Juxtaposition of Learning and Teaching Styles in Science : Towards a Matching Style Model /
Salazar, Alexander J.
- 160p. ; 27 cm.
Science education is the foundation of science and technology careers which play crucial role in the advancement of one country. Countries or communities with strongly supported science programs are better off economically. Thus, science education is vital to the development of any nation, especially in this modern era. Yet, problem on learning science is one of the major concerns in the education for many countries including Philippines. Several studies showed that there are different factors that affect the students' academic achievement and two of them are the students' learning style and teachers' style in teaching. Local studies have also concluded that compatibility of teaching and learning styles affects students' academic achievement. For these reasons, this study juxtaposed the students' learning style and the teachers' style in science to bring out their relationship. The investigation was confined to 369 Grade 10 students and 34 Grade 10 Science teachers from select 10 public secondary schools in Bataan during school year 2015-2016. This study utilized stratified random sampling in identifying the student-respondents from a total of 4748 Grade 10 students of the said schools while universal sampling in determining Grade 10 teacher-respondents. The descriptive method of research was utilized in the study. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used in determining the significant difference in learning styles of the students and teachers' style in teaching science when their profiles are grouped accordingly. Meanwhile, Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient was utilized to identify significant relationship between the students' learning styles and teachers' styles in teaching science. vii The study revealed that the learning style of students is high in terms of independent, collaborative, dependent, competitive and participant while low in avoidant. Meanwhile, the teachers' styles in teaching science is very high in terms of expert and facilitator, while high in terms of formal authority, personal model, facilitator and delegator. Moreover, this study concluded that there is no significant difference in learning styles of the students relative to their sex and family income. There is also no significant difference in teachers' style in teaching science relative to their age, sex and educational attainment. However, relative to years in teaching science and seminars and trainings attended, there is significant difference in teachers' styles in teaching science. In general, there is significant relationship between the students' learning style and teachers' style in teaching science. Significant relationship between teachers' styles and learners' styles occurred in independent and facilitator, dependent and facilitator, dependent and expert, independent and expert, collaborative and delegator, participant and expert, avoidant and formal, and participant and facilitator. Based from the results of the study, the researcher proposed a matching style model which recommends appropriate teaching styles that match with the students' learning styles. Based on the foregoing findings and conclusions of the study, recommendations were made. First, try to validate the model by applying it into the population. A study on the effectiveness of the proposed matching style model in teaching style shall be conducted for further enhancement. Second, the proposed matching style model in teaching science shall be adapted by the Science teachers for effective teaching-learning process that will improve the students' academic achievement in science. Third, improve viii the matching style model by incorporating list of suggested teaching strategies for every teaching style where the teacher may choose from. Fourth, since years of teaching science is a significant factor that affects teachers' styles, it shall be mandatory to the newly hired teachers to undergo further training on learning and teaching styles. Fifth, since teachers' styles in teaching science are significantly different with seminars and trainings attended, the academic heads should religiously send their teachers to professional lectures and conferences. Sixth, continuous professional growth among teachers shall be promoted and supported by the school. Lastly, a similar follow-up study shall be conducted in school level to determine the learning styles of the students and teachers' styles in teaching science.