CHAPTER I

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SCOPE

Introduction

Students’ interests in learning and on the topic has so much to do with the

strategies used by the teacher. Effective learning comes from effective teaching.

Students in today’s world have a wide imagination and love to create, that’s why

21st century education is designed to empower and transform the learners to be

globally competent and would excel holistically.

For some students, they find science as one of the most difficult subject

aside from Mathematics. One of the topics that learners have difficulty in Science

specifically in Biology that the researchers have observed is Heredity. It is because

this topic is somehow intricate and comprises a wide scope which demands

teachers to be more effective in delivering the topic.

Effective, sustainable professional development is an integral part of a

school’s literacy program. Educators need professional development to stay

abreast of research and best practices in pedagogy as well as in the content of the

various disciplines they teach (Danielson, 2007; Marzano et al.., 2012; Yendol-

Hoppey & Dana, 2010).

In the Philippines, lesson study has been initiated by UP NISMED. Dela

Cruz et al. stated that lesson study is a practical, economical, and effective school-

based method for continuous professional development of teachers done in a

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collegial atmosphere. In the study, it was strongly suggested that teachers during

the lesson study process must be aware of their responsibility to teach students

correctly and the group should include a subject expert or a teacher who is a major

in the subject (Lucenario et.al, 2016).

As per Curriculum Guide 2016, identifying observable characteristics that

are passed on from parents to offspring (e.g., humans, animals, plants) that is in

bigger picture Genetics has been considered as one of the least learned or

mastered competencies in Science. Moreover, since law of dominance is aligned

to this learning competencies concerning on teaching how traits are being passed

through generations, the researchers made it as topic for the lesson study.

In line with that, the researchers aim to develop a research lesson in

teaching Heredity specifically Mendel’s Law of Dominance to enhance the interest

and intellectual capacity of the students in the least mastered topic in Science with

the use of 7E Learning Cycle Model.

Theoretical Framework

This study is anchored on the theory of Constructivism by Bruner (2011),

which states that learning is an active process in which learners conduct new

ideas or concepts upon their current or past knowledge.

Bruner’s Theory on Constructivism

Influenced by Vygotsky, Bruner emphasizes the role of the teacher,

language and instruction. He thought that different processes were used by

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learners in problem solving, that these vary from person to person and that social

interaction lay at the root of good learning.

Constructivism is basically a theory – based on observation and scientific

study – about how people learn. It says that people construct their own

understanding and knowledge of the world, through experiencing things and

reflecting on those experiences. In the classroom, the constructivist view of

learning can point towards a number of different teaching practices. In the most

general sense, it usually means encouraging students to use active techniques

(experiments, real-world problem solving) to create more knowledge and then to

reflect on and talk about what they are doing and how their understanding is

changing. The teacher makes sure she understands the students’ pre-existing

conceptions, and guides the activity to address them and then build on them.

Conceptual Framework

Improved Lesson
Science
Plan
Curriculum Guide Lesson Study
Implementation Performance of
Lesson Plan
the Students
Pre-test

Figure 1. Conceptual Framework on the study of the Effectiveness of

Lesson Study in teaching law of dominance among Grade 8
Learners in Iligan City National High School
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Figure 1 describes the conceptual framework of the study in which the input

corresponds to the necessary elements as guide in the lesson study cycle. The

process constitutes collaborative lesson planning and the implementation of the

research lesson designed by the researchers or the collaborative teachers and the

critiques. The expected outputs are the developed collaborative lesson plan and

the performance of the students.

Statement of the Problem

This study aims to develop a lesson plan using the 7E Model of Eisenkraft

(2003) with a specific topic of Mendel’s Law of Dominance to enhance the teaching

activities and the students’ performance. Moreover, this study sought to answer

the following questions:

1. What is the process of development of lesson on law of dominance?

2. What is the performance of the students during the lesson plan

implementations?

3. What are the changes made during implementations

4. Is there a significant difference among the performances of the students

in the two implementation cycle of the 7E lesson plan?

Null Hypothesis:

H0 = There is no significant difference among the students’ performances in the

two implementation cycle.

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Significance of the Study

This study would be beneficial to the in-service teachers that could

contribute to the goal of obtaining quality, to the students since the research lesson

was been develop to suit their needs.

It would be useful to all school administrators, teachers, students, parents,

and to the researcher as well as a basis to determine the effectiveness of the

instruction.

Scope and Limitation of the Study

This study focuses only to the effect of lesson study in teaching Mendel’s

Law of Dominance among Grade 8 learners. The subjects of this study are the

selected Grade 8 sections of Iligan City National High School.

Operational Definition of Terms

The researchers prepared the following operational terms and defined

those terminologies to give a better understanding of some significant terms that

frequently occurs in this study.

Critiques
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Refers to the in-service teachers that are chosen by the researchers that

are experts in the field to give comments and suggestions about the research

lesson and throughout the lesson study process.

First Implementation Cycle

Refers to the first implementation, revision, and second implementation of

the developed research lesson about Mendel’s Law of Dominance in the

classroom setting.

Lesson Study

Lesson study is a form of classroom inquiry in which several teachers

collaboratively plan, teach, observe, revise and share the results of a single class

lesson (Cerbin and Kopp, 2006).

Refers to the on-going development process used by the researchers to

create an effective way of teaching using collaboration.

Lesson study is an effective process of developing 7e lesson planning as it

is been developed by identifying the needs of the learners and developing ways

suitable for teaching and learning process.

Performance
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Refers to the scores of the students to the 10 items performance tests given

after every implementation.