Views Of Some Bicol Science Teachers On Goals Of Science Education

Views of Some Bicol Science Teachers on Goals of Science Education Joel R. Noche Department of Mathematics and Natural Sciences Abstract A survey of 111 Bicol science teachers (mostly from Camarines Sur) shows that: (a) the goals of science education as they view them are concerned with scientific literacy, applications, methods and skills, knowledge, contribution to society, effects on the environment and society, attitudes and behaviors, and science as a career; (b) more of them are satisfied with science education in their school, while less are satisfied with science education in the Philippines; (c) almost all of them agree that everyone should be taught some science; (d) in general, they rank the main goals of science education from highest to lowest as: social development, knowledge, method, and personal development; (e) most of them believe that the recommended science course coverage is too much for their students, and if there was an increase in the budget for education, many of them want most of it to go to improving school facilities and materials rather than to increasing teachers’ salaries.

Introduction As observed by Bybee and DeBoer (1994), the goals of science education are affected by current conditions in society and thus change with time. And while efforts are made to record the shifts in science education goal priorities, good documentation for certain regions in the Philippines are lacking. In the Philippines, the description of the elementary education subject “Science and Health” (BEE, 2002) includes: Science and Health aims to help the Filipino child gain a functional understanding of science concepts and principles linked with real life situations, [and] acquire science skills as well as scientific attitudes and values needed in solving everyday problems. These pertain to health and sanitation, nutrition, food production, and the environment and its conservation.

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The course description for secondary education science subjects (BSE, 2002) includes: The Science Program at the secondary level is designed to promote students’ awareness of the relevance of science in life and [to] develop [in students] critical and creative thinking as well as skills in problem solving through the teaching of science in an outdoor environment and cooperative learning. More than the understanding of science concepts, emphasis is given on the application of these concepts to improve the environment and the quality of life.

But although documentation of recommended science education goals exist, it is still important to get the viewpoint of science educators, because in practice, these recommended goals are not necessarily attempted or achieved. This study has five objectives: (1) determine what Bicol science teachers consider as goals of science education; (2) perform modest goal testing; (3) find out whether they think science education is for everyone or not; (4) reveal how they prioritize goals (classified into four main groups); and (5) have an idea of what factors, if any, prevent them from achieving their goals. By providing a picture of how some Bicol science educators view the goals of science education, the results of this survey can be used by administrators and policy makers who are interested in improving science education by making sure the recommended goals are acceptable and are achieved. Methodology Design of the Survey Instrument The survey instrument (see Appendix A) has 26 items and is targeted at high school and college teachers teaching science in Bicol (Philippines Region V). Items 1 to 5 are used to create a profile of the respondent. Because this study focuses on Bicol science teachers, I wanted to know the respondents’ geographical distribution, science courses handled, and primary job description. I also wanted to see if the respondents’ views are related to the school levels they handled and the number of years they have been handling science courses.14 14

I made an error here. The options should have been groups of three years, but one option (‘12–15’) is a group of four years. 112

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Item 6 is meant to achieve objective (1) of the study; items 7 to 9 are for objective (2); item 10 is for objective (3); items 11 to 22 are for objective (4); and items 23 to 26 are for objective (5). To make the survey instrument easy for the respondent to answer quickly and easy for me to analyze quickly, almost all of the items are to be answered by selecting among given options. (The only exception is item 6, which I intentionally made open-ended so that the data gathered are not wholly dependent on my viewpoints.) For items 7 to 26, I chose to offer the respondent statements that were specific and concrete rather than general and vague. For example, instead of “I prioritize method over personal development,” I used “Science should be taught as work and not as play.” I limited the number of statements to two per item because it is easier to choose if there are fewer choices. However, I understand that it is possible to have no preference at all: the respondent might agree with both statements equally, disagree with both statements, or have no opinion. So I provided a third option to be chosen in this latter case. Note that by having the respondent choose this third option if he or she disagrees with both statements or has no opinion, instead of just leaving the first two options unselected, it is easy to see if the respondent has actually answered the item or just skipped it. Determining Priority of Goals Bybee and DeBoer (1994) group science education goals into three major groups: scientific knowledge, scientific methods, and personal-social development. Martin (1972) uses four groups: knowledge, skills, understanding, and propensities. Trowbridge and Bybee (1996) use five groups: scientific knowledge, scientific methods, societal issues, personal needs, and career awareness. I chose to use four groups: knowledge (facts, principles, theories, concepts), method (inquiry, discovery, problem solving, critical thinking, skills), personal development (aesthetic appreciation, intellectual growth, interest, career awareness), and social development (applications, social efficiency and effectiveness, effects of science on society, effects of society on science). To determine how the respondents prioritize these four main goals, I constructed 12 items which compare two main goals at a time. Table 1 shows that each main goal was compared with another goal twice; during the second time, the order of the goals was College of Arts and Sciences, Ateneo de Naga University

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reversed to take into account any respondent bias in the order of the statements. Table 1. Comparison of goal priorities

Knowledge Method Personal Development Social Development 11a 11b 12a 12b 13a 13b 14a 14b 15a 15b 16a 16b 17b 17a 18b 18a 19b 19a 20b 20a 21b 21a 22b 22a Administration of the Survey Instrument I gave a preliminary version of the survey instrument to a part-time science teacher at the Ateneo de Naga University for comment. I revised the survey instrument based on her suggestions. I include her responses in the analysis because these were not significantly affected by the revisions. This revised survey instrument was handed out to the participants of the 2007 Science Education Conference held at the Ateneo de Naga University in Naga City, Camarines Sur last September 1, 200715 toward the end of the conference and right before the awarding of certificates. I handed out 136 copies of the survey instrument, and 110 of these were returned with responses. The participants took around ten to twenty minutes to fill out the survey.

15

The Ateneo de Naga University 2007 Science Education Conference (Philosophy, Technology, and Environment) was organized by the Department of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences in cooperation with the Graduate School. 114

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Two of the 110 respondents indicated on the instrument that they were students (presumably undergraduate students). I did not include their responses with those of the others. A few days later, I handed out two more copies to science teachers at the Ateneo de Naga University who were not able to receive the survey instrument during the conference. These were returned with responses. The number of respondents is thus 1 (preliminary) plus 110 (conference) minus 2 (students) plus 2 (later), for a total of 111. Results For items that required respondents to shade only one of the boxes, I recorded entries where zero, two, or three boxes were shaded as if only the third box was shaded.16 Table 2. Profile of the respondents

Job description Years handling science courses Teaching 105 0–2 16 Administrative 6 3–5 22 Research 8 6–8 12 School level 9–11 22 Pre-school 0 12–15 14 Elementary 4 16–18 4 High school 67 19–21 6 Undergraduate 54 22–24 4 Graduate 2 25+ 11 Science courses Province Science & health 13 Albay 9 Integrated science 43 Camarines Norte 12 Biology 29 Camarines Sur 89 Chemistry 36 Catanduanes 1 Physics 25 Masbate 0 Mathematics 12 Sorsogon 0 Other 0

16

Two respondents submitted incomplete forms (one answered only up to item 21, the other answered only up to item 18). I included their data in the analysis by recording their empty entries as if only the third box was shaded. College of Arts and Sciences, Ateneo de Naga University

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Profile of the Respondents There were 111 respondents in all. Table 2 shows the number of responses for items 1 to 5 of the survey instrument.17 A vast majority of the respondents were teachers, with around half teaching high school students and around half teaching undergraduate students. Since the conference was held in Camarines Sur, majority of the respondents are teaching in Camarines Sur, while the rest are teaching in the neighboring provinces of Camarines Norte and Albay. Goals of Science Education Only 69 respondents answered item 6 of the survey instrument.18 I created goal classifications based on their responses. 19 Table 3 shows the number of responses for each classification. Table 3. Goals of science education

Classification Scientific literacy Applications Methods and skills Knowledge Contribution to society Effects on the environment and society Attitudes and behaviors Science as a career (Other)

26 20 17 16 15 13 12 6 8

Table 4 shows the classifications I used and the words or concepts in a response that would give it that classification.20 The results show a weakness in my survey instrument: I had not taken into more consideration the concept of scientific literacy.

17

A respondent can choose more than one option here, so the totals per item do not necessarily add up to 111. 18 Perhaps it required too much time to answer than was given to them. 19 Admittedly, these classifications are quite subjective. 20 I understand that the term ‘scientific literacy’ has varied meanings in the literature. I use the definitions in (Bybee & DeBoer, 1994, p. 376). 116

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Table 4. Classification of goals of science education Classification Scientific literacy

Applications Methods and skills Knowledge Contribution to society Effects on the environment and society Attitudes and behaviors Science as a career (Other)

Words or concepts Scientific literacy, importance of science, upgrade, update, current, recent, trends, issues, advances, understanding, explain natural phenomena, misconceptions, myths, superstitions Applications, everyday, practical, real-life, improving quality of life Methods, skills, higher order thinking, analytical, problem solving, hands-on Knowledge, information, ideas, principles, theories Contribute to society, world, extension, productive citizen, globally competitive, national development Effect on environment, society

Attitude, behavior, moral, ethical, responsible, catalysts of change, self-regulated learners, think for themselves, inquisitive, exploration Research, scientists Filipino, God-fearing, spirituality, intellectual satisfaction, compliance with requirements, instruction

Modest Goal Testing Martin (1972) classifies the testing of the goals of science education into two groups: acceptance testing (“Are these goals acceptable?”), and achievement testing (“Were these goals achieved?”). In my study, I make no effort to answer these questions separately as no common goals were explicitly defined in my survey instrument. Instead, I ask the respondents if they are satisfied with the way science is taught in their school, region, and country. Table 5. Satisfaction with science education

Option Satisfied Not satisfied (No preference)

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7 53 34 24

Item 8 37 37 37

9 31 40 40

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Table 5 shows the number of responses for items 7 to 9 of the survey instrument. More respondents were satisfied with the science education in their school (item 7) than were not. As for science education in the Bicol region (item 8), the respondents were equally divided in level of satisfaction. Fewer respondents were satisfied with the science education in the Philippines (item 9) than were not. Is Science Education for Everyone? For item 10 of the survey instrument, 107 agreed more with the statement “Everyone should be taught some science,” two agreed more with the statement “Some people do not need to be taught any science,” and two indicated no preference. Priority of Goals Table 6 shows the number of responses for items 11 to 22 of the survey instrument. Table 6. Priority of goals: Individual items Option Option a (first) Option b (second) (No preference)

11 59 43 9

12 11 78 22

13 29 27 55

14 34 40 37

15 42 13 56

Item 16 17 33 51 43 31 35 29

18 35 26 50

19 24 23 64

20 21 22 29 62 58 39 8 3 43 41 50

Majority of the respondents (around 58%) had no preference for item 19, which was meant to determine if they prioritized personal development (option a: “An experiment devised by a student is better than an experiment devised by a teacher.”) over method (option b: “An experiment devised by a teacher is better than an experiment devised by a student.”). Only a few respondents (around 8%) had no preference for item 11, where the first option (“A good laboratory workbook should tell the student the expected outcome of the experiment.”) indicated a preference for a goal of knowledge and the second option (“A good laboratory workbook should not tell the student the expected outcome of the experiment.”) indicated a preference for a goal of method. The item option that was least often chosen was 22b (“Science education is more about scientific methods rather than about scientific applications.”), while the one that was most often selected was 12b (“Science teachers should focus on topics that are 118

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useful, even if they are not interesting.”). These seem to indicate that most of the respondents consider it very important to teach the applications of science. Table 7 shows the priorities among the groups of main goals. I show how these numbers were calculated by means of an example. Referring to Table 1, we can see that the following item options indicate preference of the social development goal over one of the other three goals: 12b, 14b, 16b, 18a, 20a, and 22a. Referring to Table 6, we can see that the numbers of responses for these item options are 78, 40, 43, 35, 29, and 58, respectively. The sum of these numbers is 283. Thus, through their answers to items 11 to 22, 283 (indirectly) indicated preference of the social development goal of science education over one of the other three main goals, which is what is shown in Table 5. Table 7. Priority of goals: Grouped items

Main goal Knowledge Method Personal development Social development

213 182 163 283

The data in Table 7 imply that the respondents in general rank the main goals of science education from highest to lowest as: social development, knowledge, method, and personal development. Table 8. Priority of goals: Grouped items, by school level handled

Main goal Knowledge Method Personal development Social development

PreS 0 0 0 0

School level handled Elem HighS Ugrad 9 124 104 5 112 83 8 105 74 8 186 124

Grad 5 3 3 3

Table 8 shows the priorities among the groups of main goals according to the school level handled by the respondents.21 Note that 21

Some respondents handle more than one school level. Thus, the numbers here do not necessarily add up to the numbers in Table 5. College of Arts and Sciences, Ateneo de Naga University

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those handling the high school level and those handling the undergraduate level have the same ranking of main goals as that of all the respondents grouped together. Table 9 shows the priorities among the groups of main goals according to the number of years the respondents have been handling science courses. Those with eight or less years of experience have the same ranking of main goals as that of all the respondents grouped together. Those with nine to 18 years of experience still have social development as their priority, even though the rankings of the other main goals are different. Those with 19 or more years of experience seem to prioritize social development and knowledge equally. Table 9. Priority of goals: Grouped items, by years handling science courses Years handling science courses 0–2 3–5 6–8 9–11 12–15 16–18 19–21 22–24 Main goal Knowledge 31 45 17 36 24 9 14 10 Method 21 36 16 39 26 4 13 6 Personal development 21 31 11 31 20 9 6 9 Social development 36 60 23 55 42 16 13 12

25+

27 21 25 26

Factors Preventing Achievement of Goals It is easy to imagine the reasons why education goals are not achieved: academically weak students, academically weak teachers, not enough classrooms, not enough teachers, and so on. Ideally, we wish to solve all these problems. Realistically, we start by focusing on only a few. Which ones should be solved first? Table 10 shows the number of responses for items 23 to 26 of the survey instrument. Item 23 seeks to find out if the respondents feel they are mostly responsible for not achieving their teaching goals (option a) or not (option b). Although most had no preference, more felt mostly responsible than not. Table 10. Factors preventing achievement of goals

Item Option Option a (first) Option b (second) (No preference) 120

23 38 20 53

24 58 12 41

25 45 15 51

26 32 29 50

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One common complaint of teachers is “lack of time.” I wanted to know why there was not enough time. The responses to item 24 indicate that more respondents feel that the recommended coverage is too much for their students (option a) than that too many class meetings are being missed (option b). Another common complaint is “not enough money.” Item 25 is meant to determine where most of the money should go. Although most had no preference, more wanted most of the money to be used to improve school facilities and materials (option a) than to increase teachers’ salaries (option b).22 A few respondents were puzzled by item 26. One wrote “I can’t see the logic of item #26” and left it unanswered. Another wrote a large question mark beside it and selected the third option. I made this item to see which the respondents considered more important: the quantity or the quality of teachers. I assumed that a respondent who prioritized teacher quantity would choose the first option (“It is better to have a good teacher teaching a large class than to have a very good teacher teaching a very large class.”) and that one who prioritized teacher quality would select the second option (“It is better to have a very good teacher teaching a very large class than to have a good teacher teaching a large class.”). The results don’t seem to indicate a clear preference. Perhaps the wording for this item could be improved to, say, “It is better for a school to have enough teachers than for it to have few but competent teachers,” and “It is better for a school to have few but competent teachers than for it to have enough teachers.” Conclusion This survey of 111 Bicol science teachers (mostly from Camarines Sur) shows that: (a) the goals of science education as they view them are concerned with scientific literacy, applications, methods and skills, knowledge, contribution to society, effects on the environment and society, attitudes and behaviors, and science as a career; (b) more of them are satisfied with science education in their school, while less are satisfied with science education in the Philippines; 22

I find this quite surprising, as the vast majority of the respondents are teachers. College of Arts and Sciences, Ateneo de Naga University

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(c) almost all of them agree that everyone should be taught some science; (d) in general, they rank the main goals of science education from highest to lowest as: social development, knowledge, method, and personal development; (e) most of them believe that the recommended science course coverage is too much for their students, and if there was an increase in the budget for education, many of them want most of it to go to improving school facilities and materials rather than to increasing teachers’ salaries. Finding (a) could be used to create better survey instruments for views of science teachers on science education goals. Finding (b) invites further study to see if the respondents’ satisfaction is either because they accept the goals or because they achieve the goals. Finding (c) is in line with the Department of Education’s plan of Philippine Education for All 2015.23 It is instructive to see if findings (d) and (e) also apply to the other regions of the Philippines. Studies such as Bybee and DeBoer (1994), Martin (1972), and Trowbridge and Bybee (1996) discuss science education in America, where history, conditions, and policies are different from those in the Philippines. I hope this study is a worthy contribution to the body of knowledge about science education in the Philippines. Acknowledgment An earlier version of this paper was submitted as a requirement for the University of the Philippines Open University course EDSC 301 (History and Philosophy in Science and Technology Education) handled by Dr. Vivien Talisayon. I thank the 2007 Science Education Conference chairs Dr. Michael Clores and Dr. Alfredo Fabay for allowing me to distribute copies of the survey instrument to the conference participants. I also thank department chair Cresencia Laguerta and college dean Dr. Lydia Goingo. I thank Pia Noche for comments on an earlier version of this manuscript.

References Bureau of Elementary Education. (2002). Handbook in science and health: 2002 basic education curriculum elementary level (p. 3). Department of Education, Republic of the Philippines.

23

See http://efa2015.110mb.com/ and (DepEd, 2006), in particular.

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Bureau of Secondary Education. (2002). Operations handbook in science: 2002 basic education curriculum secondary level (p. 4). Department of Education, Republic of the Philippines. Bybee, R., & DeBoer, G. (1994). Research on goals for the science curriculum. In D. Gabel (Ed.), Handbook of research on science teaching and learning (pp. 357–387). New York: Macmillan. Department of Education. (2006). EFA information bulletin no. 3. Republic of the Philippines. Martin, M. (1972). The goals of science education. Concepts of science education (pp. 132–160). Glenview, Illinois: Scott, Foresman and Company. Trowbridge, L., & Bybee R. (1996). The goals of science teaching. Teaching secondary school science: Strategies for developing scientific literacy (6th ed.) (pp. 70–79). Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Merrill, Prentice Hall.

Appendix A Views of Bikol Science Teachers on Goals of Science Education Survey Instrument Hello, my name is Joel R. Noche. I am a doctoral (Ph.D. in Education) student at the University of the Philippines Open University. I am doing a study on the views of Bikol science teachers on the goals of science education and would really appreciate your help. Please spend a few minutes to fill up this survey instrument. Thank you very much for your time. For numbers 1 to 3, shade all the circles of the options that apply to you. If none of the options apply to you, then do not shade any circle for that number. 1. Which best describes your job? { teaching { administration { research 2. What level do you handle? { pre-school { elementary { high school { undergraduate { graduate 3. What courses do you handle? { science and health College of Arts and Sciences, Ateneo de Naga University

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{ integrated science (earth science, biology, chemistry, physics) { biology { chemistry { physics { mathematics For numbers 4 and 5, shade the box of the option that applies to you. (Shade only one box per number.) 4. How many years have you been handling science courses? … 0–2 … 9–11 … 19–21 … 3–5 … 12–15 … 22–24 … 6–8 … 16–18 … 25 or more 5. In what province is the school that employs you? … Albay … Catanduanes … Camarines Norte … Masbate … Camarines Sur … Sorsogon … (Other) __________ Answer the following question before looking at the remaining parts of this survey instrument. Write your response below. 6. What do you think are the most important goals of science education? (Limit your reply to a few sentences.) For numbers 7 to 26, there are two statements and three boxes per number. Shade only one of these boxes. Shade the box in front of the statement that you most agree with. Shade the last box only if: you agree with both statements equally; you disagree with both statements; or if you have no opinion. 7. … I am satisfied with the way science is being taught in my school. … I am not satisfied with the way science is being taught in my school. … (both/neither/no opinion) 8. … I am satisfied with the way science is being taught in the Bikol region. … I am not satisfied with the way science is being taught in the Bikol region. … (both/neither/no opinion) 9. … I am satisfied with the way science is being taught in the Philippines. … I am not satisfied with the way science is being taught in the Philippines. … (both/neither/no opinion) 10. … Everyone should be taught some science. … Some people do not need to be taught any science. … (both/neither/no opinion) 11. … A good laboratory workbook should tell the student the expected outcome of the experiment. 124

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12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

… A good laboratory workbook should not tell the student the expected outcome of the experiment. … (both/neither/no opinion) … Science teachers should focus on topics that are interesting, even if they are not useful. … Science teachers should focus on topics that are useful, even if they are not interesting. … (both/neither/no opinion) … Science should be taught as work and not as play. … Science should be taught as play and not as work. … (both/neither/no opinion) … More funding should be given to research that solves tomorrow’s problems rather than today’s problems. … More funding should be given to research that solves today’s problems rather than tomorrow’s problems. … (both/neither/no opinion) … I would rather have students who learn a lot from the course but do not enjoy it than students who enjoy the course but do not learn a lot from it. … I would rather have students who enjoy the course but do not learn a lot from it than students who learn a lot from the course but do not enjoy it. … (both/neither/no opinion) … I consider it more important to teach how to determine the truth of a scientific statement than to teach how its truth affects and is affected by society. … I consider it more important to teach how the truth of a scientific statement affects and is affected by society than to teach how to determine its truth. … (both/neither/no opinion) … If only one experimental set-up is available, the experiment should be done by a student. … If only one experimental set-up is available, the experiment should be done by a teacher. … (both/neither/no opinion) … I teach science so that the student can help others. … I teach science so that the student can help himself/herself. … (both/neither/no opinion) … An experiment devised by a student is better than an experiment devised by a teacher. … An experiment devised by a teacher is better than an experiment devised by a student. … (both/neither/no opinion)

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20. … Science teachers should focus on topics that are encountered in everyday life, even if they are disconnected and unstructured. … Science teachers should focus on the structure of and interconnections in nature, even if the topics are not encountered in everyday life. … (both/neither/no opinion) 21. … I prefer teachers who can motivate students but are not smart over teachers who are smart but cannot motivate students. … I prefer teachers who are smart but cannot motivate students over teachers who can motivate students but are not smart. … (both/neither/no opinion) 22. … Science education is more about scientific applications rather than about scientific methods. … Science education is more about scientific methods rather than about scientific applications. … (both/neither/no opinion) 23. … It is mostly my fault when I can’t achieve my teaching goals. … It is mostly not my fault when I can’t achieve my teaching goals. … (both/neither/no opinion) 24. … I need more time to teach my students because they are slow learners or because there are too many topics that need to be covered. … I do not have enough time to teach my students because we miss many class meetings (due to holidays, school activities, bad weather, etc.) … (both/neither/no opinion) 25. … If there was an increase in the budget for education, most of it should go to improving school facilities and materials. … If there was an increase in the budget for education, most of it should go to increasing teachers’ salaries. … (both/neither/no opinion) 26. … It is better to have a good teacher teaching a large class than to have a very good teacher teaching a very large class. … It is better to have a very good teacher teaching a very large class than to have a good teacher teaching a large class. … (both/neither/no opinion) Again, thank you very much for taking the time to fill up this survey instrument. Let me know if you have comments on it or suggestions for its improvement. If you would like to know the results of this survey, please write your name and e-mail address below and I will send you a copy of my report. (Please make sure your e-mail address is correct. I can only send the report via e-mail and not via postal mail.)

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