ISSUE BASED CURRICULUM

ISSUE BASED TEACHINNG IN SCIENCE    :  A BRIDGE TO CONNECT THE REAL WORLD.

            

                       21^st century is considered as the century for science and technology. Hence it is essential to make each and every one in the society scientifically literate to accept the changes and miracles in science. More than that clear and unambiguous knowledge of science helps us to contribute our energy to the progress of the nation that is each one become a useful member of the society- the coveted goal of education. According to the United State National Center for Education Statistics, Scientific literacy is the knowledge and understanding of scientific concepts and processes required for personal decision making, participation in civic and cultural affairs, and economic productivity. This definition addressed the context of science and its role in the changing world. Conception of scientific literacy involves the negotiation of socioscientific issues. It requires ability to make informed decisions regarding socioscientific issues (1).Socioscientific issues are moral and ethical implications; therefore, the promotion of scientific literacy requires curricular attention to the moral and ethical implications of socioscientific issues.

                    Scientific literacy is important for every student. The socioscientific issues offer a way to explore the nature of science, make bridge to society and get scientific literacy, enhance society movement and democratizing science in society. Students decision-making ability on socioscientific issues and evaluation of contradictory scientific information are complex, and hence they are directed in class room  to get aware about social  problems and values. Another benefits of  scientific literacy  is that students are able to use scientific processes and habits of mind to solve problems faced in everyday life and to confront issues that involve science and make informed decisions. Student must be capable of considering and resolving criteria about controversial science and social issues. The public must be able to consider questions such as this within a framework that enables individuals to distinguish science from other propositions. Science education at all levels should focus on creating a society where well-educated adults are equipped to bring scientific thinking to bear on issues that affect them as citizens. Hence to achieve the proposed goal of education in the changing scenario it is essential to inculcate scientific social issues in science curriculum.

                       Issue based curriculum give answer to how can we equip our people with sufficient scientific skills to enable them to develop informed opinions about these important issues, without imposing the unrealistic expectation that they be trained as scientists? The latter consideration is also of course critical to the future health and economic prosperity of the Nation. But without a broad populace of "science appreciators", both the continued national investment in science and the implementation of enlightened public policy will be threatened.

            The revised curriculum for Classes I, III, V, VII, VIII and IX focuses on issue-based learning that links education with the problems of society. For instance, sections of the texts are divided into various problem areas such as lack of scientific land and water management, issues related to agriculture, lack of cohesive universal vision, lack of human resource development, lack of eco-friendly industrialization and urbanization and issues related to public health. Each area is linked to chapter dealing with the corresponding topic enabling students to gain a holistic and comprehensive view of the society they live in. The emphasis of the books has also been mostly on science, technological and social problems with very little reference to co-scholastic subjects. Though the National Curriculum Frame Work 2005 envisages co-scholastic subjects to progress towards scholastic or core curriculum subjects in due course the ground realities are rather bleak.

             Issue based curriculum is framed on behaves of learner centered approach. Learner centered education means putting students at the center of their own learning. Hence the responsibility of learning is placed on the students while the teachers become the facilitator. In a learner centered environment, students are actively engaged in creating, understanding and exercising control over learning. Therefore, learner centered education is grounded in a constructive perspective where teachers center their planning, teaching and assessment according to the different capabilities of the students. So, instead of the teachers being the sole instructors, they become collaborators with students in creating knowledge.

                 Issues-Based Approach (IBA) to curriculum transaction is a novel and unique one in the history of school curriculum development in Kerala. This approach is a clear departure from the traditional ‘knowledge transmission’ models of curriculum transaction and focuses on ‘knowledge generation’ by the learners. The IBA aims to sensitize the learners about the numerous issues faced by our society through the learning material itself. These issues are developed and sensitized using various discourses which provide a linguistically rich environment in the class room.Being a novel one, the IBA poses a number of challenges to facilitators with respect to the preparation of teaching manual, lesson transaction, learner assessment etc. in the classroom. It is really a hard task to the facilitator to bring in various social issues in an appropriate form into the framework of formal education. The challenge of the facilitator is to generate contextualized knowledge in developing and transacting IBA lessons.

         Issue based curriculum get supports from constructivist psychology as its main assumption is that,

·         Knowledge is socially constructed:  It is not something that exists outside of language and social subject who use it. Learning obtaining knowledge and making meaning is thus a social process rather the work of the isolated individual mind; it cannot be diverse from learner’s social context.

·         Learning is an active process: Students learning by doing by highlighting issues through various strategies rather than by passively absorbing information.

·         Knowledge is constructed from experience: Students bring prior knowledge into a learning situation, which in turn forms the basis for their construction of new knowledge. Upon encountering something new, learners must first reconcile it in some way with their previous ideas and experiences. 

              An issue is basically defined as a topic with no clearly-defined single outcome or answer — something about which reasonable people might be expected to disagree. Issues can also be framed in terms of a case study, particularly those known as “decision cases” or “dilemma cases,” or a problem, as in problem-based learning. Issues most useful for teaching science are characterized as “data-rich,” so students have an opportunity to consider and evaluate potentially contradictory evidence, as well as to understand how that evidence was generated. Issues should make clear connections to the course objectives with respect to both content and skills, and instructors should work to reinforce and support these connections through all phases of the educational process.

 Role of teachers in issue based classroom.

                    As a designer of curriculum, the teacher's challenge is to select and structure problems so that they address both the important content objectives of the curriculum and important real-world issues. This process results in a reaffirmation of the importance of some objectives, the clarification of some and the elimination of others as lacking relevance or importance. In issue based class room teachers give emphasis to set the objectives in accordance with the issues highlights in the chapters. The teacher designs and implements activities taking into consideration the individual differences of the child, helps and guides the child, elicits regular feedback and changes accordingly, and uses reference books and local resources for designing innovative activities. In practice, educators use active techniques (experiments, real-world examples, problem solving activities, dialogues) to introduce students to information and issues and then encourage students to reflect on and talk about what they did and how their understanding is changing. The teacher makes sure she understands the students' preexisting conceptions and guides activities to address and build on them. Constructivism also often utilizes collaboration and peer criticism as a way of facilitating students' abilities to reach a new level of understanding. In issue based class the role of teachers are,

       Plan a well designed activity with appropriate questions allows the students to be inquiry learners. They will teach each other and themselves as they work through the activity and allow students to explore them self.

       Teacher deliberately inculcate cooperative learning skills such as sharing, helping others learn, contributing ideas, focusing on construction of knowledge and leadership skill for effective social life.

        Prepare your classroom by organizing it for group activities and making sure that learning environment are comfort and learning equipment is available and functioning.Be creative and make your own or find cheap alternatives.