DIFFICULTY AREAS IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL BIOLOGY CURRICULUM
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
This study describes a qualitative approach to analyzing reasons of low biology achievement of students. Therefore, it is reasonable to reveal what affects achievement in biology. Many researchers have long investigated factors that affect achievement which will be presented in the following paragraphs respectively.
2.1 Factors that affect students ‘achievement in Biology
Researchers defined achievement as a function of many interrelated variables: students’ ability, attitude and perceptions, socioeconomic variables, school-related variables, parent and peer influences. Many of these variables are home- and family related and thus is difficult to change since they are outside the control of educators. Whereas school related variables can be influenced and changed by educational interventions (Singh, Granville, and Dika, 2002). Walberg (1981) advanced educational productivity theory which determines achievement by nine factors in three sets:
1) Student variables such as ability or prior achievement, motivation, and age or developmental level;
2) Instructional variables such as time and quality;
3) Variables of psychological environments of the classroom, home, peer group, and mass media.
Fraser, Walberg, Welch and Hattie (1987) reported that previous achievement, family and home environment, motivational variables, instructional time and also academic time affect achievement.
Young, Reynolds, and Walberg (1996) investigated the influence of school and individual factors on determination of Biology learning of 10th grade students. The dependent variable was the Biology achievement while the independent variables were in two levels. Student-level independent variables were sex, attitude toward Biology, prior achievement, motivation, instructional time, home environment, peer characteristics, and
mass media; school-level independent variables were instructional quality and classroom environment. Results of their study showed that most of the variance was dependent on the individual level rather than on the school level. Previous achievement had most influence on achievement however initial Biology attitude, instructional time, home environment, and exposure to mass media also had significant student-level influences on Biology achievement. On the other hand, at the school level, classroom environment was found to be significant.
Singh et al. (2002) examined the effects of school-related constructs, motivation, attitude, and academic engagement on 8th grade students’ mathematics and science achievement. Motivation construct was twofold; attendance of school and classes, and participation and preparedness for classes. Academic time was found to have the strongest effect on Biology learning so students who spent more time on Biology homework had higher achievement. The attitude toward Biology had the next largest effect and the other factors also had positive effects on Biology learning. Attitude has been considered as an important factor affecting biology achievement. Oliver and Simpson (1988) found a significant relationship between affective behaviors in the Biology classroom and achievement. Researchers have investigated the relationship between attitude and achievement. For example Eisenhardt (1977) found that achievement influenced attitude more often than attitude influenced achievement. On the other hand, according to studies there isn’t strong positive correlation between attitude and achievement (Schibeci and Riley, 1986; Keeves and Morganstern, 1992).
2.1.1 Gender Factors
Gender is another variable considered to have effect on biology achievement. According to many studies males have more positive attitudes toward Biology than females (Johnson, 1981; Simpson and Oliver, 1985). On the other hand, Schibeci (1984) found that females have more positive attitudes toward biology whereas males have more positive attitudes toward physics and chemistry. Friedler and Tamir (1990) through analysis of 40
studies found no differences in biology and chemistry among students who specialize in Biology in senior high school. In addition, they found that females’ orientation to Biology is enhanced by inquiry and laboratorybased instruction. Another study conducted by Steinkamp and Maehr (1984) revealed that motivational orientation of female students in biology and chemistry is higher than male students who have more positive orientation in physical and general science. This pattern was attributed to female students’ anticipation of maternal role, verbal inclination, and early preference not affected by stereotyping. On the other hand, male students’ more positive orientation in physical and general science was attributed to their learning outside of the class by extracurricular activities and contacts with knowledgeable males. Weinburgh and Englehard (1994) had also found female students to have more positive attitudes toward biology laboratory than males. However, it was found in the study of Tekkaya, Özkan, and Sungur (2001) that boys perceive biology topics easier than girls. They attributed the reasons of this situation to socialization factors and classroom experiences leading to low self esteem and passive dependent behavior among girls (Çakıroğlu, 1999; Shamai, 1996).
2.1.2 Interest and Motivation
Interest and motivation have been considered important predictors of achievement in Biology. Reynolds and Walberg (1992) regarded motivation as one of the major factors that determine achievement. Motivation encourages academic engagement which further enhances interest and motivation. Consequently much learning occurs. Students’ interest in a subject matter may cause students to continue or withdraw learning (Hidi, 1990). Singh et al. (2002) investigated the effect of motivation and interest on Biology achievement of 8th grade students. In their study motivation included attendance to school and classes, participation and preparedness for classes (coming to classes with pencil, books and homework). They found that motivated students who have positive Biology attitudes are more likely to spend more time on Biology homework, thus, concluded that motivation and interest affect Biology achievement positively. They stated that students’ motivation to
learn Biology can be increased and improved when teachers create a curriculum that focuses on conceptualizing and creating a meaning and relevance. Consistently, Vaidya (1993) stated that by keeping interest, pride, and joy of learning in mind neither a teacher nor a student will fail.
2.1.3 Misconceptions
Misconceptions are among the factors that have been reported to influence the achievement of students in biology. Yip (1998) defined misconception as those held by students that are at variance with scientific knowledge even after formal instruction. Therefore for providing meaningful learning researchers have tried to identify the misconceptions that students posses in biology: photosynthesis (Waheed and Lucas, 1992), amino acid and translation (Fisher, 1985), genetics (Pashley, 1994), reproduction (Yip, 1998), ecology (Adeniyi, 1985), vertebrate and invertebrates (Braund, 1998), the digestive system (Teixeira, 2000). In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in students’ misconceptions in Nigeria: cellular division (Yılmaz, 1998), photosynthesis (Çapa, 2000; Tekkaya and Balcı, 2003), circulatory system (Sungur, Tekkaya and Geban, 2001), ecology (Özkan, 2001), respiration (Aşcı, Özkan and Tekkaya, 2001; Alparslan, Tekkaya and Geban, 2003).
Sources of misconceptions can be both in- and out-of-school experiences. Misinformation transmitted by teachers, misapplication of content taught in school, misapplication of scientific terminology, wrong descriptions of the observations of the demonstrated phenomenon in school, inadequacy of curriculum, textbook errors, presentation of Biology topics in isolation are among the causes of misconceptions (Çapa, 2000). These findings of misconceptions and their sources are crucial to improve meaningful learning consequently to increase achievement in biology.
2.1.4 Instructional methods and materials
Instructional methods and materials are absolute to influence biology achievement. Technology is very important for many areas and education as well. Computers are becoming a very important tool for education since computer usage provides saving time and taking interests of learners. Therefore computers can be used in biology for collecting, storing data, and also the presentation of this data. It is evident that Computer assisted learning (CAL) provides reinforcement, and increases student motivation. In the study of Hounshell and Hill (1989), in a high school computer-loaded biology course, higher achievement and more positive attitudes were observed. Although strong misconceptions were present at the beginning, it was found that specialized computer programs help develop inquiry skills and increase scientific knowledge (Shute and Bonar, 1986). In addition by viewing animations class discussions and exposition of the misconceptions can be possible. CAL packages provide virtual field trips, simulations and laboratories when real ones are not available in the school system, this encourages discovery learning (Peat and Fernandez, 2000). Another study by Soyibo and Hudson (2000) conducted with 11th grade females revealed that experimental subjects who had a combination of lecture, discussion and computer-assisted instruction (CAI) outscored the control group subjects who was taught by lecture and discussion methods in biology achievement test. Besides experimental subjects’ attitudes to biology and CAI were significantly better than control subjects’. They attributed experimental group’s higher achievement to their better attitudes to biology than control group. Some studies, however, found computers to have limited value in Biology. For example a study conducted by Wainwright (1989) showed that experimental group having CAL scored significantly lower than the control group using worksheets. Wainwrigh attributed this result to paper and pencil sheets which allowed students to more easily experiment with trial and error in balancing chemical equations.
Besides inquiry, as a teaching approach, is a powerful teaching technique which involve students in gathering information, collecting and interpreting data, formulating
hypotheses and drawing logical conclusions and cooperative learning strategy which encourages students to work together in small groups and to use a variety of activities to improve their understanding of subject matter (Chang and Mao, 1999). It is, therefore, not surprising that to increase achievement in biology is possible by this method. The National Research Council (1996) developed National Biology Education Standards and stated that “working collaboratively with others not only enhances the understanding of Biology , it also fosters the practice of many of the skills, attitudes, and values that characterize Biology” (p.50). Inquiry instruction encourages students to extend their thinking and express their ideas in a variety of ways (Scheneider, Krajcik, Marx and Soloway, 2001). It is indicated by many researchers that inquiry teaching results in greater student achievement and positive Biology attitudes more than the traditional teaching (Ertepinar and Geban, 1996;
Berenfeld, 1996; Basaga, Geban, and Tekkaya, 1994; Geban, Askar and Ozkan, 1992; Hall and McCurdy, 1990; Henkel, 1968). For example Chang and Mao (1999) made a study in which treatment group received an inquiry-group instruction; control group students received traditional approach. In inquiry group, students made handson and minds-on activities, gathered and recorded data and interpreted them and their relationships. Textbooks, cooperative learning, group discussions and presentations were involved, students were active. In the control group the traditional instruction stressed lectures given by teachers, use of textbooks, clear explanations of important concepts to students, occasional demonstrations with models. Briefly, instruction was teacher centered, teacher transferred the Biology knowledge to the students. As a result students in the experimental group had significantly higher achievement scores than the control group students and student attitudes toward the subject matter were statistically more positive for inquiry group than the control group. On the other hand, some other researchers (Germann,1989; Oliver, 1965; Orr, 1968) found that inquiry teaching strategies have no significant effects on the achievement or learning of Biology process skills.
2.1.5 Biology Teachers
Teacher has always been considered a crucial factor affecting achievement. Teacher effectiveness contributes to higher achievement in science and biology. Haladyna (1997) defined teaching as a formal process for helping students learn which includes coordinated set of activities that require measuring student behavior reflecting the instructional intent. Since classroom is an ever-changing environment, effective teaching involves not only interchange between teacher and his or her students but also among the students themselves (Eison, 1990). Teacher’s enthusiasm comes at first. Eison (1990) stated that in the classroom, the instructor’s enthusiasm or the lack of it is contagious. McKeachie (1974) underlined that “probably no one thing is more important in education than the teacher’s enthusiasm and energy.” Wong (1993, as cited in Aldridge, Fraser and Huang 1999) reported that many students identified the teacher as the most crucial element in a positive classroom learning environment in Hong Kong. Those teachers created an atmosphere that was not boring and at the same time kept the discipline. They interacted with students friendly. Subject matter knowledge is another variable to be considered for teacher effectiveness. On the other hand, it may seem surprising that many studies show small or statistically insignificant relationships between teacher performance and subject matter knowledge (Ayers and Qualls, 1979; Haney, Madaus, and Kreitzer, 1986). Ashton and Crocker (1987) reviewed 14 studies and only in 5 of them they reported positive relationship between subject matter knowledge and teacher performance. Yet, Druva and Anderson (1983) found that students’ Biology achievement is positively related to the teachers’ course taking background in both education and Biology. On the other hand, Tobin, Tippins, and Gallrd (1994), as cited from Halim and Meerah (2002), based on their observations of primary and secondary school Australian teachers; found that teachers’ explanations and analogies reinforced misconceptions in pupils when teaching outside their specializations. In addition there are studies including teachers’ knowledge of teaching and learning. Ashton and Crocker (1987) found in their review studies significant positive
relationships between education coursework and teacher performance. In Monk’s (1994) study about students’ mathematics and science achievement that education coursework had a positive effect on student learning was found. Perkes (1967-68) also found that there was a significant relationship between Biology education coursework and students’ achievement on tasks requiring problem solving and applications of Biology. Those teachers who had greater training in Biology teaching used laboratory techniques, discussions and conceptual applications of ideas. Teachers with less training in education placed more emphasis on memorization. The pedagogical skills may interact with subject matter knowledge to influence teacher performance positively or negatively (Byrne, 1983). Halim and Meerah (2002) investigated Biology trainee teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge and its influence on physics teaching. They concluded that trainee teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge for promoting conceptual understanding is limited, therefore they lacked the ability to transform their understanding of basic concepts in physics required to teach lower secondary school science pupils. Murnane and Philips (1981) have found a relationship between teachers’ effectiveness and their years of experience. However, being an experienced teacher does not ensure that one will know how to develop effective Biology teaching strategies (Halim and Meerah, 2002). Successful teachers were found to use many kinds of teaching strategies and interaction styles rather than a single approach. Effective teachers try to meet the needs of different students and demands of curricular goals, topics, and methods (Doyle, 1985). Different strategies are included in active teaching and this active teaching responds to both students’ needs and curriculum goals (Good, 1983). Another study (Öztürk, 1999) investigated teacher roles in high school biology curriculum implementation and concluded that teacher’s beliefs, attitudes and teaching performances affect the implementation of the curriculum in different ways.
2.2 Learning Difficulties in Biology
Another factor that affects students’ achievement in biology is learning difficulties that students have in a variety of concepts. In Johnstone’s (1991) study the nature of Biology itself and the methods by which Biology is taught are mentioned to be the reasons of the difficulties of learning Biology. He stressed the fact that many pupils claim that Biology is hard to learn; therefore he concluded that Biology is not successfully transmitted. The reasons may lie under three variables: the transmission system itself, the methods used, the facilities available, and the nature of pupils’ learning. Johnstone’s one reasoning was the nature of Biology concepts, that is, Biology concepts exist only in mind, they are difficult to be exemplified compared to the other concepts. Another point to be mentioned is that Biology is full of many terms. The technical and non-technical terms are another source of difficulty, but non-technical terms are much more problematic compared to technical terms since pupils think they understand non-technical terms (Cassells and Johnstone, 1983). High school biology curricula is divided into seven levels of biological organizationin 1970s and 1980s; molecular level, cell, tissue and organ, organism, population community, and biome (Lazarowitz and Penso, 1992). Lazarowitz and Penso attributed difficulties in learning of the topics that are considered difficult to two reasons: The biological level of organization and the abstract level of the concepts.
According to Klinckman (1970) also, the appropriateness of biological level of organization might be a reason; young students or poor achieving students may get higher scores if instructed in topics of the levels of organisms, population, and community while they have difficulties in learning concepts of molecular, cell, tissue, and organ levels. Lazarowitz and Penso (1992) identified photosynthesis, respiration, enzyme activity, dominance and co-dominance, and sex-linkages the concepts as being on an abstract level in biology curricula. They after analyzing answers of 12th grade in Israel concluded that students had difficulties to relate their answers to relevant factors in the experiments and to separate variables investigated in the experiments and to distinguish relevant ones from
irrelevant ones. In addition students’ answers were not relevant to the problems posed in the questions. They encountered difficulty to determine the relationship between ideas and facts.
2.3 Biology Curriculum Problems
In another study, by Tekkaya, Özkan, and Sungur (2001), high school students participated and interviews with biology teachers were conducted to determine the biology topics perceived as difficult by Nigerian students. They found hormones, genes and chromosomes, mitosis and meiosis, nervous system, and Mendelian genetics to be difficult concepts for students to learn. They concluded that curriculum covering quantity of subject matter, abstract and interdisciplinary natureof concepts, textbooks cause learning difficulties in these topics.
Accordingly, biology curriculum and textbooks, by covering large content area, are considered among the factors that affect achievement in biology. Chiepetta and Fillman (1998) mentioned that high school biology course content being high in quantity does not provide inquiry learning in which students construct knowledge in a meaningful manner. They also confirm this statement by the saying of biology teachers, Biology supervisors, and Biology educators that high school biology courses contain too many subject matters and this makes students memorize too many terms which blocks meaningful learning. Chiapetta and Fillman stated that most high school biology texts are encyclopedic containing large amounts of information and many technical terms (Lumpe and Beck, 1996). Many biology teachers try to cover all the text. Yet, biology teachers should provide conceptual development of major biological ideas and avoid rote learning of so many facts but on the other hand, it is necessary to provide students with facts to improve understanding of ideas (Anderson, 1989). In addition, Penick (1995) indicated that the biology textbooks contain so many terms that learning biology from the book is like learning a foreign language. He also mentioned that Biology curricula avoid application of
knowledge and therefore pupils think that what they learn in school is not useful for them in life so they see Biology as nonsense.
2.4 Why students are bored with Biological Concepts and Suggestions
Delpech (2002), investigated and exposed the findings of Biology and Technology Committee Report of Biology Education (2002): In the curriculum topics are revisited in more depth at later stages. This deep coverage of topics later may be considered as repetition by the students and so they find this boring. Another reason stated may be the practical activities having little educational value and turning into tedious and dull activity for both students and teachers. Due to these reasons students are losing their enthusiasm for Biology and find it boring. Students should have the opportunity to do exciting and varied experimental and investigative work and deal with hands-on activities.
Some suggestions are made in the article:
• Developing an understanding of Biology, rather than recalling a large body of facts
• Agreement between teachers and others as to what scientific core material is needed
• Assessment of scientific literacy skills
• Better resources, time and training for teachers before implementation of changes
• Correcting imbalance in difficulty between science/nonscience courses
• Improving laboratory and preparation rooms
• Reducing class sizes to a maximum of 20 for practical lessons
Additionally, Bybee at this point mentions that the biology curriculum should incorporate fundamental knowledge and contribute to students’ development of a strong conceptual framework. Only factual information is not sufficient. Mastery of concepts should allow deep understanding which provide learner to reformulate the facts into usable knowledge. The mastery of concepts facilitates learning to be transferred into new problems.
2.5 Summary of literature reviewed
As a conclusion The Nuffield Foundation (1998) makes recommendations:
Biology curriculum should provide the students with key ideas that the reliable knowledge of natural world can be deduced. The curriculum should make it possible for teachers not only to focus on students’ ability to understand and interpret scientific information and to discuss controversial issues but also to measure their knowledge and understanding of scientific ideas.