Teachers’ Experiences and Self-Assessment in Teaching Biology in Senior High School in the Philippines

Abstract

In support of the various studies for the ongoing Philippine Senior High School(SHS) curriculum, Analysis phase of the analysis, design, development, implementation, evaluation (ADDIE) model of instructional design is presented in this study. The main objective is to evaluate biology teachers’ experiences and self-assessment in  teaching Biology II in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) Track of the K12 Basic Education Program during its first two years of implementation 2016-2017 and 2017-2018(face to face )in Iloilo Province, Philippines. A descriptive survey using a questionnaire from the K12 Science Curriculum composed of two parts: biology II complex topics, and biology teachers’ self-assessments.  Five Biology experts from Western Visayas, Philippines, were asked to evaluate the researcher made survey instruments. Mean and standard deviation were employed to interpret the collected data using SPSS version 21. The results showed that the four primary areas of complex knowledge were Systematic Based on Evolutionary Relationships, Evolution and Origin of Biodiversity, Organismal Biology, and Genetics. According to rank, the most challenging topic was “Systematic Based on Evolutionary Relationship,” and the easiest was “Genetics.” On the self-assessment of Biology teachers, all topics were in “Moderate Mastery,” and Genetics was “High Mastery.” Also, a significant relationship between the content topic difficulty and Biology teachers’ mastery level. The findings show no relationship between self-assessed knowledge and self-assessed skills of Biology Teachers. Proper training and encouraging teachers for professional development is a must. Teachers must be trained to teach Biology II, become effective and efficient through professional development. Also, the national government should assess the implementation of the new curriculum based on the experts' recommendations. Thus, this study recommends encouraging SHS teachers to take graduate studies aligned with their undergraduate program to master the area of specialization. The national government must support scholarship programs in STEM for biology educators.. 

Received: 29 September 2023 / Accepted: 25 January 2024 / Published: 5 March 2024