The State of Problem Solving Skills in General Secondary Biology Laboratory Activities

Abstract

: Though current education & training policy advocates problem
solving approach in secondary school curriculum, no subsequent document
is available to translate experiences into a material that develops such skills.
Hence, curriculum developers and commissioned writers employed
differently their own intuitions of the concept. This paper inquires into the
state of problem solving skills in general secondary biology curriculum
materials. All the laboratory activities suggested were taken as the source of
information. A conceptual framework and different content analysis schemes
were employed to determine the types of problem, degree of openness and
their demands for problem solving skills. It was found that all the activities
suggested (N=79) were well structured and well- defined problems. In
almost all the cases, students were required to suggest only brief responses
and the most important problem solving skills were not represented at all. As
a conclusion, it can be argued that it is difficult to expect high school
students to transfer such skills into their real life situation that requires
biological literacy. This paper recommends the need to re-conceptualize the
concept, revise and refine general secondary biology curriculum through
developing a workable problem-solving framework.