Original scientific paper
THE CONCEPTUAL APPROACH TO TEACHING AND DEFINITION OF MACRO-CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR BIOLOGY
Žaklin Lukša
; Gimnazija Čakovec, Hrvatska
Ines Radanović
; Prirodoslovno matematički fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Hrvatska
Diana Garašić
; Agencija za odgoj i obrazovanje
Abstract
Since there is greater emphasis placed upon conceptual understanding in biology teaching, the current topic in the research of biology teaching is the definition of the macro-conceptual framework, which should contribute to it. The aim of this paper is to show the existing macro-conceptual frameworks proposed by various authors from all over the world and present our own concept of a macro-conceptual framework. Within the project Pupils' Competencies in Science and Biology Classes, six macro-concepts have been proposed (structure of living beings, energy, balance, diversity, interdependence and reproduction), as the basis for understanding biology, which are already present in the existing curriculum for each grade. In order to establish how biology teachers get by within the proposed macro-concepts and concepts, about 20 elementary and high school teachers were included in creating a test in line with the proposed framework. The analysis has shown an extremely uneven representation of the questions connected to certain macro-concepts and concepts per each grade and between the grades. Having assumed that the teachers ask questions about the teaching content to which they pay more attention and think are important in teaching, the results indicate uneven and often insufficient representation of macro-concepts in teaching in certain grades, probably because they are not recognised by the teachers in the content-oriented curriculum. Although the defined framework has shown as purposeful enough for teaching biology, it leaves a possibility for further adjustment, and it should serve for creation of a modern biology curriculum, the basic orientation of which would not be content, but conceptually-oriented teaching.
Keywords
biology; concepts; conceptually-oriented approach to teaching; macro-conceptual framework
Hrčak ID:
131978
URI
Publication date:
12.12.2013.
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