Siena College of San Jose,Inc.

City of San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan

Basic Education Department 1

DIFFERENTIATED LEARNING ACTIVITIES IN

GRADE 10 BIOLOGY: BASIS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF LEARNING
EXEMPLAR

Presented to
The Faculty of the Senior High School
Siena College of San Jose, Inc.

In Partial Fulfillment
for the Practical Research 1
Requirement

By

JUAN J. DELA CRUZ

March 2020
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Introduction

Learning preferences and learning disabilities affect a student's ability

to master performance-based skills in all learning areas. Diversity regarding

these factors will likely be high in any given classroom particularly in science.

In the K + 12 curriculum, the theory encompasses the constructivist approach

of Vygotsky at which the center of the learning process is designed basically

for learners. That is why students were given activities for them to interact and

learn on their own pace.

The philosophical idea that interest based options seize on intrinsic

motivation, supports and second key element of differentiated instruction which

is student interest. Bruner (in Tomlinson, 2015) said that, when interest is

tapped, learning is more likely to be rewarding and the student becomes a

more autonomous learners. Differentiated instruction integrates constructivism

learning theory, learning style, and brain development with research on

influencing factors of learners’ readiness, interest and intelligence preferences

towards students’ motivation, engagement, and academic growth within

schools (Anderson, 2007)

Several key elements guide differentiation in the education

environment. Tomlinson (2015) identifies three elements of the curriculum that

can be differentiated such as content, process and product. Clearly

differentiated instruction is an emerging thought that applies an approach to

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teaching and learning so that students will have a multiple options for taking in

information and making sense of ideas (Tomlinson, 2015)

In fact, differentiated instruction is to recognize students varying

background knowledge readiness, language, preference in learning, interests

and to react responsively. As a teaching approach, differentiated instruction

recognizes that student have different learning abilities. The intent of

differentiating instruction is to maximize each students’ growth and individual

success by meeting each students where he or she is, and assisting in the

learning process.

Furthermore, in the implementation of k12 curriculum, the design and

implementation of science curricula envision to help empower both teachers and

students to “learn to learn” and to better cause them to better understand and

use science in their everyday life. This provides school science education

supports on development of scientific literacy making it useful with its links on

technology industry thus presents a scientific inquiry skills, values, attitudes and

habits of mind including critical thinking, likewise useful to community (Science

Curriculum Framework for Basic Education, 2010). Considerably, science

teachers play a major role in honing the mentioned scientific literacy and skills.

This is evidently reflected on conceptualizing and conducting investigatory

project or researches. Thus, the need for teachers to be oriented and fully

equipped with knowledge on scientific skills and scientific researches is deemed

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necessary. Consequently, the research takes step to expound her horizon

outside the typical paper and pen activities into a realistic endeavor on

understanding the relation of science and nature.

In this study, the researcher develop materials directed towards

differentiated activities that will help improve the identified least mastered

competencies in Grade 10 biology.

Background of the Study

The lesson presentation and even the strategy employed by

teachers were designed to addressed learners level of understanding. It is said

that a teacher design his/her lesson not in a one size fit all scheme.

Differentiated instruction is a useful practice especially for science teachers

where concepts were more of discovery and exploratory in nature.

This is viewed on the idea on how well students comprehend with

complex science concepts and where principles were heavily influenced by

individual factors, including reading comprehension, English language

proficiency, competency in mathematics, and the extent of foundation of the

idea and concept presented.

Fortunately, the study of science lends itself to strategies that support

differentiated instruction. It is not difficult to plan science lessons that

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incorporate hands-on investigations, require critical thinking and problem-

solving skills as well as providing opportunities for exploring learners multiple

intelligences.

More so with proper planning, science teachers can provide multiple

options for students to acquire information, comprehend concepts, and

demonstrate what they have learned.

This comes in activities or exercises given as part of the assessment of

learners. However, most teachers received limited training in preparing good

activities as well considering other factors which includes how to decide, how

much activities to give, and how learners enjoy the activity prepared.

In this view, the researcher opted to come up with this study, guided by

the observation on the utilization of activities inspired by utilizing a useful

learning strategy. It sought to identify the effects of differentiated activities in

science 10 biology to improve least mastered competencies. The results of this

study may provide teachers’ insights on the use of differentiated activities in

improving the performance of students in science, particularly in Grade 10

Biology.

Statement of the Problem

The study tends to determine the effectives of the develop

differentiated activities in Grade 10 Biology

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Specifically, it aims to answer the following questions:

1. What are the multiple intelligences observed in Grade 10 learners that

can be subjected in developing differentiated learning activities ?

2. What is the level of acceptability of the developed differentiated

activities for grade 10 biology based on the LRMDS assessment tool?

3. What is the performance of the learner respondents in the pre-test and

post-test?

4. Is there a significant difference between the pre-test and post-test

mean score?

5. What learning exemplar may be crafted based on the developed

differentiated activities?

Hypothesis

There is no significant difference between the pre-test and post-test

mean scores of the learner-respondents

Scope and Delimitation

This study will focus on the relevance of developed differentiated

activity sheets in teaching Grade 10 Biology. The said study will focus on Grade

10 science students all officially enrolled at Siena College of San Jose for

schoolyear 2019 – 2020. Two sections of grade 10 will be utilized in the study
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More so, the study will be limited only on the data gathered in terms of

the least mastered lesson, as retrieved from the result of the test item analysis as

well as the pretest and post test scores in assessing the level of performance of

learners.

Activities will be differentiated based on the students’ ability levels such

as advanced, proficient, approaching proficiency, developing, and beginning as

measured by the Performance Assessment of Standards and Skills post-test

results.

Significance of the study

The facilitation of learning and raising the level of achievement of

students has always been the primary concerns of administrators and teachers.

The results of this study will have several uses, particularly in improving the

performance of learners in Grade 10 biology. These results will be helpful to the

following:

Learners. Help engaged learners in the discovery of lifelong learning

and manifest full potential through differentiated activities.

Science Teachers. Encouraged and enhance level of competence on

the part of the teachers in adopting differentiated activities for a more

comprehensive teaching strategy.

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School Head. Provides assistance to teachers in the context of

differentiated instruction through training seminar related on differentiated

activities in science.

Department of Education. Serve to help learners succeed in their

scholastic performance in science and for drafting other differentiated activities

Curriculum Developer. They will gain insights and may consider the

actual challenges confronting both teachers and students of the school to create

a curriculum that includes localization and contextualization of lessons to fit the

needs and interests of the learners.

Researcher. Continue practicing differentiated instruction in the

classroom and in designing differentiated activities in science.

Future Researcher. That will continue to be inspired making

investigation related to the improvement of classroom instruction and able to

increase the level of performance of students.

Review of Related Literature

Pertinent information gathered from books, journal, other periodicals,

online sources and varied unpublished materials which provided relevant

background knowledge on the study were considered.

Differentiated instruction is a constant work in progress. Differentiated

instruction is a method of teaching that constructs the class content, instruction

and assessment to meet the diverse needs of students, including students'

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background, learning style, and interests. Use these diverse needs as the focal

point for successful differentiated instruction. Creativity and flexibility are

important components when developing methods to understand the

students.(Amanda Kay)

More so, the idea that it is better to learn as much as possible about

your students through surveys, interviews and writing assignments. A variety of

factors in a student's background influence his ability to connect with the

curriculum, including environment, language barriers and overall willingness to

learn. Recognizing potential challenges of any of these factors influences the

success or failure of a lesson. Shape your lessons, especially examples, around

your students' backgrounds by using what they know to guide the lessons.

Students may understand the material, but will not adequately show it if the

students do not understand the presentation.

Furthermore, every student learns differently, so use verbal, visual and

written methods to communicate information. Try to incorporate at least two

approaches in each lesson. Use pretests and open discussions on the subject to

find out what students know about the topic. Review the responses to determine

how in depth you need to go in the unit to adequately cover the material. Modify

instruction based on the responses, as students have diverse needs. Move

through the material quickly if students understand the material, or slow down as

necessary. Meet diverse learning styles by varying your instruction style.

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In addition, learning abilities fluctuate between students. Work to

identify those abilities by varying the grading of assessments. Establish a

standard you want all students to meet and add higher benchmarks for students

to work toward. Utilize rubrics to set goals for students individually by defining

which level of criterion is expected. High expectations for one student are not

necessarily high expectations for another, so setting expectations based on the

same standard allows for differentiation, while still holding all students

accountable for the material. In addition, shaping the curriculum around the

interests of your students. Provide opportunities for students to branch off into

their own interest area. Use relevant material and examples that students can

easily identify with. Increasing relevance, in turn, increases engagement on the

student's part. Student choice improves the success of instruction, so consider

asking students for suggestions on content presentation, and provide

opportunities for students to present knowledge of the subject in a way of the

student's choosing.

Also, the meaning and importance of science differentiated activities

works to ensure that the learning needs and abilities of different types of students

are met. Not all students are going to benefit from traditional methods of teaching

science. Therefore, by incorporating differentiated methods, you will have the

attention of more of the class.

Much more, the use of differentiated instruction to engage all different

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kinds of learners. Differentiated Instruction acknowledges individual student's

strengths and weaknesses and seeks to provide the best educational methods to

teach each student. By focusing on differentiated instruction, teachers can best

teach students so they retain more of each lesson. Varied differentiated

instruction activities for content and assessment can help your students master

important concepts.

Differentiated instruction allows each student to learn based on his own

needs and learning style. Teachers give multiple activity options to teach

students a particular learning objective. Because students learn in different ways,

educators find varying their teaching styles allows students to better grasp

concepts. Differentiated activities should be interesting for students; otherwise,

they lose their appeal fast and little learning takes place.

Definition of Terms

The following terms used in this study were defined theoretically and/or

operationally for a better understanding of the reader.

Differentiated Activities. Learning Activities that will meet the individual needs

of the learners.

Differentiated Instruction. A designed lesson based on student’s learning

style.
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Least Mastered Lessons. This is based on the result of the Performance

Assessment of Standards and Skills or PASS pre-test and post-test

Learning Exemplar. Examples of best in the educational environment, which

are designed to assist learners to increase their understanding of particular

skills, content or knowledge in any given situation and articulate established

criteria and standards.

Level of Performance. Based on Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development

paradigm of learning which posits that instruction should focus on that which a

learner has not mastered but is prepared to master next.

Performance. The accomplishment of a given task measured against preset

known standards of accuracy, completeness, cost, and speed.

Research Design

The focus of the study is to help learners improve their performance

particularly on the least mastered lessons of Grade 10 Biology. This could be

achieved with the use of both descriptive and quasi-experimental research

design. As stated by Aquino (1994 and cited by Santiago, 2018) he pointed out

that descriptive method was logical for use in studies that aimed towards

information dissemination. It tends itself appropriately to investigations, which

provided normative standards based on what was prevalent.

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On the other hand, the quasi experimental design will be used to

determine the effectiveness of the developed material and it will utilized the

results of the Pretest and Posttest .

The aforementioned methodology is deemed appropriate and feasible

to use as the present investigation is design to describe the effectiveness of the

developed material in relation to the pre-test and post-test performance of the

Grade 10 learners.

Population and Sample of the study

This study will be conducted among learners of Siena College of San

Jose, Basic Education Department, with a population of fifty nine Grade 10

learners under the K-12 curriculum program during the school year 2019-2020.

Research Instrument

This study will be utilizing for its research a teacher made Pre-test

and Post-test, Table of Specification, Daily Lesson Plan, Learner’s Manual,

Curriculum Guide, Teacher’s Guide and the developed localized Activity Sheets

in Grade 10 Biology. In addition, the LRMDS assessment tool for Printed Material
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will be used in the assessment on the level of acceptability of the developed

material.

In addition, other data and information needed in this study will be

acquired from the Guidance and Testing Center of the School. There is a

permission from the Global Resources for Assessment Curriculum and

Evaluation or GRACE assessment provider of the school to give a copy of the

prepared Multiple Choice Test for the Performance Assessment of Standards and

Skills or PASS in Science 10 that covered only the topics in Biology on

ecosystem using a table of specifications. The researcher used a table of

specifications made by GRACE to align the specific objectives for differentiated

instruction and activities for assessment.

Validation of Instrument

The researcher made activity sheet will be presented to the thesis

adviser for her evaluation. Upon considering the recommendations and

suggestions for the improvement of the activity sheets it will be subjected for

assessment using the LRMDS assessment tool. Once it passed the criterion set,

the developed activity sheets will be given to the subject learners for the study.

On the other hand, the researcher made pre-test and post-test will be

submitted to the Science Department Head and Master teachers for their
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evaluation. Once the suggestions and recommendations were considered the

pre-test and post-test material will be used in evaluating learners performance.

Data Gathering Procedure

The researcher will highly observe government protocol in conducting

a research study.

A letter requesting to conduct the study will be submitted to the office of

the School President. Upon approval, the researcher will give letter to the Basic

Education Department Principal for the conduct of the study together with the

letter for the Area Leader and subject teacher concerned.

The researcher will personally conduct the study and retrieve the

necessary data. The data collected will be tallied and tabulated for statistical

treatment, analysis, and interpretation.

Statistical Tool

The data gathered will tallied, tabulated and analyzed using the

following statistical tools:

Weighted Mean. Used to determine the mean assessment in the

validation of the utilized student’s learning activities among Grade 10 learners

using the LRMDS tool and will address problem number 3.

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Mean. Determine the average score for the pre-test and post test result

as well as the scores in least mastered lessons. This answers problem

number 4.

t-test. The test will be used to determine the significant difference of

the mean score of the pre-test and post test result. This addresses problem

number 5.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Armstrong, T. (2007). Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom. 3rd Edition.

Alexandria,Virginia U.S.A: ASCD Book

Tomlinson, C.A.(2014). The Differentiated Classroom,2nd Edition: ASCD Book

Tomlinson, C.A., The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of

All Learners . 2nd ed. 2014, Alexandria, VA: ASCD. https://bit.ly/2JrVwSC

Finley, Todd. Teaching a Class With Big Ability Differences

Techniques for meeting the needs of students with diverse abilities and
interests. George Lucas Educational Foundation, Edutopia.
https://edut.to/2o9jrY8. April 13, 2017

Raffaelli, Lina.18 Teacher-Tested Strategies for Differentiated Instruction.

George Lucas Educational Foundation, Edutopia. https://edut.to/2u4GaXm.
December 5, 2014

Boutelier, S. and McPherson, N.Playing to Students’ Strengths

A framework for giving students choice in demonstrating their understanding of
course content. George Lucas Educational Foundation, Edutopia.
https://edut.to/2K56Roy. November 13, 2018

Nieves, K. Differentiation in a Rigid Curriculum

Four strategies for differentiating instruction to meet the needs of all students,
within the constraints of a curriculum. George Lucas Educational Foundation,
Edutopia. https://edut.to/2SNcwUk. November 2, 2018

10 Examples & Non-Examples of Differentiated Instruction. TeachThought.

https://bit.ly/2AL4HbB. January 12, 2016
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