DESIGN AND ASSESSMENT OF AN INTEGRATED TEACHING METHOD FOR TEACHING ECOSYSTEMS (original) (raw)
Related papers
Efficacy of Two Different Instructional Methods Involving Complex Ecological Content
International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 2009
Teaching and learning approaches in ecology very often follow linear conceptions of ecosystems. Empirical studies with an ecological focus consistent with existing syllabi and focusing on cognitive achievement are scarce. Consequently, we concentrated on a classroom unit that offers learning materials and highlights the existing complexity rather than following linear conceptions. We developed an educational unit consisting of 14 individual lessons (”ecosystem lake”) with the aim of increasing pupils’ cognitive achievement in 8th and 9th grade secondary schools. To evaluate our approach, we chose a quasi-experimental design and five teachers with ten classes participated in our study. A matched-pair tandem-design was provided by five German teachers using first his/her conventional approach in one class (instruction-1; control group) and second, our modern ecological approach in their second class (instruction-2). Pupils subjected to the latter performed better, i.e., achieved higher scores, especially in the delayed post-test. Further, we found a teacher effect and an interaction between treatment (i.e., whether treatment or control class) and the teacher regarding the class test. Teachers had a significant influence on the learning outcome irrespective of the educational unit, i.e., some teachers generally produced higher achievement than others. Further, the interaction showed that some teachers coped better with their traditional teaching. Nevertheless, in retention (delayed post-test) all classes of the modern approach scored higher than the traditionally taught ones. Boys and girls benefited equally from our program and pupils from the modern approach rated the educational unit better. Figure 1 Overview over the educational unit “ecosystem lake”
The effect of conceptual change instruction on understanding of ecology concepts
… Dissertation, Middle East Technical University, Ankara …, 2003
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of conceptual change text oriented instruction accompanied by demonstrations in small groups (CCTI) on ninth grade students' achievement and understanding levels of ecology, attitudes towards biology, and attitudes towards environment. The instruments used in this study were the Test of Ecological Concepts (TEC), the Attitude Scale towards Biology (ASB), the Attitude Scale towards Environment (ASE), and the Test of Logical Thinking (TOLT). All data were collected from the public high school in Balıkesir in the Spring Semester of 2001iv 2002. 88 students from four classes and two teachers were included in this study. Two of the classes were called control group and two of them were called experimental group. While the TEC, ASE and ASB were administered to all of the students as pre-and post-tests, the TOLT were conducted as pre-test. Data related to the TEC, ASB, and ASE were analyzed by multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA). The results of the MANCOVA showed that there was significant effect of the treatment which was the conceptual change texts oriented instruction accompanied by demonstrations in small groups on the TEC, while there were no significant effect of the treatment on the attitudes towards biology and attitudes towards environment.
A model of interdisciplinary teaching of ecology in the high school
Archives of Biological Sciences, 2014
In this paper, we present the results of pedagogical studies of biology lectures in a high school. The subject Ecology is realized in the second year of high school during 14 classes employing an interdisciplinary approach (correlation of terms from Biology, Geography, Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics) in an experimental (E) group and compared to traditional classes in a control (C) group. Students from the E group achieved significantly better success in the final test (70.60 points average) and retest (57.60 points average) than students from the C group (51.80 points at final test and 40.60 points at retest). These results point to the greater efficiency of the model of interdisciplinary teaching of ecology in relation to the traditional approach and we recommend the former to be more utilized in biology classes.
Sustainable Use of Ecological Concepts in Educational Science
Discourse and Communication for Sustainable Education
In this article, the authors discuss the use of ecological concepts (ecology, boundary, niche) in educational research to understand if and how these concepts from one field of science (ecology) can bring a new understanding to another field of science (education). We have conducted a systematic search in the ERIC database to identify articles where key concepts from ecology, such as ecosystem, boundaries and niche, are used in educational research. An algorithm inspired by Rodger’s (2000) contextual model of concept analysis was used to examine how the concepts contribute to explore, explain or understand an educational system or an educational process. We find that the use of ecology-oriented concepts is related to a circular rather than a linear causality between actors and environment and between thoughts and actions. Thus, an ecological educational approach is characterised by wholeness, and emphasizes context as well as the complex interconnected mechanisms in educational proc...
A qualitative investigation of students’ understanding about ecosystem and its components
Natura Montenegrina, 2020
Students’ misconceptions are the main obstacles for realizing ecological concepts, and getting a better understanding. In this perspective, in this investigation, common conceptions of students in regard to ecological phenomena especially about ecosystem concept and food web were demonstrated. The sample of the study was ninthgrade students (n= 165) and six biology teachers teaching in these students’ schools. Results of the study revealed that participating students had difficulty in constructing ecosystem and food web concepts which are at the heart of ecological concepts.
IJER-International Journal of Educational Research, 2022
This study explored the efficacy of the 7E learning cycle model on students' achievement and retention ability in ecology. The study employed a quasi-experimental research design. A total of seventy-five (75) SSII biology students drawn from two purposively sampled schools in Education District V of Lagos state formed the sample of the study. Ecology Achievement Test (EAT) was used for data collection. An expert in test and measurement and a biology teacher validated the achievement test. The reliability coefficient of the EAT was determined to be 0.80 using the split-half reliability coefficient. One research question was raised and three hypotheses were tested at a 0.05 level of significance and data were analyzed using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). The results revealed a significant main effect of the 7E learning cycle on students' achievement in ecology [F (1,72) = 0.00; p< .05), the study also revealed that there was a significant difference in students' retention ability [F (1,72) = 0.03; p< .05) in favour of the group taught using 7E learning cycle and there was no gender influence on the achievement of students taught using the 7E learning cycle. Based on the findings it was concluded that the 7E learning cycle model is a potent strategy that offers a glimmer of hope that the problem of underperformance in ecological concepts can be changed for the better. Therefore, it was recommended amongst others that the use of the 7E learning cycle as an instructional strategy should be explored by teachers to enhance meaningful learning of difficult concepts in biology.
2017
This study would analyze the effectiveness of JAS learning with media education card of biodiversity on biology learning outcome of students at SMAN 1 Limbangan. This is a Quasi-Experimental study by Nonequivalent Control Group Design. The population in this study were six classes' students of grade X in the odd semester of 2016/2017 academic year. The sample was taken by purposive sampling, X 5 and X 6 as experimental classes and X 2 as the control class. The results of the analysis showed the average of cognitive learning outcomes in experimental class is 85,42 with learning completeness of 91,89%, while the control class is 70.7 with learning completeness of 26.47%. Psychomotor learning outcome of experimental classes is 82,43. Affective learning outcome of the experimental class is 74,32. In general, teachers and students also responded very well to apply learning. This study concludes that the Natural Exploration Learning (Jelajah Alam sekitar / JAS, Indonesia) model with t...
The aim of this study is to analyze 9th – 12th grade Biology Course Curricula started to be implemented in 2007 with regard to concepts and attainments addressing to environmental education. In this regard, 9th – 12th grade Biology Course Curricula were analyzed using content-analysis technique, one of the qualitative research methods. 9th -12th grade Biology Course Curricula started to be successively implemented since 2007 were downloaded from the web-site of Board of Education (BoE) and then content analyzed across the components of environmental literacy, that is the ultimate aim of environmental education, and how much emphasis are given to any components of environmental literacy was also investigated. Examining the components of environmental literacy, it is observed that the attainments in biology course curricula are related with cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains; but much more emphasis are given to the attainments associated with cognitive domain compared to other domains. At the end of the study, suggestions are provided to curriculum developers and biology teachers, who implement the curricula to realize the aims of environmental education.