Blog #4

Instructional Quality Improvement in Science through the Implementation of Culture-Based Teaching Strategy

Pannen, Jamaludin, Yumiati. (2003). Issues on the Implementation of Culture-based Teaching Strategy. Paper presented at the SEAMEO-UNESCO Education Congress and Expo, 27-29 May, 2004. Bangkok, Thailand. Retrieved on June 15th, 2010 from
http://www.unescobkk.org/fileadmin/user_upload/apeid/Conference/papers/pannen_4B_01.doc

In this study, researchers from Department of Mathematics and Science Education examined the implementation of Culture-Based Teaching Strategy (CBTS) in the course of Materials and Instructional Science in Primary School. Low Scores in Science prompted the idea of this study. The over loaded curriculum forced teachers to be concerned only about covering the subject matter which lead to low achievement.
Participants of this study were undergraduate teachers. They first learned skills on how to design learning strategies to include the use of art and local culture as a learning media. The intent is to create a meaningful learning to motivate students. CBTS included songs, handcrafts, paintings, statues, and poems served as tools of learning. Data were gathered from pretest and posttest tests and from an interview with the tutors about their impression of implementing CBTS.
The result shows that 70% of participants agreed on using art and culture to create good learning environment, while 30% believed that science is only scientific matter. Moreover, 82% agreed on implementing CBTS needed more time and good planning. According to the tutors’ interview, CBTS forced them to know more about culture and it was difficult to find suitable media for each subject. Pretest and posttest test results show improvement in students’ achievement. The improvement could be due to increase of students’ motivation or because students relate Science to their real life and culture.
One of the interesting points to me in this study is the fact that implementing CBTS needed more time to teach the subject matter. From my experience, time always a challenge to implement any new strategy because teachers are required to teach certain curriculum in a predetermined time limit. Most teachers want to be creative but their hands are tied by teaching the subject matter, test preparation, homework, and grading. Teachers training and flexibility possibly will solve the problem.