Current situation of practical teaching in Biology at high schools of Mekong Delta and Ho Chi Minh City

Abstract

This paper summarized the current situation of teaching practices in Biology among high schools in the Mekong Delta and Ho Chi Minh city. The study involved 180 Biology teachers (76.19% females, 23.81% males) of grade 10, 11 and 12 from 86 high schools through questionaires. The results showed that 98.15% of the surveyed teachers did teach practices in this subject and over 90% reported that this type of instruction was compulsory at their schools. Among them, more than two thirds had ever attended workshops related to teaching practices. Regarding Biology themes to be taught at schools, all the themes taught at the three grades were selected by the teachers themselves, in which the themes of grade 10 and 11 were selected more than those of grade 12. Most of the teachers considered practices were essential in Biology teaching. However, they addressed major obstacles of insufficient facility, subject references, budget, and workloads. Also, they showed their expectations to be supported with facility and visual teaching materials for instructional improvement. These results are significant to developing policies for an educational reform in prioritizing practices in the teaching of Biology. 

Author Information

Tran Thanh Thao^* and Nguyen Trong Hong Phuc

School of Education, Can Tho University

^*Corresponding author: tthanhthao@ctu.edu.vn

Article history

Recieved: 08/12/2020; Received in revised form: 17/01/2021; Accepted: 08/02/2021