Fulfilling the Promise Biology Education in the Nation's Schools (1990) / Chapter Skim
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4. Impediments to Implementing Curricular Change: Texts, Tests, and Classroom Practice
4. Impediments to Implementing Curricular Change: Texts, Tests, and Classroom Practice
Pages 27-52
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From page 27... ...
TEXTBOOKS The Present Situation With estimates that 75% of classroom time and 90% of homework time involve the use of textbooks (Blystone, 1989) , it is perhaps surprising that deficiencies in textbooks have not been blamed more for the perceived problems in high-school biology.
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From page 28... ...
· Incorporation of current conceptual understanding and new subject matter. Many publishers add current experimental advances to their texts, often set off in special boxes.
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From page 29... ...
· Appropriateness to students' level and interest. "Appropriateness" has usually been interpreted as not overestimating the students' interests, reading abilities, and capacities for higher thinking, with little thought about positive educational goals, such as understanding of the material.
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From page 30... ...
In that respect, the books merely amplify the growing pressures of tests and curricula to de-emphasize the process of discovery and to portray biology as the worst kind of literature-all characters and no story. In summary, current biology textbooks are an important part of the failed biology curriculum.
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From page 31... ...
It is hard to see how the present manner of writing, often using panels of nonexperts pursuing questionable educational goals, can succeed. The current method of writing textbooks is illustrated in the preface to the teacher's edition of a widely used high-school biology textbook: The modern biology program was developed in conjunction with a thorough program of research and testing.
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From page 32... ...
The main function of illustrations appears to be to impress prospective buyers, but in many new texts illustrations are often only decorative distractions. In summary, most biology textbooks are produced by publishers who are responding to educationally bankrupt market forces.
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From page 33... ...
That is, the broader scientific community should be engaged nationally in collaboration with teachers in evaluating textbooks and locally in providing advice in textbook adoption. It is important that teams of reviewers include research scientists, teachers with experience in the school classroom, and individuals familiar with recent research on learning and on reading comprehension.
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From page 34... ...
The very perishability of loose-leaf or pamphlet formats would impose a cost that most school districts would find unacceptable. Resources that treat selected topics can be very effective in the hands of skilled teachers who are able to provide a conceptual framework to bind the course together, but we are skeptical that most teachers are ready to assume such responsibility for a course of the kind we believe should exist.
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From page 35... ...
Laboratory work and field work that are done effectively can enable students to understand scientific ways of knowing and the differences between those ways and other sources of knowledge. Third, direct hands-on experience produces lasting memory and, if properly reflected on, can lead to deep understanding of organisms and their environments.
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From page 36... ...
The typical laboratory activity is a "cookbook" exercise that students can "do" with little intellectual engagement (Tobin, 1989~. Although laboratory work is second to lecture, accounting for about one-fifth of class time in tenth- to twelfth-grade science classrooms (Weiss, 1987 biology was not reported separately)
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From page 37... ...
The prevalent form of laboratory activities, which merely illustrate what the text has presented, do not produce the desired results and should be replaced with genuine investigations, designed and tested to enable students to achieve the conceptual changes necessary for intellectual development and understanding. Laboratory work and field work are therefore central to a major reconstruction of high-school biology education.
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From page 38... ...
What the students achieve from the activities and their contribution to the general goals of high-school biology education should be published and made available to all biology teachers, with the necessary intellectual support to place the exercises in the classroom of the typical teacher. Adequate provision should be made for the participation of classroom teachers in the field testing of laboratory and field activities and of the assessment instruments used for evaluating students' achievements.
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From page 39... ...
Supplies and equipment for laboratory work must become ordinary items in the school budget, as are football helmets and materials for industrial arts. Guidelines for per-pupil costs of effective laboratory instruction would enable schools and school districts to determine the support needed to have effective laboratory
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From page 40... ...
· New facilities for laboratory classrooms are needed for both old and new schools, and teachers and other knowledgeable persons should work with school architects to ensure that their recommendations about laboratory design are taken into account. TESTS AND TESTING Current Perceptions of Student Performance High-school biology courses in the United States are generally not producing the kind of understanding that is needed for the world in which today's students will live (see, for example, IEA, 1988; Mullis and Jenkins, 1988; C
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From page 41... ...
Standardized Tests We would like students to take away some understanding from their highschool biology course, but herein lies another problem. Student understanding is usually measured by formal standardized achievement tests.
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From page 42... ...
"Validity" refers to the degree to which a test measures what it was designed to measure for our purposes, understanding of science. Standardized tests rarely assess the application of knowledge, problem-solving, or the ability to think through issues that involve biological understanding.
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From page 43... ...
. In design, tests made by teachers tend to follow the format of standardized tests.
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From page 44... ...
In the preceding section, we argued that laboratory work and field work are essential parts of an effective education in biology. However, there are few documented instances of the use of practical laboratory tests in biology (Robinson, 1979; Gallagher, 1986~.
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From page 45... ...
Failure to develop new test instruments to assess properly the outcomes-cognitive and affective, theoretical and applied-of education in biology and especially of the contribution of laboratory work in biology in the current school and university climate could further reduce the commitment of staff and institutions to reform teaching and learning. Conclusions Citizens who lack knowledge and understanding are susceptible to those who confuse science and other ways of knowing, to the detriment of public understanding and rational decision-making.
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From page 46... ...
Recommendations Several kinds of tasks need to be carried out by classroom teachers and school districts, states, and the nation. We do not need a national test, but rather tested models and problems that can be used for the assessment of biology education at district, state, or national levels.
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From page 47... ...
During development and field testing, the project should involve classroom teachers, university biologists, and persons knowledgeable about testing procedures. It should include the development of a series of problems designed to assess students' understanding of major biological concepts and ability to apply them.
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From page 48... ...
Low-quality tests or tests that are not based on appropriate educational goals should not be accepted from publishers. States and school districts should avoid using results of paper-and-pencil tests as the sole criterion of the effectiveness of their biology programs.
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From page 49... ...
With the increasing public clamor for educational reform, what passes for leadership has all too often fallen solely to politicians, and authority is increasingly centralized in district and state offices of education. That trend has furthered the loss of professionalism among teachers, as decisions about textbooks and objectives have been removed from their control and pressures to teach to examinations have increased.
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From page 50... ...
These policies also convey a lack of understanding of the special role that science plays in a student's education at all levels, as well as the special conditions needed for successful instruction in science. In addition to the nonprofessional burdens endured by teachers, other aspects of the teaching environment impede effective education.
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From page 51... ...
School policies should encourage teachers to become involved in new curricular projects and should assure them of long-term commitment and support for successful innovative efforts. · The nonteaching tasks assigned to teachers should decrease.
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From page 52... ...
Through such a change in the conditions of teacher employment, both teachers and school boards would have freer hands in creating faculties and working conditions that lead to schools that communities would wish to support with enthusiasm.
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