An Evaluation of the Teaching of Biology in Some Selected Senior Secondary Schools of Addis Ababa Vis-A-Vis An Enquiry Model

No Thumbnail Available

Date

1992-06

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Addis Ababa University

Abstract

An evaluation of the Teaching of Biology in Some selected Senior Secondary Schools of Addis Abeba vis avis an Enquiry Model. It has been reiterated that sc i e nce teaching can by no mea ns be properly accomplished by merely telling s tudents abou t sc i e ntific f acts , principles and genera liza ti ons. Science educators, school science teache rs and s cientists have emphasized the need for a problem-solving or enquiry approach to science teachi ng rather th a n presenting it as sa nctifi ed body of knowledge. To this end, they have stressed a nd pOinted out the preferred way; i.e ., science teaching shou ld be based on the nature of science and s hould help students understand the process of scientific enquiry without which an ad e qua t e understanding of any science subject would not be possible. The teaching of biol ogy, as a science, follows the premises of s cience teaching. The object of this study was to evaluate the present Biology Cur riculum for Senior Secondary Schools of Ethiopia and its implementation aga inst an Enquiry Model for Biology Teaching and thereby see whether or not it is in line with modern trends in science teaching. For this purpos e, the questions, practical activities and "Narrations of enquiry " included in 15 even numbered units of the four textbooks <grades '3 12) were analysed using var i ous c r i t e ri a . Eva lua t ion of its imple,mentation involved queetionnaire survey and observation of the actual teaching-learning processes in biology classrooms using an observation schedule designed for the purpose. Chapter 2 is devoted to a discussion of the rationale for teaching science as enquiry, the nature of a science curriculum suited for enqui ry teaching and oF requirements for the proper implementationAan enquiry science curriculum. Results of the study, presented in chapter 3, in general show the presence of an immense gap between the actual teaching of the subject and the approach called for by the Biology Curriculum. That ia, while the textbooks overall follow a commendable approach with re,gard to their abillty to help students understand the process of biological enquiry, their implementation is very minimal at best (ver balism is to rampant). The reasons vary from those that are general (applicable to the general educational system at this level) to those that are spec i fic to biology. Among the specific reasons, the unrealistic nature of the textbooks and the unfamiliarity of biology teachers with the enq uiry approach stand out as the most important ones . Although the teaching of biology cannot be seen out of the context of the general educational aystem at this level, the excessive domination of verbalism in biology classrooms has led to what has been called "a dead study of life". ..

Description

Keywords

An Evaluation of the Teaching of Biology

Citation