environmental problems. For instance, the field work activities and issue analysis, provided opportunities for students to conduct an in-depth analysis of information and generate their own conclusions. The action planning and group brainstorming for the website proposal were also concrete indicators that analyzing, evaluating, and synthesizing skills were practiced. By identifying personal actions and creative ideas for the website, students demonstrated deep knowledge about the environmental issues presented to them.
The final set of activities was substantial for satisfying the five standards, particularly standards 1, 2, and 4. The final outputs are explicit expressions for standards 2 and 4. In these two activities, students were able to synthesize their ideas and formulate generalizations by way of stating group commitments and proposing initiatives to help resolve a current environmental concern. The field works also gave opportunities for student-student and teacher-student interactions, in addition to pre- and post-laboratory discussions. These support the high evaluation for standard 3. Furthermore,
conversations between the teacher and students, as well as, among students were focused on the lesson content and not scripted. Through the group discussions, it can be assumed that students develop a better shared understanding of the complexities of biodivesity and environmental issues associated with it. Accomplishment of standard 3 also supported the pervasiveness of standards 1, 2, and 4. Lesson B was also evaluated HIGH on substantive conversation and social support for student achievement, to a larger extent compared to Lesson A. All students were actively engaged in the activities and were asked to generate
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more original ideas. The higher expectations and more varied collaborative activities contributed to the HIGH evaluation for the last two standards.
(2) Student Attitude Towards Integrative Biology Generally, students have positive attitude towards Biology. This agrees with the student attitude perceived by the teacher. The positive attitude of students could be attributed to the various student-centered and collaborative activities that they do. The biology teacher also uses more visual aids during integrated days. The positive attitude of the students toward Biology was confirmed by their teacher during the interview. Students exhibit more interest in the lesson during integrated classes. The reasons cited by the students indicate that intrinsic motivation or personal preferences is the main factor that influences their enjoyment or interest in the subject. Their interest on the theme or unit depends on the variety of activities and creativity of the teachers in presenting the lesson.
(3) Advantages of Integrative Approach in Learning and Teaching Biology
Students find integrative instruction as more interesting, exciting, fun and enjoyable. Generally, students said that they understand better and learn more when Biology is part of an integrated unit. Although there are students who answered that Biology becomes more difficult to understand during integrated classes, they still appreciate its importance when its connections and relationships with other subjects are made more explicit. Seven out of 63 student respondents were undecided whether they learn better or not. One of them said that it depends on how Biology is integrated with
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other subjects. Another said that it depends on the topic and how it was presented to them. Although these two respondents belong to a minority, it is still worth emphasizing that students are capable of assessing the authenticity of integration. They not only analyze the theme, topic or lesson but they evaluate how the teachers organize and execute the unit.
In the integrative approach, students explicitly see the connections with other subjects and the practical applications of their biology lessons. Topics are broadly explained with more examples, activities, and instructional materials. They are able to express themselves, share their ideas and become more creative. Opportunities for developing camaraderie, cooperation, and teamwork were also considered advantages.
It is most appropriate to stress that students view integration as a way of connecting different subject areas, of establishing the relationship among topics or concepts, a way of realizing applications of lessons to practical living, formulating solutions to problems, and most important of all, a more interesting and more creative way of teaching and learning. It is clear that integrative approach establishes a deeper understanding of biological concepts, greater awareness and appreciation of the central role that Biology plays in one’s life and in our environment, in general.
The biology teacher also enumerated several advantages and good points of applying the integrative approach. Aside from encouraging a more positive attitude among students towards learning and the chance of giving more activities, the flexible
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schedule was highly commended.
Instead of a fragmented lesson stretched out for
several days, she can cover a wider and broader scope of her lesson without interruption. This was also affirmed by students who answered that there is more focus on their lesson or topic, and that the teacher elucidates further during integrated classes. Furthermore, the teacher commented that collaborative planning allows the different subject areas to reinforce learning.
Another good point of employing the integrative approach is the opportunity to plan, execute and evaluate a lesson through team teaching. This fosters cooperation, collaboration, further improvement of the teaching repertoire, and share instructional materials. Team planning also enables teachers to fuse lessons instead of having separate lesson plans that have actually overlapping topics. Other advantages mentioned by the teacher were the implementation of authentic assessment techniques, differentiated activities and flexibility in student groupings.
The positive responses of the students to the activities on integrative teaching days, particularly those for Lesson B, would have been interpreted by the teacher as an indicator of better learning. Since there is greater participation on the part of the students, they are able to understand the lesson well, come up with better outputs aside from the usual writtten tests, and thereby increase their chance of gaining better grades or higher scores. It can be inferred that integrative instruction requires teacher to come up with more innovative learning activities, as the biology teacher has explained. There is a
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sense of fulfilment in teaching because she sees her students enjoying the lessons and displaying happier dispositions when in her biology class.
(4) Disadvantages, problems and difficulties approach in teaching Biology
associated with the integrative
The most frequent difficulty cited by the students were the difficulty in understanding the lesson, following directions, confusion and complexity of ideas brought about by the integration of Biology with other subjects and / or the integration of biological concepts to their lessons in their other subjects. Students explicitly raised the difficulty of understanding the lesson when different subjects are combined together. Ironically, they were not mentioned by the student key informants when the researcher directly asked them about being confused. Furthermore, the above-mentioned disadvantages and problems contradict the three most frequent advantages and benefits that were given by the students.
Perhaps, the difficulty of understanding complex ideas and experiencing confusion may be associated with the difficulty of deciding which point of view to take when they were asked to explain their personal definition of love. Explanations of three of the students would further support this inference. Although the presentations of different points of view on a particular theme or topic demonstrates the goal of leading the students to make their own meanings, it is important to note that the degree or quality of organization within a unit is a key factor in fostering student perception on learning.
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The more clearly the goals and objectives were conveyed to the students and developed through congruent activities, the more they will feel that they learned.
Since integrative approach is fully used only once in every quarter, innovative activities and lesson presentations become new experiences for students. Difficulty and problem could mean changing of classroom routines, greater demands associated with adjusting to new classroom set-ups, interdisciplinary outputs, team teaching, flexible schedules and new types of work-tasks. Another problem was working in big groups. The more serious students find it difficult to focus because some members are indifferent or not cooperating well in the discussions. A minority find it uncomfortable working with students whom they are grouped with for the first time.
Conclusions Integrative approach promotes cognitive and interpersonal skills. Integrative units should be structured with great consideration to the authenticity of integration to facilitate construction of meanings and prevent confusion and difficulty that are brought about by the different perspectives being presented by different teachers on a single theme or topic.
When Biology is the core subject of an integrative unit and when the unit theme is more directly related to its content, planned and implemented instruction satisfy the standards of authentic learning to a greater extent. Teacher’s mastery of content is more crucial when engaging in an integrative instruction, to be able to facilitate a deeper understanding of concepts and practical implications while equally emphasizing the
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development of high-order thinking and science process skills.
Accomplishing
substantive conversation and social support for student achievement would depend on how teachers plan and facilitate various learning experiences.
Students demonstrate positive attitude towards Biology when it is taught using the integrative approach. Themes that students find most enjoyable are those that are relevant to their experiences and interests. Student feedbacks clarify the effectiveness or
ineffectiveness of instruction. It is therefore important to consider the needs, interests, knowledge construct, and learning styles of students in planning and implementing integrative biology lessons.
Integrative approach enables the teachers to engage in collaborative planning and teaching that help improve mastery of subject matter, reinforce each other’s instruction and motivate students to learn. Teacher understanding of this approach and the ability to transform one’s paradigm – from traditional to integrative teaching, is the key to the success of the integrative approach. When teachers do not fully understand what integrative approach is, they tend to give negative response to it. Therefore, administrative support is crucial in implementing a school-wide move from the traditional subject-centered instruction to an integrative approach.
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Bibliography Clarke, J.H. and Agne, R.M. (1997). Interdisciplinary High School Teaching: Strategies for Integrated Learning: Strategies for Integrated Learning. USA: Allyn and Bacon. Doepken, D., Lawsky,E. and, Padwa, L. Modified Fennema-Sherman Attitude Scales. Retrieved Sept. 8, 2007, from www. woodrow.org Gavelek, J.R., Raphael, T.E., BIondo,S.M., and Wang,D. (1999). Integrated Literacy Instruction: A Review of the Literature. Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement (CIERA) Report #2-001. Retrieved January 23, 2008, from www. ciera.org. McNeil,J.D. (1999). Curriculum: The Teacher’s Initiative. (2nd ed). Upper Saddle, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc. Newmann, F.M. and Wehlage, G.C. (1993) “Five Standards of Authentic Instruction”. Educational Leadership, Retrieved November 9, 2007, from ERIC database. Newmann, F.M. , King, B.M., and Carmichael, D,M, (2007). “ Authentic Instruction and Assessment: Common Standards for Rigor and Relevance in Teaching Academic Subjects”, Retrieved August 9, 2008, from www. pdonline.ascd.org/pd_onlinediffntr/el199304_newmann.html. Roberts, P.L. and Kellough, R.D. (2000). A Guide for Developing Interdisciplinary Thematic Units. 2nd ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc. Sunal, C., Powell, D., McClelland, S., Rule, A., Rovegno, I., Smith, C., and Sunal, D. (2000). Integrating Academic Units in the Elementary School Curriculum. USA: Harcourt Inc.
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Appendix A Biology Attitude Scale Instrument for Students
BIOLOGY ATTITUDE SCALE I can learn concepts and processes in Biology easily when I know how it is related to my other subjects. When Biology is integrated with other subjects, I am discouraged to take it or its related courses in college. Biology lessons are easier to understand whenever it is part of an integrated unit. I can think better, explain better and discover more about nature and the physical world in my other subjects. As presented to us during integration classes, Biology is an important component of the society. There is limited opportunity for me to express my creativity in our Biology classes. Biology becomes more interesting and worth studying whenever its connection with other subject is presented to us. Biology is not important in my life now or in the future as a citizen or member of the society. I enjoy studying Biology, especially when it is part of the integrated unit. I feel frustrated because we do not apply what we learn in our Biology classes to help the community. What I learn or study in Biology is important in my future career. Biology classes are boring and make me lose interest in school especially classes are integration of different subjects. Biology means doing interesting activities and discovering knowledge that are useful in my personal daily activities. Biology is memorization of massive collection of facts, many of which I do not know the importance in my daily life. Biology classes hold my attention and interest most of the time so I get excited whenever our integrated classes include Biology. Biology is not important to what I want to take in college; therefore, it can be deleted in the curriculum. Understanding of biological concepts and processes is useful in the experiences and activities in the community. Biology becomes more complicated when it is taught together with the other subjects. I become more creative in our Biology classes. I have difficulty understanding concepts and processes that we study in Biology during integrated classes. When Biology is integrated with our other subjects, I am encouraged to consider Science or its related courses in college. I am bored of studying Biology. What I learn in Biology helps me to think creatively and stimulates my curiosity about nature and the physical world. I am often under stress or anxious about Biology whenever we are having integration of subjects. SA A U D SD SA A U D SD SA SA SA SA SA SA SA SA SA SA SA SA SA SA SA SA SA SA SA SA SA SA SA A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D SD SD SD SD SD SD SD SD SD SD SD SD SD SD SD SD SD SD SD SD SD SD SD
Please write about how you feel about integration of your Biology subject or lessons to other subjects; what you think are the good and bad points of integrating. Your comments, suggestions and realizations are very important to support your agreement or disagreement with the sentences above. Isulat ang iyong saloobin ukol sa integration ng Biology sa iba pang asignatura o subject; kung ano ang naiisip mo na maganda o mabuti tungkol sa integration; kung ano ang mga hindi maganda rito. Ang iyong mga komento, opinion, suhestiyon at kaisipan ay mahalaga at siyang magpapatunay ng iyong mga sagot sa bilang 1-24 sa naunang pahina.
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Appendix B Lesson A - Interdisciplinary Thematic Unit for Second Year High School Unit Title: “THE MANY FACES OF LOVE”
Time Frame: 3 days Unit Overview: This unit is an integrated, multidisciplinary and thematic in design. As the unit title and theme indicates, second year students will be exploring the different faces of love – as a concept, as an emotion and as a biological function. The meaning of love will be tackled in different perspectives using the different academic subjects as vehicles. In the introductory phase, the students will be provoked to raise questions about the meaning of love. To lead them into critically developing their own perspective on love, collaborative and reflective thinking activities will be facilitated by the teachers to present the different dimensions, levels and context through which love is exemplified. At the culmination of the unit, the true meaning of love, founded on Christian faith will be established. Unit General Objectives: Cognitive: Formulate a comprehensive and reflective meaning of love Affective: Express how a person can demonstrate the true meaning of love in different levels, context or aspects of the society Psychomotor: Participate actively and respectfully in debates, discussions and group works Subjects Included: Filipino English Biology Asian Studies Statistics Christian Living Education (CLE) Major Activities Film Analysis Editorial Writing Creative Writing Exercise Debate and Group Discussions Concept Mapping and Predicting Exercises Symposium Reflective Thinking Exercises
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Plan of Activities: Day 1 Orientation, grouping and introduction to the unit Introductory and Motivating Activities • Orientation to the 3-day ITU • Listening Activity • Eliciting themes, feelings and inferences about the lyrics and rhythm of the song • Brainstorming and Queries • Survey of issues that bombard an ordinary teenager • Provoking for questions about love Portfolio Entry #1 Engaging and Exploring Activities • Film Viewing • Processing of film • Group discussion • Editorial Writing Activity – Portfolio Entry # Explaining and Elaborating • Listening and Lyrics Analysis • Issue Discussion • Group Discussion • Presentation of distorted views on love and group conclusion - Portfolio Entry #3 • Creative Writing Exercise - Portfolio #4 Day 2 (Nov. 14 Th) Reflecting, Validating and Reinforcing through different perspectives Presentation of synthesis – volunteers to elucidate their personal views and answers to Portfolio #1 Love as a biological function • Caricature Interpretation • Physiological nature of love as an emotion • Nervous-circulatory processes • Drills and predicting exercises - Portfolio Entry #5 • Concept Mapping - Portfolio Entry #6 Love as a social function • Marriage traditions across Asia • Contemporary issues on love and marriage • Implications of love and marriage to economic, socio-political and culturalanthropological events / aspects of the society 22
• Opinion Matrix - Portfolio Entry #7 Integration of Concepts • Identification of variables Portfolio Entry #8 • Predicting and Extrapolating Exercises Portfolio Entry #9 • Reflective Thinking Exercise - Portfolio Entry #10 • Answering of self-raised questions on Portfolio Entry #1 Day 3 (Nov. 15 F) Love in the Christian perspective Synthesis of the experiences and realizations in the first two days (volunteer students to share their answers to self-raised questions in Portfolio Entry #1) Guided Reflective Exercise • Group discussion with guide questions • Love as symbolized in the world today Portfolio Entry #11 • Love as expressed in the different units of the society and to God Sharing of invited speakers • Love as experiences in the family Power point presentation – Lecturette on Love • Kinds of Love • Biblical bases of Love Portfolio Entry #12 • Film Viewing – “True Love Waits “ • Processing of Film Integration (Doctrine, Moral, Worship) • Culmination • Para – Liturgy • Mandala Making - Portfolio Entry #13 • Group presentations – Realizations and Group Manifesto • Self-Realizations - Answering of self-raised questions Portfolio Entry #14 Evaluation of the ITU – Portfolio Entry #15 Unit / Lesson Matrix:
As a distorted value in Media (Filipino – English) As expressed and experienced in the different units of the society (CLE – love as a need) LOVE As a social function that affects culture and traditions of a nation (Asian Studies) As a gift whose authenticity only comes from God (CLE – man as Beloved) As a variable and factor that have implications in health and medicine, economics, politics and social order (Statistics) As a feeling or sensation resulting from physiological functions of the body (Biology)
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Content – Skill Matrix:
Subject Filipino Objective Makasulat ng editorial base sa mga isyung nakapaloob sa pelikulang kontemporaryo ang tema Identify figures of contemporary songs speech from Topic – Material Film Viewing and Critiquing “My First Romance” Pagsulat ng Editoryal English Distortions of values by Media Love as presented in the media Discriminate values being distorted in non-print media Analyze the implicit and explicit message of contemporary songs Biology Explain the processes and functions of the nervous and circulatory system Infer about the physiological basis of the feeling of love and other human emotions Asian Studies Compare the marriage and family traditions across Asia Relate the type of government with the culture, family and marriage traditions Explain personal views on laws and political situations that are relevant to family and social relationships Statistics Identify dependent and independent variable Predict effects of certain factors on certain variables Marriage and Family Traditions Across Asia Types of Government in Asia Nervous System Circulatory System Explaining processes and function Identifying processes and functions Concept mapping # 5 Identifying Processes and Function – Drills on Predicting # 6 Concept Map – Love as a Biological Function Comparative Analysis Analyzing Current Issues #7 Opinion Matrix Modes of Argumentation # 4 Story Plot Analyzing Lyric Poetry Identifying figures of speech Inferences about the lines Writing of story plots #2 Figures of Speech #3 Distorted Values and Modes of Argumentation Skill Critiquing of a Contemporary Film Writing of a film editorial review Output / Portfolio Entry #1 Editorial
Family Issues in the Philippines Predicting Data Interpretation Population Profile and economic status Economic implications of early marriage # 8 Identifying Variables #9 Predicting and Extrapolating
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Content – Skill Matrix:
Subject SYNTHESIS CLE Understand that God is the true source of love Respond to the call of love in a moral and Christian way Develop a strong relationship with God through prayers SYNTHESIS #13 My Personal Mandala Group Manifesto #14 Realizations #15 Evaluation Two Greatest Commandments Objective Topic – Material Skill Output / Portfolio Entry
#10 Reflective Thinking Answers to Self-raised Questions Reflective perspective on Christian love #11 My Personal Symbol and Expression of Love #12 Reflections on the Word of God
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Appendix C Lesson B - Interdisciplinary Thematic Unit for Second Year High School Unit Title: UNITY FOR BIODIVERSITY
Time Frame: 3 days Unit Overview: In recent years, conservation biologists have generally agreed that hectare for hectare, the Philippines may be the most biologically diverse country on the planet. In other words, Brazil may have a higher number of total plant and animal species, but it has many times more land area. For a country as small as the Philippines, the biodiversity is nothing short of phenomenal, and it has hardly been studied compared to other places on the globe. The tragedy is that the biodiversity in the Philippines may also be the most threatened in the world. Some scientists say that the country is on the verge of biodiversity collapse, in which large numbers of species will become extinct. Habitat loss and the rapid growth of the human population have combined to reduce some important species to a few thousand individuals. The Philippine Eagle is down to a few hundred. Excerpt from The Green Guide: A Sourcebook on the Philippine Environment. In today’s world of consumerist attitude and corrupt media, it is always a challenge to sensitize young people to ecologically sound lifestyle and personal commitment to environmental advocacy. The fourth quarter ITU of the second year level therefore aims to involve the students on sensible projects that would give them opportunities to put into practice social responsibility. Biodiversity crisis in the Philippines is just one of the many social problems that call for an interdisciplinary analysis; hence, this unit. Unit General Objectives: Cognitive: Explain the concept of conservation biology, biodiversity and ecological principles Affective: Reflect on how personal lifestyle contribute to the preservation, conservation and destruction of biodiversity, and the ecosystems, in general. Express a personal commitment to environmental advocacy. Psychomotor: Collaborate on interdisciplinary projects as a way of expressing advocacy. Subjects Included: Biology English Asian Studies Computer
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Major Activities: Field Works Data Gathering, Analyzing and Interpretation Film Analysis Song Analysis Jurisprudential Inquiry Exercise Plan of Activities: Day 1 • • • • • • • • • • • Day 2 • • • • • • • • • Day 3 • • • • •
Action Planning Interviewing Persuasive Essay Writing Making of Project Proposal (Webpage) Reflective Thinking Exercises
Introduction to the unit, grouping and Fieldworks Self-check: “Me and Earth” Processing of answers Fieldwork A1&2 - Species Diversity (Plants and Animals) Fieldwork B – Patterns and Beauty in Nature Abstractions Arithmetic and Geometric Sequences Levels of Diversity and Aims of Conservation Biology Processing and Orientation for Action Planning Ecological Principles Film Viewing: “Evan Almighty” Processing Analyzing Issues and Action Planning Self check: “What is Your World View” Processing and Abstraction Film Viewing – “Animal SOS” Processing Group Activities Jurisprudential Inquiry Preparing for an Interview Action Planning Group Reporting Project Planning and Unit Evaluation Unit Evaluation Sharing of insights and realizations Making of group project proposals Presentation of Proposals Culminating Activity: “Commitment Ritual”
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Content – Skill Matrix:
Subject Biology Objective Conduct a fieldwork to determine the species diversity of a local area Explain the ecological principles , levels of diversity and aims of conservation biology Mathematics English Identify algebraic and geometric sequences from biotic components Prepare an interview schedule Conduct a mock interview and report an interview account Compose persuasive essay Asian Studies Compare and contrast environmental laws in different South east Asian countries Identify the pros and cons of some environmental laws in the Philippines Computer Design and upload a webpage promoting advocacy on Philippine biodiversity Formulate a group action addressing a particular issue plan Persuasive Essay Environmental Issues across Asia Impact of globalization ecosystems across Asia Webpage making on Group discussion Jurisprudential Inquiry exercise Reflection essays Topic – Material Levels of Diversity Biodiversity Crisis & Hotspots Ecological Principles Conservation Biology Skill Making a vegetation map Analyzing genetic diversity Output / Portfolio Entry Laboratory Report
Algebraic sequences
and
Geometric
Computing skills Data gathering and organizing Group discussion Interviewing and reporting
Drill worksheets Interview schedule
Conducting an Interview
Group project making
Webpage
Integration
Action Planning
Collaborative learning group project making
and
Action plan
Integrative biology instruction, when planned and implemented appropriately, develops high-order thinking skills, depth of understanding of biological concepts and their relevance to real-world issues and other areas of study. When Biology is the core subject of the unit, or when the theme is directly related to its content, authenticity instruction becomes more extensive. It is therefore crucial for teachers to ensure the authenticity of integration to effectively facilitate construction of meanings and prevent confusion and difficulties brought by the different perspectives presented by different teachers on a single theme or topic.
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Compared to traditional teaching, it poses greater demands to teachers on mastery of content, creativity, innovativeness, and resourcefulness.
Generally, students demonstrate positive attitude toward Biology when it is taught using integrative approach. Themes that students find most enjoyable are those that are relevant to their experiences and interests. Collaborative planning and team teaching also help teachers improve mastery of subject matter, reinforce each other’s instruction and motivate students to learn. Limited understanding of what integrative instruction is and insufficient preparation time make this approach demanding and difficult. Therefore, administrative support is crucial in implementing a school-wide move from the traditional subject-centered instruction to an integrative approach.
Introduction The trend in biology instruction and curriculum design is to show connections to physics and chemistry; to help students become familiar with the natural world through the application of key science concepts (McNeil,1999). The Philippine Basic Education Curriculum (BEC) also mandates an integrative approach to resolve problems on information overload in the sciences and to further emphasize application of concepts and technology. Reformers from the integrative education movement contend that teaching facts and skills in a school day artificially compartmentalized into separate subjects fails to prepare students for a swiftly changing world. Through integrative education, educators seek to improve
students’ basic skills in language arts and mathematics while also teaching thinking skills, physical and sensing skills, and social skills (Shoemaker, 1989). Furthermore, integrative
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approach to instruction addresses three needs in education: authenticity, meaningfulness, and efficiency (Gavelek, Raphael, Biondo, and Wang, 1999).
Being the key players in the teaching-learning process, both teachers and students provide invaluable feedback regarding their experiences on integrative approach applied to high school Biology. This study attempted to answer the following research questions: (1) Does biology instruction using the integrative approach satisfy the five standards of authentic instruction? (2) What is the attitude of students toward Biology taught using the integrative approach? (3) What are the advantages of using the integrative approach in teaching Biology? (4) What are the difficulties and problems encountered by teachers and students?
Conceptual Framework The integrative approach in teaching high school Biology is characterized by attributes that set it apart from the traditional mode of science instruction. This particular approach is hypothesized to have significant implications on encouraging a more positive student attitude towards and interest in Biology. It also satisfies the standards of authentic learning such as development of high-order thinking skills, depth of knowledge, and connectedness to the world, substantive conversation and social support for achievement. Students perceive that they learn and understand better the lessons, explicitly appreciate the creativity of their teacher, as well as, the opportunity to share ideas and engage in group activities. The teacher also consider that engaging in integrative biology instruction gives opportunity to improve mastery of the subject matter, expand repertoire of teaching strategies, and develop greater collegiality. 3
Feedbacks from students shed light on the effectiveness of the choices for instructional materials and ambiance of the learning environment. Teachers’ feedbacks affirm the many possibilities for innovative uses of instructional materials and other means to maximize resources that can be tapped to improve instruction. The problems and difficulties cited by students and teachers provide the basis for recommendations. They highlight the challenges and other areas for explorations, as far as integrative Biology instruction, is concerned. Figure 1 presents the conceptual paradigm.
Standards of Authentic Learning
Development of HOTS Depth of knowledge Connectedness to the world Substantive conversation Social support for achievement Challenges, possibilities& areas for further explorations
Biology Attitude Scale Integrative Approach in Instruction for High School Biology Positive Attitude towards Biology
Student &Teacher Feedbacks
Perceptions about Integration Intrinsic Motivation Learning performance Teaching-learning Experience Interpersonal skills Collaborative experience Learning environment Resources
Figure 1. Conceptual framework for evaluating integrative biology instruction
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Methodology
(1) Evaluation of Biology Instruction vis-à-vis Five Standards of Authentic Learning
Planned instruction for Biology was evaluated using the rubrics set by Newmann and Wehlage (Newmann, King, and Carmichael, 2007) for the five standards of authentic learning. The said standards are: (1) high-order thinking skills, (2) deep knowledge, (3) substantive conversation, (4) connectedness to the workd, and (5) social support for student achievement. Actual biology classes were observed and documented to evaluate the implemented instruction vis-a-vis five standards of authentic learning.
(2) Biology Attitude Scale A researcher- made Biology Attitude Scale, patterned after the Modified FennemaSherman Attitude Scale, was administered to 63 second year high school students to describe student attitude towards Biology. An equivalent version was accomplished by the biology teacher to elicit teacher-perception about student attitude towards the subject.
(3) Open-ended Survey Questionnaire An Open-ended Survey Questionnaire was also answered by the second year students. The questions aimed to gather data about students’ feelings and perception about their biology subject, advantages, problems and difficulties associated with the integrative approach and their personal understanding about integration. The answers were compared and categorized to facilitate analysis.
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(4) Focused Group Interview to Key Student Informants and Semi-structured Interview to Biology Teacher A focused group interview was conducted to six purposely selected students while a semi-structured interview was conducted to the biology teacher to validate the answers in the open-ended questions.
Results and Discussion
(1) Evaluation of the Planned and Implemented Instruction
Planned instruction for Lesson A was evaluated high for standards 1 (HOTS), 2 (deep knowledge), and 5 (social support for student achievement) while low for standards 3 (substantive conversation) and 4 (connections to the world beyond the classroom). There are a total of 52 specific indicators cumulative for the five standards. As the over-all assessment, Lesson A satisfied 37 out of the 52 indicators. Lesson B was evaluated as high for all five standards and satisfied 51 out of 52 indicators.
The over-all assessment of planned instruction would clearly indicate that when the theme is directly related to the core subject or naturally linked with the lesson content of a particular subject, the authenticity of planned instruction becomes more extensive. This is exemplified by Lesson B where the theme is on biodiversity which is a basic lesson in Biology. Table 1 summarizes the evaluation of the planned instruction based on the five standards of authentic instruction.
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TABLE 1 Assessment of planned instruction for two lessons in Biology vis-a-vis Five Standards of Authentic Instruction
Standard Objectives Standard 1 High Order Thinking Synthesizing or Generalizing Explaining or problem-solving Hypothesizing or arriving at a conclusion Standard 2: Deep Knowledge Students encounter and express details, distinctions, and nuances, on a central concept Students encounter and explain different applications of a central concept Standard 3: Substantive Conversation Teacher-student interaction Student-student interaction High High High Low High Low Low Low High High High High High High High High Low High Low High High High High High High High High High High Low High High High High High High High High High High High High High High High High High High Lesson A Learning Content Experience Lesson B Learning Content Experience
Learning Outcome
Objectives
Learning Outcome
High
High
High
High
High
High
High
High
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TABLE 1 (continued)
Standard Objectives Lesson A Learning Content Experience Lesson B Learning Content Experience
Learning Outcome
Objectives
Learning Outcome
Standard 4: Connections to the World beyond the Classroom Addressing an actual public problem or some contemporary significance Building on student’s personal experiences to teach important ideas in the discipline Having students communicate their knowledge to others beyond the classroom in ways that assist or influence others Low Low Low Low High High High High
Low
Low
High
Low
High
High
High
Low
Low
Low
Low
Low
High
High
High
High
Standard 5: Social Support for Student Achievement Acknowledgement or praise for participation Teachers convey high expectations for all students Encouragement for all students to participate in the learning experience High High High High High High High High High High High High High High High High High High High High High High High High
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In planning for integrative biology instruction, teacher’s mastery of content (breadth and depth) and teaching repertoire (variety and creativity) are very crucial. Mastery of content would definitely be significant in ensuring that deep knowledge and connectedness to the world are satisfied. Variety and innovativeness of learning activities would help in achieving satisfactory level of substantive conversation and social support for student achievement. Both would enable the teacher to come up with activities that are relevant and appropriate in developing high-order thinking skills.
Evaluation of the implemented instruction revealed that Lesson A satisfied 7 out of the 13 indicators and was evaluated high for standards 1 while low on standards 2, 3, 4, and 5. Comparing this with the evaluation of the planned learning experiences, where Lesson A satisfied 9 out of the 13 indicators, it can be inferred that the planned instruction was not fully implemented. Lesson B was evaluated to be high for all five standards satisfying all of the thirteen indicators. Table 2 summarizes the evaluation of the implemented instruction for the two biology lessons.
Lesson A satisfied all of the three indicators for HOTS. Accomplishing the concept mapping activity enabled the students to explain the interconnections of the functions of the three organ systems. Lesson A was evaluated as high for standard 1 (HOTS) and low for one of the two indicators for standard 2 (deep knowledge). The two tasks mentioned above enabled the students to encounter and explain the applications of a central concept – in this particular lesson, the circulatory, endocrine, and nervous systems, on the context of human emotions or feelings that they really experience.
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TABLE 2 Summary Assessment of the implemented instruction (learning experience) for two lessons in Biology vis-a-vis Five Standards of Authentic Instruction
Standard Standard 1 High Order Thinking Synthesizing or Generalizing Explaining or problem-solving Hypothesizing or arriving at a conclusion Standard 2: Deep Knowledge Students encounter and express details, distinctions, and nuances, on a central concept Students encounter and explain different applications of a central concept Standard 3: Substantive Conversation Teacher-student interaction Student-student interaction Standard 4: Connections to the World beyond the Classroom Addressing an actual public problem or some contemporary significance Building on student’s personal experiences to teach important ideas in the discipline Having students communicate their knowledge to others beyond the classroom in ways that assist or influence others Standard 5: Social Support for Student Achievement Acknowledgement or praise for participation Teachers convey high expectations for all students Encouragement for all students to participate in the learning experience Low High Low High High High Low High Low High High High High Low High High Low High High High High High High High High High Evaluation Lesson A Lesson B
The discussion was limited to the three organ systems and the theme. There were not much opportunities for students to express details or distinctions of the three organ systems in other contexts. Nevertheless, all students were involved in explaining their 10
generalizations through the concept map and their reasoned conclusions in the predicting drill and follow-up quiz. The indicator for explaining a central concept was considered satistified and evaluated as high. Interaction between the teacher and the students was limited to short responses to low and high-level questions. For this reason, Lesson A was considered low for standard 3 (substantive conversation).
Of the three indicators for standard 4, Lesson A satisfied only one which pertains to building on students’ personal experiences to teach important ideas in the discipline. This was explicity done through eliciting human emotions, thoughts, and feelings that students associate with various images. Concept of love was used as a context, in the hope that it is an ideal theme that adolescents are most interested in. Lesson A was also evaluated as low for standard 4.
One out of the three indicators for standard 5 was satisfied by Lesson A. Since the teacher dominated the discussion, there were very limited opportunities for students to express themselves and be affirmed, despite the occassional affirmations given by the techers to those who volunteered to recite. Both worksheets for Lesson A were also assigned as individual works so there was no opportunity for students either to participate in cooperative learning or to support their peers. Therefore evaluation for standard 5 was also low.
Lesson B was evaluated as HIGH on HOTS, deep knowledge, and connectedness to the world. All students spent majority of the time gathering, analyzing data, forming 11
reasoned conclusion, and generalizing connections of the lesson with real-world issues concerning biodiversity, ecological principles, and environmental problems. For instance, the field work activities and issue analysis, provided opportunities for students to conduct an in-depth analysis of information and generate their own conclusions. The action planning and group brainstorming for the website proposal were also concrete indicators that analyzing, evaluating, and synthesizing skills were practiced. By identifying personal actions and creative ideas for the website, students demonstrated deep knowledge about the environmental issues presented to them.
The final set of activities was substantial for satisfying the five standards, particularly standards 1, 2, and 4. The final outputs are explicit expressions for standards 2 and 4. In these two activities, students were able to synthesize their ideas and formulate generalizations by way of stating group commitments and proposing initiatives to help resolve a current environmental concern. The field works also gave opportunities for student-student and teacher-student interactions, in addition to pre- and post-laboratory discussions. These support the high evaluation for standard 3. Furthermore,
conversations between the teacher and students, as well as, among students were focused on the lesson content and not scripted. Through the group discussions, it can be assumed that students develop a better shared understanding of the complexities of biodivesity and environmental issues associated with it. Accomplishment of standard 3 also supported the pervasiveness of standards 1, 2, and 4. Lesson B was also evaluated HIGH on substantive conversation and social support for student achievement, to a larger extent compared to Lesson A. All students were actively engaged in the activities and were asked to generate
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more original ideas. The higher expectations and more varied collaborative activities contributed to the HIGH evaluation for the last two standards.
(2) Student Attitude Towards Integrative Biology Generally, students have positive attitude towards Biology. This agrees with the student attitude perceived by the teacher. The positive attitude of students could be attributed to the various student-centered and collaborative activities that they do. The biology teacher also uses more visual aids during integrated days. The positive attitude of the students toward Biology was confirmed by their teacher during the interview. Students exhibit more interest in the lesson during integrated classes. The reasons cited by the students indicate that intrinsic motivation or personal preferences is the main factor that influences their enjoyment or interest in the subject. Their interest on the theme or unit depends on the variety of activities and creativity of the teachers in presenting the lesson.
(3) Advantages of Integrative Approach in Learning and Teaching Biology
Students find integrative instruction as more interesting, exciting, fun and enjoyable. Generally, students said that they understand better and learn more when Biology is part of an integrated unit. Although there are students who answered that Biology becomes more difficult to understand during integrated classes, they still appreciate its importance when its connections and relationships with other subjects are made more explicit. Seven out of 63 student respondents were undecided whether they learn better or not. One of them said that it depends on how Biology is integrated with
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other subjects. Another said that it depends on the topic and how it was presented to them. Although these two respondents belong to a minority, it is still worth emphasizing that students are capable of assessing the authenticity of integration. They not only analyze the theme, topic or lesson but they evaluate how the teachers organize and execute the unit.
In the integrative approach, students explicitly see the connections with other subjects and the practical applications of their biology lessons. Topics are broadly explained with more examples, activities, and instructional materials. They are able to express themselves, share their ideas and become more creative. Opportunities for developing camaraderie, cooperation, and teamwork were also considered advantages.
It is most appropriate to stress that students view integration as a way of connecting different subject areas, of establishing the relationship among topics or concepts, a way of realizing applications of lessons to practical living, formulating solutions to problems, and most important of all, a more interesting and more creative way of teaching and learning. It is clear that integrative approach establishes a deeper understanding of biological concepts, greater awareness and appreciation of the central role that Biology plays in one’s life and in our environment, in general.
The biology teacher also enumerated several advantages and good points of applying the integrative approach. Aside from encouraging a more positive attitude among students towards learning and the chance of giving more activities, the flexible
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schedule was highly commended.
Instead of a fragmented lesson stretched out for
several days, she can cover a wider and broader scope of her lesson without interruption. This was also affirmed by students who answered that there is more focus on their lesson or topic, and that the teacher elucidates further during integrated classes. Furthermore, the teacher commented that collaborative planning allows the different subject areas to reinforce learning.
Another good point of employing the integrative approach is the opportunity to plan, execute and evaluate a lesson through team teaching. This fosters cooperation, collaboration, further improvement of the teaching repertoire, and share instructional materials. Team planning also enables teachers to fuse lessons instead of having separate lesson plans that have actually overlapping topics. Other advantages mentioned by the teacher were the implementation of authentic assessment techniques, differentiated activities and flexibility in student groupings.
The positive responses of the students to the activities on integrative teaching days, particularly those for Lesson B, would have been interpreted by the teacher as an indicator of better learning. Since there is greater participation on the part of the students, they are able to understand the lesson well, come up with better outputs aside from the usual writtten tests, and thereby increase their chance of gaining better grades or higher scores. It can be inferred that integrative instruction requires teacher to come up with more innovative learning activities, as the biology teacher has explained. There is a
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sense of fulfilment in teaching because she sees her students enjoying the lessons and displaying happier dispositions when in her biology class.
(4) Disadvantages, problems and difficulties approach in teaching Biology
associated with the integrative
The most frequent difficulty cited by the students were the difficulty in understanding the lesson, following directions, confusion and complexity of ideas brought about by the integration of Biology with other subjects and / or the integration of biological concepts to their lessons in their other subjects. Students explicitly raised the difficulty of understanding the lesson when different subjects are combined together. Ironically, they were not mentioned by the student key informants when the researcher directly asked them about being confused. Furthermore, the above-mentioned disadvantages and problems contradict the three most frequent advantages and benefits that were given by the students.
Perhaps, the difficulty of understanding complex ideas and experiencing confusion may be associated with the difficulty of deciding which point of view to take when they were asked to explain their personal definition of love. Explanations of three of the students would further support this inference. Although the presentations of different points of view on a particular theme or topic demonstrates the goal of leading the students to make their own meanings, it is important to note that the degree or quality of organization within a unit is a key factor in fostering student perception on learning.
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The more clearly the goals and objectives were conveyed to the students and developed through congruent activities, the more they will feel that they learned.
Since integrative approach is fully used only once in every quarter, innovative activities and lesson presentations become new experiences for students. Difficulty and problem could mean changing of classroom routines, greater demands associated with adjusting to new classroom set-ups, interdisciplinary outputs, team teaching, flexible schedules and new types of work-tasks. Another problem was working in big groups. The more serious students find it difficult to focus because some members are indifferent or not cooperating well in the discussions. A minority find it uncomfortable working with students whom they are grouped with for the first time.
Conclusions Integrative approach promotes cognitive and interpersonal skills. Integrative units should be structured with great consideration to the authenticity of integration to facilitate construction of meanings and prevent confusion and difficulty that are brought about by the different perspectives being presented by different teachers on a single theme or topic.
When Biology is the core subject of an integrative unit and when the unit theme is more directly related to its content, planned and implemented instruction satisfy the standards of authentic learning to a greater extent. Teacher’s mastery of content is more crucial when engaging in an integrative instruction, to be able to facilitate a deeper understanding of concepts and practical implications while equally emphasizing the
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development of high-order thinking and science process skills.
Accomplishing
substantive conversation and social support for student achievement would depend on how teachers plan and facilitate various learning experiences.
Students demonstrate positive attitude towards Biology when it is taught using the integrative approach. Themes that students find most enjoyable are those that are relevant to their experiences and interests. Student feedbacks clarify the effectiveness or
ineffectiveness of instruction. It is therefore important to consider the needs, interests, knowledge construct, and learning styles of students in planning and implementing integrative biology lessons.
Integrative approach enables the teachers to engage in collaborative planning and teaching that help improve mastery of subject matter, reinforce each other’s instruction and motivate students to learn. Teacher understanding of this approach and the ability to transform one’s paradigm – from traditional to integrative teaching, is the key to the success of the integrative approach. When teachers do not fully understand what integrative approach is, they tend to give negative response to it. Therefore, administrative support is crucial in implementing a school-wide move from the traditional subject-centered instruction to an integrative approach.
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Bibliography Clarke, J.H. and Agne, R.M. (1997). Interdisciplinary High School Teaching: Strategies for Integrated Learning: Strategies for Integrated Learning. USA: Allyn and Bacon. Doepken, D., Lawsky,E. and, Padwa, L. Modified Fennema-Sherman Attitude Scales. Retrieved Sept. 8, 2007, from www. woodrow.org Gavelek, J.R., Raphael, T.E., BIondo,S.M., and Wang,D. (1999). Integrated Literacy Instruction: A Review of the Literature. Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement (CIERA) Report #2-001. Retrieved January 23, 2008, from www. ciera.org. McNeil,J.D. (1999). Curriculum: The Teacher’s Initiative. (2nd ed). Upper Saddle, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc. Newmann, F.M. and Wehlage, G.C. (1993) “Five Standards of Authentic Instruction”. Educational Leadership, Retrieved November 9, 2007, from ERIC database. Newmann, F.M. , King, B.M., and Carmichael, D,M, (2007). “ Authentic Instruction and Assessment: Common Standards for Rigor and Relevance in Teaching Academic Subjects”, Retrieved August 9, 2008, from www. pdonline.ascd.org/pd_onlinediffntr/el199304_newmann.html. Roberts, P.L. and Kellough, R.D. (2000). A Guide for Developing Interdisciplinary Thematic Units. 2nd ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc. Sunal, C., Powell, D., McClelland, S., Rule, A., Rovegno, I., Smith, C., and Sunal, D. (2000). Integrating Academic Units in the Elementary School Curriculum. USA: Harcourt Inc.
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Appendix A Biology Attitude Scale Instrument for Students
BIOLOGY ATTITUDE SCALE I can learn concepts and processes in Biology easily when I know how it is related to my other subjects. When Biology is integrated with other subjects, I am discouraged to take it or its related courses in college. Biology lessons are easier to understand whenever it is part of an integrated unit. I can think better, explain better and discover more about nature and the physical world in my other subjects. As presented to us during integration classes, Biology is an important component of the society. There is limited opportunity for me to express my creativity in our Biology classes. Biology becomes more interesting and worth studying whenever its connection with other subject is presented to us. Biology is not important in my life now or in the future as a citizen or member of the society. I enjoy studying Biology, especially when it is part of the integrated unit. I feel frustrated because we do not apply what we learn in our Biology classes to help the community. What I learn or study in Biology is important in my future career. Biology classes are boring and make me lose interest in school especially classes are integration of different subjects. Biology means doing interesting activities and discovering knowledge that are useful in my personal daily activities. Biology is memorization of massive collection of facts, many of which I do not know the importance in my daily life. Biology classes hold my attention and interest most of the time so I get excited whenever our integrated classes include Biology. Biology is not important to what I want to take in college; therefore, it can be deleted in the curriculum. Understanding of biological concepts and processes is useful in the experiences and activities in the community. Biology becomes more complicated when it is taught together with the other subjects. I become more creative in our Biology classes. I have difficulty understanding concepts and processes that we study in Biology during integrated classes. When Biology is integrated with our other subjects, I am encouraged to consider Science or its related courses in college. I am bored of studying Biology. What I learn in Biology helps me to think creatively and stimulates my curiosity about nature and the physical world. I am often under stress or anxious about Biology whenever we are having integration of subjects. SA A U D SD SA A U D SD SA SA SA SA SA SA SA SA SA SA SA SA SA SA SA SA SA SA SA SA SA SA SA A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A A U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D SD SD SD SD SD SD SD SD SD SD SD SD SD SD SD SD SD SD SD SD SD SD SD
Please write about how you feel about integration of your Biology subject or lessons to other subjects; what you think are the good and bad points of integrating. Your comments, suggestions and realizations are very important to support your agreement or disagreement with the sentences above. Isulat ang iyong saloobin ukol sa integration ng Biology sa iba pang asignatura o subject; kung ano ang naiisip mo na maganda o mabuti tungkol sa integration; kung ano ang mga hindi maganda rito. Ang iyong mga komento, opinion, suhestiyon at kaisipan ay mahalaga at siyang magpapatunay ng iyong mga sagot sa bilang 1-24 sa naunang pahina.
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Appendix B Lesson A - Interdisciplinary Thematic Unit for Second Year High School Unit Title: “THE MANY FACES OF LOVE”
Time Frame: 3 days Unit Overview: This unit is an integrated, multidisciplinary and thematic in design. As the unit title and theme indicates, second year students will be exploring the different faces of love – as a concept, as an emotion and as a biological function. The meaning of love will be tackled in different perspectives using the different academic subjects as vehicles. In the introductory phase, the students will be provoked to raise questions about the meaning of love. To lead them into critically developing their own perspective on love, collaborative and reflective thinking activities will be facilitated by the teachers to present the different dimensions, levels and context through which love is exemplified. At the culmination of the unit, the true meaning of love, founded on Christian faith will be established. Unit General Objectives: Cognitive: Formulate a comprehensive and reflective meaning of love Affective: Express how a person can demonstrate the true meaning of love in different levels, context or aspects of the society Psychomotor: Participate actively and respectfully in debates, discussions and group works Subjects Included: Filipino English Biology Asian Studies Statistics Christian Living Education (CLE) Major Activities Film Analysis Editorial Writing Creative Writing Exercise Debate and Group Discussions Concept Mapping and Predicting Exercises Symposium Reflective Thinking Exercises
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Plan of Activities: Day 1 Orientation, grouping and introduction to the unit Introductory and Motivating Activities • Orientation to the 3-day ITU • Listening Activity • Eliciting themes, feelings and inferences about the lyrics and rhythm of the song • Brainstorming and Queries • Survey of issues that bombard an ordinary teenager • Provoking for questions about love Portfolio Entry #1 Engaging and Exploring Activities • Film Viewing • Processing of film • Group discussion • Editorial Writing Activity – Portfolio Entry # Explaining and Elaborating • Listening and Lyrics Analysis • Issue Discussion • Group Discussion • Presentation of distorted views on love and group conclusion - Portfolio Entry #3 • Creative Writing Exercise - Portfolio #4 Day 2 (Nov. 14 Th) Reflecting, Validating and Reinforcing through different perspectives Presentation of synthesis – volunteers to elucidate their personal views and answers to Portfolio #1 Love as a biological function • Caricature Interpretation • Physiological nature of love as an emotion • Nervous-circulatory processes • Drills and predicting exercises - Portfolio Entry #5 • Concept Mapping - Portfolio Entry #6 Love as a social function • Marriage traditions across Asia • Contemporary issues on love and marriage • Implications of love and marriage to economic, socio-political and culturalanthropological events / aspects of the society 22
• Opinion Matrix - Portfolio Entry #7 Integration of Concepts • Identification of variables Portfolio Entry #8 • Predicting and Extrapolating Exercises Portfolio Entry #9 • Reflective Thinking Exercise - Portfolio Entry #10 • Answering of self-raised questions on Portfolio Entry #1 Day 3 (Nov. 15 F) Love in the Christian perspective Synthesis of the experiences and realizations in the first two days (volunteer students to share their answers to self-raised questions in Portfolio Entry #1) Guided Reflective Exercise • Group discussion with guide questions • Love as symbolized in the world today Portfolio Entry #11 • Love as expressed in the different units of the society and to God Sharing of invited speakers • Love as experiences in the family Power point presentation – Lecturette on Love • Kinds of Love • Biblical bases of Love Portfolio Entry #12 • Film Viewing – “True Love Waits “ • Processing of Film Integration (Doctrine, Moral, Worship) • Culmination • Para – Liturgy • Mandala Making - Portfolio Entry #13 • Group presentations – Realizations and Group Manifesto • Self-Realizations - Answering of self-raised questions Portfolio Entry #14 Evaluation of the ITU – Portfolio Entry #15 Unit / Lesson Matrix:
As a distorted value in Media (Filipino – English) As expressed and experienced in the different units of the society (CLE – love as a need) LOVE As a social function that affects culture and traditions of a nation (Asian Studies) As a gift whose authenticity only comes from God (CLE – man as Beloved) As a variable and factor that have implications in health and medicine, economics, politics and social order (Statistics) As a feeling or sensation resulting from physiological functions of the body (Biology)
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Content – Skill Matrix:
Subject Filipino Objective Makasulat ng editorial base sa mga isyung nakapaloob sa pelikulang kontemporaryo ang tema Identify figures of contemporary songs speech from Topic – Material Film Viewing and Critiquing “My First Romance” Pagsulat ng Editoryal English Distortions of values by Media Love as presented in the media Discriminate values being distorted in non-print media Analyze the implicit and explicit message of contemporary songs Biology Explain the processes and functions of the nervous and circulatory system Infer about the physiological basis of the feeling of love and other human emotions Asian Studies Compare the marriage and family traditions across Asia Relate the type of government with the culture, family and marriage traditions Explain personal views on laws and political situations that are relevant to family and social relationships Statistics Identify dependent and independent variable Predict effects of certain factors on certain variables Marriage and Family Traditions Across Asia Types of Government in Asia Nervous System Circulatory System Explaining processes and function Identifying processes and functions Concept mapping # 5 Identifying Processes and Function – Drills on Predicting # 6 Concept Map – Love as a Biological Function Comparative Analysis Analyzing Current Issues #7 Opinion Matrix Modes of Argumentation # 4 Story Plot Analyzing Lyric Poetry Identifying figures of speech Inferences about the lines Writing of story plots #2 Figures of Speech #3 Distorted Values and Modes of Argumentation Skill Critiquing of a Contemporary Film Writing of a film editorial review Output / Portfolio Entry #1 Editorial
Family Issues in the Philippines Predicting Data Interpretation Population Profile and economic status Economic implications of early marriage # 8 Identifying Variables #9 Predicting and Extrapolating
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Content – Skill Matrix:
Subject SYNTHESIS CLE Understand that God is the true source of love Respond to the call of love in a moral and Christian way Develop a strong relationship with God through prayers SYNTHESIS #13 My Personal Mandala Group Manifesto #14 Realizations #15 Evaluation Two Greatest Commandments Objective Topic – Material Skill Output / Portfolio Entry
#10 Reflective Thinking Answers to Self-raised Questions Reflective perspective on Christian love #11 My Personal Symbol and Expression of Love #12 Reflections on the Word of God
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Appendix C Lesson B - Interdisciplinary Thematic Unit for Second Year High School Unit Title: UNITY FOR BIODIVERSITY
Time Frame: 3 days Unit Overview: In recent years, conservation biologists have generally agreed that hectare for hectare, the Philippines may be the most biologically diverse country on the planet. In other words, Brazil may have a higher number of total plant and animal species, but it has many times more land area. For a country as small as the Philippines, the biodiversity is nothing short of phenomenal, and it has hardly been studied compared to other places on the globe. The tragedy is that the biodiversity in the Philippines may also be the most threatened in the world. Some scientists say that the country is on the verge of biodiversity collapse, in which large numbers of species will become extinct. Habitat loss and the rapid growth of the human population have combined to reduce some important species to a few thousand individuals. The Philippine Eagle is down to a few hundred. Excerpt from The Green Guide: A Sourcebook on the Philippine Environment. In today’s world of consumerist attitude and corrupt media, it is always a challenge to sensitize young people to ecologically sound lifestyle and personal commitment to environmental advocacy. The fourth quarter ITU of the second year level therefore aims to involve the students on sensible projects that would give them opportunities to put into practice social responsibility. Biodiversity crisis in the Philippines is just one of the many social problems that call for an interdisciplinary analysis; hence, this unit. Unit General Objectives: Cognitive: Explain the concept of conservation biology, biodiversity and ecological principles Affective: Reflect on how personal lifestyle contribute to the preservation, conservation and destruction of biodiversity, and the ecosystems, in general. Express a personal commitment to environmental advocacy. Psychomotor: Collaborate on interdisciplinary projects as a way of expressing advocacy. Subjects Included: Biology English Asian Studies Computer
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Major Activities: Field Works Data Gathering, Analyzing and Interpretation Film Analysis Song Analysis Jurisprudential Inquiry Exercise Plan of Activities: Day 1 • • • • • • • • • • • Day 2 • • • • • • • • • Day 3 • • • • •
Action Planning Interviewing Persuasive Essay Writing Making of Project Proposal (Webpage) Reflective Thinking Exercises
Introduction to the unit, grouping and Fieldworks Self-check: “Me and Earth” Processing of answers Fieldwork A1&2 - Species Diversity (Plants and Animals) Fieldwork B – Patterns and Beauty in Nature Abstractions Arithmetic and Geometric Sequences Levels of Diversity and Aims of Conservation Biology Processing and Orientation for Action Planning Ecological Principles Film Viewing: “Evan Almighty” Processing Analyzing Issues and Action Planning Self check: “What is Your World View” Processing and Abstraction Film Viewing – “Animal SOS” Processing Group Activities Jurisprudential Inquiry Preparing for an Interview Action Planning Group Reporting Project Planning and Unit Evaluation Unit Evaluation Sharing of insights and realizations Making of group project proposals Presentation of Proposals Culminating Activity: “Commitment Ritual”
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Content – Skill Matrix:
Subject Biology Objective Conduct a fieldwork to determine the species diversity of a local area Explain the ecological principles , levels of diversity and aims of conservation biology Mathematics English Identify algebraic and geometric sequences from biotic components Prepare an interview schedule Conduct a mock interview and report an interview account Compose persuasive essay Asian Studies Compare and contrast environmental laws in different South east Asian countries Identify the pros and cons of some environmental laws in the Philippines Computer Design and upload a webpage promoting advocacy on Philippine biodiversity Formulate a group action addressing a particular issue plan Persuasive Essay Environmental Issues across Asia Impact of globalization ecosystems across Asia Webpage making on Group discussion Jurisprudential Inquiry exercise Reflection essays Topic – Material Levels of Diversity Biodiversity Crisis & Hotspots Ecological Principles Conservation Biology Skill Making a vegetation map Analyzing genetic diversity Output / Portfolio Entry Laboratory Report
Algebraic sequences
and
Geometric
Computing skills Data gathering and organizing Group discussion Interviewing and reporting
Drill worksheets Interview schedule
Conducting an Interview
Group project making
Webpage
Integration
Action Planning
Collaborative learning group project making
and
Action plan
