Figure 2.5. Conceptual Framework
2
28
2.7 Conclusion
Reviews of the relevant literature pointed out several gaps pertinent to the
effects of integrating both problem-posing and multimedia elements in
enhancing students‘ performance. Attempting to fill the gaps, this study seeks
to formulate the conceptual framework by applying CTML and problem-posing
by developing a module known as PROPOSE-M. Problem-posing emphasises
students‘ experiences to promote meaningful learning. Most of the activities are
student-centred with teachers act as facilitators during the activities. In this
regard, PROPOSE-M is hoped to function as an alternative to the traditional
approach in introducing students to osmosis and diffusion concepts in a
relatively explicit way. PROPOSE-M encourages collaboration, critical thinking,
creativity and communication between the teachers and students in the
classroom. PROPOSE-M, in numerous ways, is parallel to the 21st century
pedagogy call to manifest HOTS in learning activities. The next chapter
elaborates on the methodological aspects of the study.
29
CHAPTER 3
METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction
This chapter specifies the methodology adopted to examine the proposed
framework and hypotheses. In particular, this chapter aims to provide
justification for the research design and clarifying the setting and scope for the
procedure of the module development. With respect to the research purpose in
establishing the cause-and-effect relationships, this chapter discusses the
issue of threats of quasi-experimental procedure and steps taken in order to
minimize the threats. In this section, sampling and population, instrumentations
and data analysis technique used in this research are presented respectively.
The chapter closes with the conclusion of the chapter.
3.2 Research Design
This section elaborates the overall strategies and methods related to data
collection and data analysis process. In this study, the selection of strategies
and methods were made in consideration of integrating the components of the
study in a coherent and logical way. This ensures the study to effectively
address the research problem with an acceptable degree of validity and
reliability during the data collection process, data measurement process and
data analysis process. In addition, determining the relevant research design is
vital to answer the research aims and objectives.
To establish the philosophical choice and research approach, the study moved
to determine the research strategy. With respect to the research purpose that
aims to develop a module, an instructional design strategy has been chosen by
adopting the development and design research (DDR). To answer the
objectives listed, this study has adopted a mixed-method approach.
There are two main approaches in research, namely inductive and deductive
approach. Inductive approach starts by collecting data, analysing data and
generating themes to conclude the findings or generate a new theory. The
inductive approach involves collecting qualitative data to generate meaning to
subjects‘ behaviour and actions in a specific time and context (Bryman, 2004;
Creswell, 2013; Lodico et al., 2006).
Alternatively, the deductive approach is an approach that starts by choosing an
existing theory, developing research questions and hypotheses from the theory
and designing the strategy to test the hypotheses. The aim of this approach is
to answer research questions by explaining the effect of the independent
variables to dependent variables by collecting quantitative data from a specified
30
sample to gain the result (DeMarrais & Lapan, 2004). The focus of this study is
to develop and test a module based on a theory and collecting qualitative data
to explore the conceptual change that occurs among students, this call for
inductive and deductive approach.
3.3 Data Collection Technique
To collect the data, an approach that utilises both quantitative and qualitative
data collection was employed. As the data collection was conducted on several
occasions and phases, careful and insightful considerations were made to
ensure to the best method of data collection was used for each occasion and
phase. This was done to ensure that the data was collected as effectively as
possible. To study the need and to find out the best approaches to develop the
module, a semi-structured interview was conducted during the analysis phase.
Accompanying the interview, a systematic literature review was carried out to
determine the problem-posing strategies and appropriate activities to be
included in the module. Later, in order to test the validity and reliability of the
module, a questionnaire session was conducted during the development
phase.
The quantitative data in this study was collected through the students‘ test
score during the pre-test, post-test and retention-test assessment. The data
collection activity was conducted in the students‘ natural environment with
minimal interference to mimic the students‘ normal routine. This step was taken
to ensure the validity and reliability of the data (DeMarrais & Lapan, 2004). To
further clarify the experimental results, this study also used a qualitative
method by conducting a clinical interview with students who acquire the highest
gained score from both groups. This measure was taken to gauge the extent of
the conceptual change that has occurred among the group. The result from the
clinical interview was then triangulated with both classroom observation and
responses from the open-ended questionnaire upon the completion of the
experimental procedure.
3.4 Module Development
This study employs ADDIE model which satisfied Design and Development
Research (DDR) design to develop the proposed module, PROPOSE-M. The
DDR consists of the three main phases, which are 1) Analysis; 2) Design and
development; 3) Evaluation (Davis, 2013; Koneru, 2010). In DDR, there were
several instructional models outlined by literature in order to develop module
such as ADDIE, ASSURE, and the Dick and Carey model. This study
employed ADDIE instructional model because the model is generic and it is
currently the standard model for technology-based education (Almomen et al.,
2016; Kosucu, 2017; Lee et al., 2017). ADDIE is an acronym that stands for its
five sequential phases: analysis (A), design (D), development (D),
implementation (I) and evaluation (E). Five Phases of ADDIE have been
recognised and established as the complete phases that covered the three
31
main phases stated in DDR. Table 3.1 shows the DDR and ADDIE model
relationship.
Table 3.1. DDR and ADDIE Model Relationship
Phase Design and Development Phase ADDIE Model
Research (DDR)
1 Analysis
2 Analysis 1 Design
3 Development
Design and Development 2 Implementation
3 Evaluation
Evaluation 4
5
Research that adopts the ADDIE model will focus on the validity or
effectiveness of an existing or newly-constructed developed module, process,
or technique (Günaydin & Karamete, 2016; Richey, Klein, & Nelson, 2004).
Every five phases require sub-studies that involve qualitative and quantitative
approaches to complete the phases. The sub-studies conducted were outlined
based on previous research that has similarities with the needs of this study.
The five phases in ADDIE and sub-studies involved in each phase are
discussed details in this section.
3.4.1 Analysis
The first step in ADDIE is analysis, and during this phase, the instructional
problems and learning objectives are identified (Davis, 2013). The main
objective of this phase is to employ the need analysis in order to analyse the
necessity to develop a module and what are the main features that should be
developed in the newly developed module. Two sub-studies have been
employed in order to answer the research questions, which are the interview
with experts and systematic literature review. These two sub-studies
procedures are discussed details in this section.
a. Interview with Experts
In order to identify the problems faced by students in learning osmosis and
diffusion topics and the need to develop a module to address the problem,
interviews were carried out with three biology expert teachers from Klang
Valley area. The expert teacher recognition was established in 1993 by the
government to encourage promotion amongst teachers. All three teachers had
graduated in the science education field and had more than five years‘
experiences in teaching Biology. They were subject matter experts in Biology
as they were appointed as SPM examiner based on their vast pedagogical
content knowledge by Malaysian Examination Syndicates, MOE. One of the
experts is a panellist in constructing SPM items.
32
Teacher 1 is 46 years old and has 22 years of teaching experience as a
Biology teacher at two different schools. She graduated from University of
Malaya (UM) in the Bachelor‘s Degree in Science with Education (Hons).
Currently, she is an expert teacher, and she is currently teaching at secondary
school in Petaling Jaya area. She is also appointed as Head of the Science
Department at her current school. Adding to her experience, Teacher1 has
been the SPM examiner for more than five years. Based on her vast
experiences in marking SPM and PT3 paper, she has started to write a
workbook for Biology and Science subject, and until now, she has written six
workbooks published by a well-known publisher. She continues to contribute
excellently, and she was awarded excellent service awards in the year of 2004
and 2014.
Secondly, Teacher 2 is 38 years old and has 14 years of experience as a
Biology teacher at two different schools. She graduated from Universiti Sains
Malaysia (USM) in Bachelor‘s Degree in Science with Education (Hons). Now
she is an expert Biology teacher at secondary school situated in Bandar
Utama, Damansara and is appointed as Head of Science Department. Adding
to her teaching experience, Teacher2 also has three years of experience as an
examiner for SPM. She was awarded excellent service awards in the year 2011
and has continuously contributed excellently to the schools.
Finally, Teacher 3 is 46 years old and has 21 years of experience as a Biology
teacher in two different schools. She graduated from the University of Malaya
(UM) in Bachelor‘s Degree in Science with Education (Hons). Now, she is an
expert Biology teacher at secondary school situated in Alam Megah, Shah
Alam. She was previously appointed as the Head of Science Department, and
now, she is currently holding the position as Senior teacher for Science
Department. She is also one of the state coaches that trained a teacher to
teach English for Teaching Mathematics and Science (ETEMS). She continues
to contribute excellently as one of the panellists in constructing SPM items for
five years in a row. She was awarded excellent service awards in the year
2005 and 2015.
Eight semi-structured interview questions were prepared and validated before
the interview procedure. Before the interviews sessions were conducted,
teachers were requested to fill up personal details and consent form for
interview. The personal details and consent form template are shown in
Appendix A and Appendix B, respectively. The interview was recorded and
transcribed by the interviewer as soon as possible. The transcripts were then
translated to English for data analysis purposes. The interviews were
conducted in six stages, as follows:
1. Introduction
2. Confirming the interviewee background
3. Outlining the purpose of the interview
4. Getting permission to record the conversation
5. Conducting the interview session
6. Conclusion and appreciation of the interviewee.
33
b. Systematic Literature Review
In order to determine the suitable problem-posing activities and strategies to be
implemented in the biology classroom, systematic literature review (SLR) was
conducted by analysing a number of selected papers. The SLR was conducted
to ensure that the activities and strategies in the module have considered
several factors such as the difficulty of learning, type of learning, and time
required for learning (Türker, 2016).
There are four stages to SLR method, which are identification, screening,
eligibility and inclusion (Nunes, Luz, Lemos, & Nunes, 2016). In this study, the
fundamental aspect used to analyse the selected papers was by identifying
problem-posing text in the paper. In the identification stage, a total of 289
papers were found using these four strings: problem posing; problem posing
AND activities; problem posing AND strategies; problem posing AND
instructional AND strategies. The word ‗AND‘ was used in the search string to
add a wide range of findings and to expand the search into a specific study of
problem posing (Rosli et al., 2014). Open access journal was accessed, and
the database ranged from numerous sources such as Emerald, Science Direct,
Springer, Sage, Taylor and Francis and Web of Science.
In the screening step, four papers were found to be redundant, and 285 papers
were put in the screening step. The screening test has further excluded 197
papers, leaving 88 papers for the eligibility step. In the eligibility step, the 88
papers were analysed through title and abstract analysis. After the analysis,
only 32 papers were found to have the theme of problem-posing strategies.
The most relevant papers that contained problem-posing strategies and
activities in the classroom were selected regardless of the subject and field of
the research. After a thorough process during the inclusion step, 14 papers
were selected to represent the problem-posing strategies and the activities that
were implemented in the classroom to enhance the students‘ performance. The
14 papers were chosen based on the commonality of the strategies, activities
and representation of framework. The summarisation of the SLR method is
shown in Figure 3.1.
34
Figure 3.1. Summary of SLR Method
3.4.2 Design
The design process consists of several key features. During this stage,
rigorous planning was conducted to identify the objectives, steps taken to
determine how the objectives will be achieved, select instructional strategies
and select the right type of the media to deliver the objectives (Kosucu, 2017;
Oliver et al., 2017; Peterson, 2003). During the design phase, content feature,
external feature, physical feature and main activity feature were formulated and
arranged and were firmly determined at the outset. All the data gathered during
the analysis phase were considered during the design of the module. In this
study, the curriculum outlined by the MOE was determined as the objectives
and learning outcomes to be achieved by students. Therefore, the structure
and development of the module were designed to create learning activities that
meet the students‘ learning goals and objectives (Davis, 2013; Ellis & Levy,
2010). Therefore, this study decides to use the MOE curriculum as the
guideline to develop PROPOSE-M.
Upon deciding which chapter to be covered in the PROPOSE-M based on
curriculum specification provide by MOE, there were several concepts that
come across as difficult and hard for students to grasp the concepts based on
literature review which are osmosis and diffusion, nutrition, respiration,
reproduction, blood transports, photosynthesis and transpiration (e.g, Bonney,
2015; Franke & Bogner, 2011; Odom & Kelly, 2001; Oliver et al., 2017; Sousa,
35
2016; Yarden & Yarden, 2010). However since this study only can be
implemented to Form Four students due to MOE requirement, reproduction,
blood transports, photosynthesis and transpiration concepts automatically were
not eligible to be covered in this study because those concepts are covered in
Form Five curriculum specifications.
However after rigorous search on literature review and interview conducted
with experts‘ teacher during analysis phase, it was found that osmosis and
diffusion are both fundamental concepts prior to understanding nutrition,
respiration and other advanced concepts in Biology (see Bonney, 2015; Carrió,
Larramona, Baños, & Pérez, 2011; Çimer, 2012; Franke & Bogner, 2011;
Odom & Kelly, 2001; Oliver et al., 2017; Sousa, 2016; Udovic, Morris, Dickman,
Postlethwait, & Wetherwax, 2002; Yarden & Yarden, 2010). It seems that
students who do not master the osmosis and diffusion concepts were affected
and would be unable to answer many questions pertaining to other advanced
topics such as nutrition and respiration. Based on those findings, this study
decided to cover osmosis and diffusion concepts as it is fundamental in order
for students in learning Biology. After deciding the topics that should be
covered in the PROPOSE-M, all the main features were arranged and design
in storyboards.
Storyboards are important to create samples to illustrate the envisioned module
and to specify the instructional strategy used in the module. Therefore, a
storyboard that outlined the presentation of the PROPOSE-M was sketched
and designed with details of texts, images, descriptions, notes and animations
in the PROPOSE-M. The storyboard was created by using either PowerPoint or
Microsoft Word with each frame representing a screen in the PROPOSE-M.
The content of the presentation was aimed at both low and high cognitive
levels of students. During this phase, the design of the module was mindful of
the three considerations which are, what and how of the assessment, the
organisation of the instruction and the physical feature of the assessment,
including how it looks like and how it sounds like.
3.4.3 Development
Once the storyboard was completed, a discussion was held with professional
multimedia module expert in the industry to determine the best method to
develop the PROPOSE-M within the timeframe. In the development phase, the
finalised contents, activities and assessments were produced. The
development of the PROPOSE-M was also checked for its compatibility and
suitability to the students‘ need.
36
The Validation of PROPOSE-M
To determine the validity of PROPOSE-M, expert validation was carried out to
determine the usability of the module at an acceptable rate. The expert
validation was carried out by letting the experts to analyse the initial draft.
Changes were made to improve the syntax, sentence structure, and
nomenclature of the module. The improved draft was then analysed to ensure
the proposed module would be appropriate for the target population. The
validity process stipulates that at least three experts‘ reviewers are needed to
conduct the content validation test (Rubio, Berg, Tebb, Lee and Rauch, 2003).
This study has employed three experts for content validity and the suitability of
session and activities and five experts for language validity. For the level of
thinking accuracy, scores were taken from two experts since the inter-rater
agreement value was calculated using Kappa analysis (Landis & Koch, 1977).
The selection of the experts was based on their experiences in science
subjects, module development and vast knowledge on HOTS theoretically and
practically. Three professional experts are lecturers in the science field and
have more than ten years of experience. In addition, two of the professional
experts have substantial experience in developing a module for science subject
for schools‘ use. The field experts consist of three Biology teachers with more
than eight years of experience teaching Biology at various schools.
Furthermore, two of field experts are active teacher trainers in the field of
HOTS and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
Another two experts are specialised in language and translation field and have
more than 10 years of experience in language teaching. The experts also have
expertise in item building for English general examination at various
institutions. These experts were tasked to perform the expert validation test
according to their field of expertise. Prior to conducting the expert validation
test, the experts were appointed via a letter of appointment shown in Appendix
C.
In addition, content validation and face validation were also conducted. The
content validation was carried out to determine the validity of the PROPOSE-M
contents, the suitability of the session and activities in PROPOSE-M and
determine the level of thinking accuracy in assessment sheet. The content
validation was carried out by professionals and field experts based on their
expertise. The questionnaires for expert validation were adopted and adapted
based on Russel (1974) and Mohamad Aziz Shah (2010) to suit the need of the
PROPOSE-M validation processes.
The questionnaire items for the expert validation test were first validated
through focus group discussion. Scale rating was used to evaluate the validity
and the recommendations by the experts. The calculated value of the rating
would describe the level of validity of the developed module. The results were
then calculated using percentage calculation method (PCM) by Tuckman and
Waheed (1981), and the content validity is considered acceptable if the value
exceeds 70%.
37
3.4.4 Implementation
Once the PROPOSE-M has successfully gone through the expert validation
process and was accepted to be used, the study moved to the next phase, the
implementation phase. PROPOSE-M was first tested in a pilot study before its
real implementation. Since this study employed DDR Type 1 and Type 2, a
pilot study was included and considered as the phase-in the implementation
phase (Richey, Klein, & Nelson, 2004; Richey, 1994). After the test result is
satisfying, the module was implemented to the real sample of students
(Koneru, 2010). The pilot test was carried out in order to find undiscovered
issues that were not detected during the previous process and to determine the
reliability of the measurement of the module developed.
a. Pilot Study
First, the pilot study was administered to students who have similar
characteristics with the experimental group. A number of 30 Form Four
students who enrolled in Biology elective subject were chosen through
purposive sampling from one school. The PROPOSE-M was used to teach the
students on ‗The Movement of Substances across the Plasma Membrane‘
topic. The pilot study was performed in four two hours sessions to complete the
procedure. During the pilot study, the face validation process was carried out
whereby the students were also requested to give comments verbally about the
PROPOSE-M and to rate the PROPOSE-M using an assessment. All the
comments provided by students were jotted down for future amendments.
The assessment sheet questionnaire consisted of 31 items was distributed to
all students. The questionnaire was developed according to the objectives of
activities in PROPOSE-M that was outlined by curriculum specification
provided by MOE. The questionnaire consists of two parts; part A is the
students‘ demographic information such as name, gender, age, race, religion
and one column for students to give open-ended feedback and in part B, the
questionnaire items were written to evaluate the PROPOSE-M module.
The questionnaire session was conducted after the activities were completed.
Respondents were asked to answer the questionnaire by rating the statements
in the questionnaire to measure the reliability of the PROPOSE-M. The
reliability of the module is vital to be determined to ensure that the module is
able to produce consistency when applied to a different group of students. The
reliability value is calculated using Cronbach‘s Alpha statistical analysis.
Cronbach‘s Alpha is considered as a sufficient reliability test for almost all types
of research (Sekaran, 2013) and it is the most widely used measurement to
assess the reliability of the scale or instrument in educational research (Lodico
et al., 2006). The Cronbach‘s coefficient value should be at a minimum value of
at least 0.7 for internal consistency of the instrument (Hair, Black, Babin, &
Anderson, 2010). Reliability analysis was carried out on the perceived task
values scale comprising 31 items.
38
b. Pilot Study Results
Based on the comments by the students in the pilot study, it was found that the
speed of the animation was rapid and they were unable to understand the
whole process if the module was only played once. Suitable amendments were
made to address the feedback given in the pilot study. Aside from the
animation issue, no other major issue was reported, and it was found that 23
out of 30 students have left positive comments and noted that the animation is
the better medium to explain the osmosis and diffusion processes compared to
the diagram in the textbook.
Cronbach‘s Alpha showed the module to have acceptable reliability, (α = 0.89).
Most items appeared to be worthy of retention, resulting in a slight decrease in
the alpha if deleted. Hence, with the value of α >0.7 obtained from the pilot
study, the module was fit to be used in the main data collection. The overall
result for Cronbach‘s Alpha calculation is shown in Appendix S.
c. Field Study
Upon the field study, all letters of approval have been requested from the
Ministry of Education, Selangor State Education Department and another letter
for approval were sent to the school administration. The letters of approval from
the Ministry of Education and Selangor State Education Department are shown
in Appendix D and Appendix E, respectively. After all, approvals were
obtained from the respective personnel, the school that agreed to cooperate
was approached for the approval appointment to the biology teachers involved
in the experimental procedure. Example of letter of appointments for teachers
is shown in Appendix H.
Before the lessons were carried out by the appointed teacher, they are given
sufficient training to understand and to be familiar with the feature and the
content of PROPOSE-M. This step is critical to ensure that the teachers
understood the module and to ensure that they would be able to navigate the
module without facing any technical difficulties. The procedures for teacher
training were as follow:
1. Introduction.
2. Outlining the purpose of the training and research activities.
3. Installing the Flash Player Debug software in the teachers‘ laptop.
4. Introducing the interface and the button.
5. Conducting training session.
6. Expressing appreciation to the teacher.
For the teacher who used TRAD, a brief explanation of the flow of the
experimental procedure was provided to ensure that the teachers could
cooperate well in the whole process.
39
A pre-test was administered to students from both schools during the first week
of the procedure. After the pre-test was completed, the intervention was carried
out at both schools. One school was exposed to PROPOSE-M while the other
school was exposed to TRAD. Lesson plans were provided for both schools to
provide a brief overview for teachers on how to handle the lesson. After the
intervention was completed, a post-test was administered to all students from
both schools. After four weeks of the post-test, a retention-test was
administered to all students from both schools to compare the memory retained
between students exposed to PROPOSE-M and students exposed to TRAD.
In the implementation phase, formative evaluation was carried out to make
sure all the activities can be conducted as planned. Formative evaluation is a
measurement of learning outcomes during the teaching and learning process
(Almomen et al., 2016; Koneru, 2010). In this study, the formative evaluation
was carried out in every session using the classroom observation list prepared
earlier. The formative evaluation was utilised for two reasons, to reflect on each
session and to be used as an insight for future modification on the execution of
the study. Such changes can help the study to be more effective in many ways,
such as in time management and classroom management. The evaluation of
students‘ activities was based on 4C elements of problem-posing strategy in
the students‘ activities.
3.4.5 Evaluation
The last phase in the ADDIE model is evaluation. The evaluation in this phase
is considered a summative evaluation. Summative evaluation is the
measurement of learning outcomes after the teaching and learning process
(Almomen et al., 2016; Koneru, 2010). The assessment sheets in all three tests
were immediately marked, and the scores were recorded. For the quantitative
part, the summative evaluations were based on the scores from pre-test, post-
test and retention-test.
For the qualitative part, the evaluations were based on the results from the
open-ended questionnaire and clinical interview procedure. An open-ended
questionnaire was distributed to get the students‘ feedback about the
PROPOSE-M and TRAD. Finally, students with the highest gain score between
pre-test and post-test were selected for a clinical interview at a later stage.
Four students from the PROPOSE-M group and three students from the TRAD
group were purposively selected to be involved in the interview. They were
chosen based on their gain scores between pre-test and post-test. The number
of students interviewed was based on the saturation of the answers provided
by students. If the answers from students are not yet saturated, other students
will be picked in order to complete the saturation. Next, the data was analysed
and triangulated to draw a conclusion for the evaluation phase. A summative
evaluation provides insight into the usability and effectiveness of the
PROPOSE-M when compared to TRAD. Figure 3.2 shows a summary of
methods and strategy involved in while executing ADDIE that integrate DDR
Type 1 and Type 2.
40
Analysis Design Developme
To analyse the Main features for Main features in
needs and main PROPOSE-M was PROPOSE-M w
features for newly design in storyboard. developed base
developed storyboard.
module through: PROPOSE-M
consists of: PROPOSE-M w
• Expert interview through the vali
• Systematic PROPOSE-M process
(Multimedia)
literature review Validation
PROPOSE-M • Expert valid
(Booklet)
Figure 3.2. ADDIE-DDR Type 1 and Type 2 Integration (Phase S
4
ent Implementation Evaluation
n Pilot study Summative evaluation
were • Reliability • Test score
ed on • Open-ended
Testing of PROPOSE-M
went • Quasi-experimental questionnaire
idation • Clinical interview
pre-post two control
dation group design
Formative evaluation
• Classroom observation
Summarisation)
41
3.5 Minimizing the Potential Threats in Quasi-Experiment
The main difference between quasi-experiment and true experiment is that, in
quasi-experiment, students are not randomly assigned to the group because
assignment in quasi-experiments is by self-selection or administrator judgment
(Cohen et al., 2013). A quasi-experiment is used when the research intends to
determine the causal relationship between the independent variable and
dependent variable prior to the specific needs of the study (Campbell &
Stanley, 1963). In quasi-experiments, the cause can be controlled and
determined, and it occurs before the effect is measured (Kim & Steiner, 2016;
Shadish et al., 2002). It was designed to seek evidence from the treatment,
which usually is seen in the improvement between the pre-test scores and the
post-test scores.
To ensure that the treatment has an effect on the students‘ performance, a pre-
test must be administered to the two groups as baselines and to show that both
groups have similar cognitive development. Later a post-test will be
administered after the treatment, and the differences between the pre-test and
the post-test scores will show whether there is an effect that can be measured
after the treatment.
In this study, the students‘ performance was measured using post-test scores.
The quasi-experiment was designed as a way to gauge the extent treatment‘s
effectiveness that would lead to improvement that is measurable in the post-
test. The effectiveness of the treatments was determined by examining the
differences between the pre-test and post-test mean scores for both the
PROPOSE-M group (experimental group) and the TRAD group (control group).
The pre-test was administered prior to treatments while the post-test was
administered upon completion of treatments. As stressed by Cook and
Campbell (1979), differences in means between the pre-test and the post-test
scores would provide information about the effectiveness of the experiment in
terms of students‘ conceptual change. Further, retention-test was carried out to
examine the retained memory and understanding among students after being
subjected to PROPOSE-M and TRAD.
However, since the quasi-experiment is a non-random experiment, it is
exposed to some extraneous variables. Extraneous variables are any variables
that are not intentionally studied in the study but can influence the outcomes of
the experiment. This may lead to susceptible threats for internal and external
validity. In order to ensure the validity of the quasi-experimental is not
compromised, steps must be taken to reduce and minimise the threats as
discuss in the succeeding section.
42
3.5.1 External Validity
External validity is defined as to what extent the result of the experiment can be
generalised to other contexts. This section discusses three conditions that may
become threats to external validity in this study. The first threat is the difference
in the environment. In order to minimise the environmental threat, this study
chose to conduct the experiment at the schools as suggested by White and
Sabarwal, (2014), that state that the threats for external validity can be reduced
if the subjects from both groups are observed within their familiar environment
conditions.
Secondly, the presence of the observer also may become a threat to external
validity because subjects can react differently from his or her normal behaviour
when they are subjected under observation, an effect that is known as
Hawthorne effect (Blease, 1983; McCambridge, Witton, & Elbourne, 2014). In
this study, most times, the experiment and control group are treated as similar
as possible, and if there is a Hawthorne effect, it should occur equally in the
PROPOSE-M and TRAD group. Furthermore, since the groups are from
different schools, the design contamination has been reduced, and this
subsequently reduced the effects because students were not aware that they
had been compared to another group.
Finally, the observer bias or known as experimenter bias, is the tendency to
see what researcher ideally want to see. For example, when a researcher
studies a certain group of students, they usually have expectation towards the
group being studied. To minimise this threat in this study, the researcher used
the class observation list to control the factors observed, and in addition, it
creates a set of clear rules for the observation.
3.5.2 Internal Validity
Internal validity is defined as how well a study can eliminate other explanations
for experiment findings. There are ten main extraneous variables that may
become threats to internal validity to this study which are: history,
instrumentation, selection, maturation, statistical regression, testing,
experimental mortality, design-contamination, compensatory rivalry and
resentful demoralisation (Campbell & Stanley, 1963; Cook & Campbell, 1979).
In this study, several steps have been taken to minimise potential threats to the
internal validity of the findings. The steps taken were discussed as followed.
a. History Effect
The first threat is history when the difference after treatment is actually due to
the treatment or other factors or occurrences during the intervention. History
threats will affect one group design, which students from the same group may
experience different treatments across the time period (Cook and Campbell,
1979). This study has two groups, the experimental group and the control
43
group are from two different schools. Students in the same group will be only
exposed to one type of instructional strategy throughout the intervention. For
the experimental group, the students were taught using PROPOSE-M, whereas
the students in the control group were taught using TRAD. Furthermore, during
the treatment that took place at school, there were no major events such as
motivational talk or Biology workshop for students that probably would affect
the results of the treatment. This step has minimised the history threat in this
study.
b. Instrumentation
The second threat is instrumentation, where it is doubtful if any changes occur
during the study is intended in the way the dependent variable was measured.
Instrumentation will become a great threat for one group design, especially
when there is a change in measurement method during evaluation (Campbell &
Stanley, 1966). For example, two teachers who have different levels of marking
experience might award different scores to students in pre-test and post-test. In
this study, students‘ assessment sheet from both groups was scored and
marked by the researcher by strictly following the answer scheme provided by
the Malaysian Examination Syndicates. So, the possibility for students to be
scored in different standard is unlikely to occur in this study. This step will
reduce the instrumentation threat in this study.
c. Selection
Selection is another threat because it is vital to make sure both groups are on
an equal level in term of performance at the beginning of the study. This step is
crucial in quasi-experimental to ensure the differences are caused by the
treatment and not affected by other factors before the treatment (Cook, 1991).
This study minimised the selection threat by selecting two groups that have
equivalent characteristics in term of age, subjects taken, scores, learning
environment and teachers‘ qualification. This step has minimised the selection
threat in this study.
d. Maturation
Maturation is considered as a threat in which it is questionable whether the
changes in the students‘ score are due to the treatment given or are influenced
by other factors unintentionally. Maturation is always considered as a threat to
one group design (Shadish et al., 2002) because students experience maturity
due to the different treatment received in the same group. Thus, this study
used two groups of design by subjecting both groups with only one instructional
strategy at a particular time. To minimise this threat, this study was also
conducted as early as possible before the topic was taught at school. This step
had minimised the maturation threat in this study.
44
e. Statistical Regression and Testing
Statistical regression is defined as an effect resulting from extreme scores
regressing or moving toward the mean. Whereas testing is seen when
students‘ performance in post-test is said to be influenced by pre-test scores.
Some of the students from the control group will gain a higher mark because of
the poor mark in the pre-test (Cook, 1991; Cook & Campbell, 1979; Shadish et
al., 2002). They have motivated themselves to do better during post-test to
beat their pre-test score. Thus, this study employed different questions but with
the same level of thinking skills in pre-test and post-test, as suggested by
Peterson (2016). This step was taken to avoid students to remember the
questions and answers from the pre-test questions. Furthermore, to reduce the
effect of testing, the pre-test score was not revealed to the students until the
research circle was completed. This is to ensure the statistical regression and
testing effect was reduced.
f. Experimental Mortality
Another possible threat is the experimental mortality due to the differential loss
of participants across the group during the experiment (Cook, 1991). The study
will be affected when some of the students will start to drop out from the study
and the decrease in the number of students throughout the end of the study
can affect the results of the experiment. Fortunately, in this study, this factor is
less threatening since the subjects are permanent students in the selected
class. All students remained in the classes during the experiment. There might
be absentees in PROPOSE-M and TRAD groups. However, it was assumed
that the numbers of absentees were insignificant throughout the experiment.
g. Design Contamination and Compensatory Rivalry
Design contamination is considered a threat because when an interaction
occurs between the two groups, students tend to compare the notes and
assignments (Shadish et al., 2002). This will affect the result validity of the
experiment if the PROPOSE-M group have access to share their assignment
and notes with the TRAD group. In the end, the differences in score in post-test
might be affected by the interaction process that occurs between both groups.
In this situation, the control group may have a higher score because of the
interaction.
On the other hands, the compensatory rivalry will arise when the comparison
group find out that the other group receives better treatment, and this is
resulting in a social competition (Corbin & Strauss, 1990). This effect also is
known as ―John Henry‖ effect in honour of the steel driver that outperformed
and died because of over-exertion after he knew that his output was being
compared to the other person that received a better treatment (Shadish, Cook,
& Campbell, 2002)
45
In this respect, this study drew subjects from two different schools; one is for
PROPOSE-M and other for TRAD, to reduce the interaction. Even though both
schools are in the same district, the distance is approximately 23 km from each
other. The possibility for students to share and compare their notes is unlikely
to occur. Furthermore, all the notes and assignment given to PROPOSE-M
group were returned to the researcher after every class, and students were not
allowed to take them back home. By taking this step, there was less possibility
that the TRAD group have the information on the type of treatment received by
the PROPOSE-M group. Therefore, design contamination and compensatory
rivalry threats have been minimised in this study.
h. Resentful Demoralisation
The last threat in quasi-experimental design is resentful demoralization. The
control group will start to feel demoralised if they realise they are the weaker
group and have been compared to the experiment group (Kim & Steiner, 2016).
Thus, in this study, PROPOSE-M and TRAD were chosen from the schools
that have equivalent characteristic at the beginning of the experiment, including
their performance in the Science subject. Students from both groups were not
aware that they were being compared to each other in the experiment because
they came from two different schools and situated far away from each other.
Thus, this threat has been minimised in this study.
These various threats to internal validity can be reduced by careful planning. In
the planning phase, additional information has to be collected to add details to
the current information before the study begins or during the study (Colliver,
Kucera, & Verhulst, 2008; Tobergte & Curtis, 2013). By obtaining more
information about the students and the details, the researcher is able to plan a
standardised condition and make an informed judgement to choose the
appropriate design to reduce the threats from all of these extraneous variables.
3.6 Sampling and Population
The population of the study is Form Four students who took Biology subject in
Petaling Perdana District. The respondents were selected into the experiments
as they were determined by schools administration as suggested by Shadish,
Cook and Campbell (2002). Responding to the effect above, the schools were
selected due to their cooperation to participate and their willingness to offer
their teachers and students to be involved in this study.
The characteristics such as age, number of students in the class, Form 3
Assessment (Pentaksiran Tingkatan 3 or PT3) performance, subjects taken,
pre-test scores, learning environment, exposure time and teacher‘s
qualification were found to be equivalent between the PROPOSE-M and TRAD
group. In this study, PT3 performance between both schools was compared
based on Gred Purata Sekolah (GPS).
46
Both schools were exposed to the different instructional strategy for 140
minutes per week, and this duration was chosen on the account of numerous
previous studies that used exposure times ranging from 60 minutes to 250
minutes per week to observe the effects of the treatment among students (Cho
& Brown, 2013; Franke & Bogner, 2011; N. Hasanah, Hayashi, & Hirashima,
2017; Wolkow et al., 2014). After characteristics were established as equivalent
for both schools, random assignment was administered to determine which
school would act as the experiment group and the control group. In the random
assignment, both schools were randomly selected into the experiment group or
control group.
One class from one particular school (hereafter, school A) was assigned to the
PROPOSE-M group (n=31) whereas another one class (n=30) from another
particular school (hereafter, school B) was assigned as the TRAD group. Both
schools A and B were observed to have similar characteristics at the beginning
of the quasi-experimental procedure, and this step is important to reduce bias
(Kim & Steiner, 2016) in the quasi-experimental procedure. Table 3.2 shows
the characteristics of both schools selected.
Table 3.2. Characteristics in PROPOSE-M and TRAD group
Characteristics School A School B
Students’ Age (PROPOSE-M) (TRAD)
GPS (PT3) 16 16
Number of Students
Subject Taken 2.54 2.63
Learning Environments 31 30
Teachers Experiences
Teachers Qualification Biology, Physics, Biology, Physics,
Chemistry Chemistry
Exposure Time
Biology Laboratory Biology Laboratory
17 years 17 years
Bachelor Degree in Bachelor Degree in
Science Education from Science Education from
the University of Malaya the University of Malaya
(UM) (UM)
140 minutes per week 140 minutes per week
47
3.7 Instrumentation
Instrumentation refers to the tools or means by which researchers attempt to
measure variables or items of interest to obtain data on the topic of interest
from research subjects. It is related to instrument design, selection,
construction, and assessment. This entry discusses instrumentation in relation
to the data collection process, which was divided into two parts; instruments
used in the development phase and instruments used during the evaluation
phase. All instruments were self-developed and validated through focus group
discussion with experts.
3.7.1 Instruments for Module Development
a. Need Analysis Interview
Eight semi-structured questions were constructed based on a literature review
to gauge the extent of the need for a Biology module, specifically to the Form
Four syllabus. During the interview with three expert Biology teachers, the
researcher took the role as an instrument in probing and prompting for their
responses to elicit and uncover rich and thick data. The semi-structured
questions constructed are shown in Appendix I.
b. Questionnaires for Validation and Reliability
Three sets of questionnaire were prepared for expert validation processes,
which are content validation of PROPOSE-M, the suitability of session and
activities, and language validation, respectively. The questionnaire also
provides an open-ended space for experts to write down further suggestion.
The questionnaire for content validation, the suitability of session and activities
and language validation are shown in Appendix J, Appendix K and Appendix
L, respectively. To determine the reliability of PROPOSE-M, a set of a
questionnaire consisting of 31 items were given to the students during the pilot
study. The questionnaire for reliability is shown in Appendix M.
c. Validation Form
Validation form was used to validate the level of thinking skills tested in the
assessment sheet (pre-test, post-test and retention-test) questions. Using the
validation form, experts reviewed the level of questions suggested and ticked in
the ‗Yes‘ column for agreeing or ‗No‘ column for disagreeing. The last column is
provided for experts to suggest a new level of thinking based on RBT. The form
was completed with comment space for improvement and suggestions from the
experts. The validation form used is shown in Appendix N.
48
3.7.2 Instruments for Evaluation
a. PROPOSE-M (Booklet)
PROPOSE-M (booklet) consists of activities that emphasise on 4C elements
during problem-posing activities and strategies. A total of ten activities were
developed adhering to the Biology Form Four curriculum and were designed to
achieve lesson objectives stated in the curriculum. The developed PROPOSE-
M (booklet) is presented in Appendix O.
b. Assessment Sheet
For the quantitative part, there were three types of assessment sheet used as
the instrument to gather data which are pre-test, post-test and retention-test.
To ensure established questions were used, previous SPM questions (SPM
2010 to SPM 2016) were adopted. Hence no further content validation process
was needed. There are two parts of the assessment sheet. Part A consists of
ten objective questions which give 10 marks while Part B consists of one
subjective question which gives 12 marks. The total score (Part A and Part B)
for each assessment sheet is 22 marks. The assessment sheets used are
shown in Appendix P.
c. Class Observation List
Class observation list was prepared to provide an insight for formative
evaluation in every classroom session during the intervention with both groups.
It consists of nine observation criteria for teachers‘ teaching processes and ten
observation criteria for students‘ learning processes. Class observation list
used is shown in Appendix Q.
d. Open-ended Questionnaire
The open-ended questionnaire offers the opportunity for students to state their
views concerning the PROPOSE-M or TRAD. The questionnaire consists of
four questions about the advantages and disadvantages of PROPOSE-M or
TRAD. The open-ended questionnaire used is shown in Appendix R.
e. Clinical interview
For the clinical interview, the researcher acted as the main instrument to collect
data. Unstructured questions were used since they were built upon students‘
responses in the assessment sheet. During the interview, students were
required to verbalise and give reasoning towards their answers in the written
tests done earlier.
49
3.8 Data Analysis
The percentage value of PROPOSE-M that has been assessed by an expert
was evaluated using the percentage calculation method (PCM) formula, as
suggested by Tuckman and Waheed (1981) as following:
(Total expert score (x)/Total maximum score) X (100%) = Content validity level
The total expert score is the score that assesses the scale of the questionnaire
to be calculated. The total expert score is then divided by the total maximum
score. The questionnaire uses a 10 point scale consisted of 8 items, and the
maximum score for each item is 10. The total maximum score is calculated
based on the product of the number of items with a maximum score. Then, the
value will be timed with 100. As a result, those values are called as content
validity measurement achieved by PROPOSE-M.
All the content validation data will be analysed using the same formula except
for the validation for the level of thinking accuracy in assessment sheet which
employed inter-rater agreement using Kappa analysis as the validation since it
involved two levels of agreement scale (Field, 2009). On the other hand, the
reliability value of the PROPOSE-M was calculated based on statistics by
calculating Cronbach‘s alpha coefficient.
All the students‘ score from the test was analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics
22.0 to examine the significant differences before and after the treatment. The
scores between the groups were also subjected to an effectiveness test. Thus,
t-test was used to examine the differences in achievement between the groups.
Independent t-test was used to compare the score for both groups, whereas
the paired t-test was used to compare two scores for the same group. The
differences in mean scores for two different levels of the question, HOTS and
LOTS were taken from the mean scores between the PROPOSE-M group and
the TRAD group were analysed using one-way MANOVA, and MANOVA
repeated measures. MANOVA was used because the analysis involved two
dependent variables, which are HOTS score and LOTS score that was tested
correlated to each other. Theoretically, MANOVA is used to reduce the Type I
error (rejecting the null hypothesis when it is, in fact, true) to 40% compared to
multiple t-tests (Field, 2009).
3.8.1 Content Analysis
Qualitative data is the information that is gathered in non-numeric forms such
as interview scripts, field notes, observation list, video recording, images and
documents. The process of turning written data is to explain, understand or
interpret social phenomenon (people and situations) from the information
gathered (Braun & Clarke, 2013). Qualitative data analysis is usually based on
an interpretative philosophy. The idea is to examine the meaningful and
symbolic content of qualitative data. The goal is to analytically reduce the data
50
by producing summaries, coding, and memos and finding ways to display data
and draw conclusions.
For the collection of qualitative data in this study, data from the interview,
surveys and systematic literature review technique was analysed through
inductive and deductive coding approach using ATLAS.ti software to draw a
conclusion throughout the themes that have emerged upon the analysis of
data. Deductive coding approach is described as the process identifying the
code emerged from a set of identified variable that has been predetermined
earlier (Braun & Clarke, 2006). From rereading the transcripts, the researcher
would selectively code any data that relates to the core variable identified.
Figure 3.3 shows the summary for steps taken in qualitative data analysis
through this study.
Record data & Triangulate data Identify and develop
prepare memos sources themes
Label & archive data Data is read and Interpret findings
coded
Review objectives Analyse contextual Make conclusions
& demographic data
Figure 3.3. Qualitative Data Analysis
Further, content analysis and thematic analysis were used to create meaning of
the coded data. Content analysis as a method of analysing written, verbal or
visual communication messages by categorising the data and it aims to
classify, summarise and tabulate the data whereas thematic analysis identifies,
analyses, and reports patterns within data (Braun & Clarke, 2006). Both
approaches are often used in analysing qualitative data. Content analysis
allows for data to be analysed and to be quantified simultaneously (Shelley,
1984). A descriptive approach is used in content analysis during the coding of
the data and interpreting the quantitative counts of the codes (Vaismoradi,
Turunen, & Bondas, 2013). As for thematic analysis, provides a purely
qualitative, detailed, and nuanced account of data (Braun & Clarke, 2006).
Table 3.3 shows a summary of quantitative and qualitative data analysis
technique employed in this study.
51
Table 3.3. A Summary of Data A
Research Objectives Research Questions
RO 1: RQ 1:
To develop a teaching and learning What are the components nee
module applying a problem-posing develop PROPOSE-M for te
instructional strategy (PPIS) integrated the concept of osmosis and di
into a multimedia-based presentation among Form Four Biology Stud
for teaching Biology namely as
Problem-Posing Multimedia Module RQ1.1: Based on experts‘ opin
(PROPOSE-M). what extent developing PROPO
for teaching osmosis and di
concepts is necessary?
RQ1.2: How do the previous s
have implemented problem-
instructional strategy in their stu
RQ1.3: To what extent the v
and reliability of the module a
raters are achieved?
RO2: RQ2:
To compare the effectiveness of Is there any significant differe
Problem-Posing Multimedia Module the mean score between
(PROPOSE-M) to the traditional PROPOSE-M and the TRAD gr
teaching method (TRAD) with regards
to lower order thinking skills (LOTS)
and higher order thinking skills (HOTS)
ability achievement in learning Biology.
5
Analysis Technique Employed
Hypotheses Analysis
-
Thematic analysis
eded to
eaching Thematic analysis
iffusion
dents? Percentage
Calculation
nion, to Method (PCM),
OSE-M Kappa statistic,
iffusion Cronbach‘s Alpha
studies
-posing
udies?
validity
among
ence in
n the
roup?
52
RQ2.1:
Is there any significant differe
the mean score of pre-test, po
and retention test between
PROPOSE-M and the TRAD gr
RQ2.2:
Is there any significant differe
the mean score of pre-test, po
and retention test for LOTS
HOTS questions between
PROPOSE-M and the TRAD gr
5
H1: There is a significant difference in Independent t-test
the mean score of the pre-test
ence in between PROPOSE-M and TRAD
ost-test group.
n the
roup?
H2: There is a significant difference in Independent t-test
the mean score of the post-test
between PROPOSE-M and TRAD
group.
H3: There is a significant difference in Independent t-test
the mean score of the retention-test
between PROPOSE-M and TRAD
group.
H4: There is a significant difference in Paired t-test
the mean score of the pre-test and
post-test for the PROPOSE-M group.
H5: There is a significant difference in Paired t-test
the mean score of the pre-test and
post-test for the TRAD group.
ence in H6: There is a significant difference in One way
ost-test the mean score of the pre-test LOTS MANOVA
S and questions and the pre-test HOTS
n the questions between PROPOSE-M and one way
roup? TRAD group. MANOVA
H7: There is a significant difference in
the mean score of the post-test LOTS
questions and the post-test HOTS
53
RO3: RQ3:
To explore the conceptual change
on students in analysing the To what extent PROPO
concept of osmosis and diffusion
after undergoing Problem-Posing could enhance stu
Multimedia Module (PROPOSE-M)
and traditional teaching method conceptual change compar
(TRAD) teaching strategies.
TRAD?
5
questions between PROPOSE-M and
TRAD group.
H8: There is a significant difference in One way
MANOVA
the mean score of the retention- test
LOTS questions and the retention-test
HOTS questions between
PROPOSE-M and TRAD group.
H9: There is a significant difference in MANOVA
the mean score of pre-test, post-test repeated
and retention-test for LOTS and measures
HOTS questions for PROPOSE-M
group.
H10: There is a significant difference MANOVA
in the mean score of pre-test, post- repeated
test and retention-test for LOTS and measures
HOTS questions for TRAD group.
-
OSE-M Content analysis
udent‘s Thematic
red to analysis
54
3.9 Conclusion
This chapter outlines the research design aiming at answering the research
questions proposed in Chapter 1. This study adopted deductive and employed
both qualitative and quantitative approach. PROPOSE-M was developed
through rigorous processes in ADDIE phase. Data were collected through
interview, self-administered questionnaire and assessment sheet during pre,
post and retention test. To determine the validity of PROPOSE-M, experts‘
consensus was performed whereas, for reliability, one pilot test was conducted
involving 30 students with equivalent characteristics. Finally, the validated and
reliable PROPOSE-M was tested to confirm the proposed hypotheses and
answered the research questions proposed. In the next chapter, the findings
and results of the data analysis are presented.
55
CHAPTER 4
MODULE DEVELOPMENT
4.1 Introduction
Problem-Posing Multimedia Module (PROPOSE-M) was developed using the
ADDIE model that consists of five phases, which are analysis, design,
development, implementation, and evaluation (ADDIE). This chapter discusses
the procedures of the module development and the testing of the module using
ADDIE instructional design model as well as establishing the reliability and the
validity of the module. The summary of the findings are presented in the
following sequence: (1) analysis phase, (2) design phase, (3) development
phase, (4) implementation phase and (5) evaluation phase. The chapter closes
with the conclusion of the chapter.
4.2 Analysis Phase
a. Teachers Interview
The objective of the analysis phase is to identify the need for developing a
learning module (Almomen et al., 2016) for osmosis and diffusion topics under
the Biology syllabus. In order to find the call for developing the module, an
interview was conducted with three Biology teachers who are experts in the
field in the Klang Valley area.
This study has selected three teachers based on their years of experience
(more than ten years) and their vast knowledge in the field of teaching and
learning Biology in schools as described previously in Chapter 3. The interview
sessions were conducted in the meeting room and Biology laboratory to suit
the need of the interviewees. The interview was also conducted in a semi-
formal manner to ease the procedure and to ensure comfort for all members.
The questions that were asked during the interview session are intended to
answer one research question as below:
RQ1.1: Based on experts‘ opinion, to what extent developing PROPOSE-M for
teaching osmosis and diffusion concepts is necessary?
Four broad themes emerged from the need analysis which are; (1) The
importance of learning osmosis and diffusion, (2) Problems in teaching and
learning of Biology, (3) Teaching strategy and (4) Desired improvement.
56
Theme 1: The Importance of learning Osmosis and Diffusion Topic
‗Movement of Substances across the Plasma Membrane‘ is one of the chapters
in Form Four Biology curriculum. This chapter lists three main objectives to be
achieved by students which are; (1) analysing the movement of substances
across the plasma membrane, (2) understanding the movement of substances
across the plasma membrane in everyday life and (3) appreciating the
movement of substances across the plasma membrane.
The introduction of the chapter starts with introducing the structure and the
function of the plasma membrane. The lesson moves to explain the movement
of substances in moving in and moving out of the cell through different
processes namely, osmosis and diffusion, and the type of movement is based
on the types of molecules involved. From the interview session, two codes
emerge under ‗The Importance of Osmosis and Diffusion‘ theme, which are;
basic concepts and application. The emerging theme and codes are
summarised using schematic diagrams in Figure 4.1.
Figure 4.1. The Importance of Osmosis and Diffusion Theme
57
All three teachers agreed that osmosis and diffusion are the basic concepts for
students to master in order to learn more advanced topics. Since Biology is the
study about living things and it discusses physiology processes at molecular
and cell stages, osmosis and diffusion are crucial concepts to be understood in
order to have clearer pictures regarding substances movement across cells
structure. Quoting Teacher 3‘s words, ―It is crucial that students can apply the
concepts of osmosis and diffusion in other advanced Biology chapters‖.
Teacher 1 supported this statement by stating the examples of the relevant
subjects that also require students to understand the concept of osmosis and
diffusion, such as nutrition and respiration.
The content in the Biology textbook later reveals that the concept of osmosis
and diffusion are repeated in future chapters such as in the topic respiration,
nutrition, blood circulatory system, excretion and photosynthesis in plants.
Teacher 3 said, "students would not be able to explain clearly the processes
involved in respiration, excretion and nutrition if they failed to comprehend the
osmosis and diffusion concepts‖. This statement was supported by Teacher 2
that later added; the students are unable to grasp these two concepts and likely
face difficulties to understand other advanced chapters in Biology, Chemistry
and Physics.
Theme 2: Problems in Teaching and Learning Biology
There are many problems faced by students in learning Biology. Different
perspectives were expressed by all three teachers regarding the problems
faced by students during the lesson. Under this theme, there are six codes
emerged which are; difficult terms, lack of thinking skills, misconceptions,
technical, nature of the topic and students‘ attitude. The emerging theme and
codes are summarised using schematic diagrams in Figure 4.2 below.
Figure 4.2. The Problems in Teaching and Learning Biology Theme
From the analysis, it was found that there are many associated quotations that
are shared between ‗difficult terms‘ theme and ‗the nature of the topic‘ theme.
As Teacher 3 said, ―Students are unable to visualise the Biology processes
58
clearly‖. To make it worse, students experienced difficulties in understanding
the various Biology terms. This statement was supported by the other two
teachers as they stated that terms such as hypotonic, hypertonic, isotonic,
concentration gradient, haemolysis, crenation, and plasmolysis are some of the
terms that are difficult to be comprehended by students. According to Teacher
2, students struggled to understand the terms because the terms are presented
as jargons to them.
The lack of thinking skills also became an obstacle for students to master this
topic. According to all three teachers, most students are unable to apply the
knowledge they learned to solve HOTS tasks. Most of the time, students
memorise the sentences in the textbook and teachers‘ note, and they fail to
provide further explanation in their own words and understanding. Students are
seen to face difficulty to analyse the information given to produce a satisfactory
answer. For example, Teacher 2 illustrated students‘ answer: ―Students are
always confused to identify and apply the osmosis concepts in hypotonic,
hypertonic and isotonic solution‖. She added that students also have difficulties
in explaining the cause and effects of the different types of solution towards
plant cell and animal cell. Because of these difficulties, there is a high
occurrence of misconception among the students, in particular between
osmosis and diffusion concepts.
Students‘ attitude also contributed to the problems in teaching and
understanding Biology. For example, students are reluctant to ask questions
during the lesson. Teacher 3 said, ―Teachers assume students understand the
lesson taught because not many of them ask questions‖. However Teacher2
added that students are not asking questions because they do not comprehend
the information delivered by teachers and are not trained to ask questions.
Teacher 2 also added that the absence of questions among students is
probably because of the lack of prior knowledge. All three teachers agreed, this
attitude will affect the learning culture among students and subsequently will
influence their understanding of the topic.
All teachers agreed that classroom activities and experiment have the potential
to reinforce students‘ understanding. However, teachers have a time constraint
that eluded them to deliver different activities and experiments in the
classroom. Teachers also need to rush at certain topics to ensure that all topics
in the curriculum specification are covered in time. Teacher 3 said: ―I always
need to attend teachers‘ meeting outside, and sometimes it takes two or three
days and even one week straight. My students cannot proceed to learn Biology
because the relief teacher is not a Biology teacher‖. As soon as she came back
from the meeting, she needed to rush her lessons before it exceeded the time
allocated to complete the syllabus.
Teacher 2 and Teacher 3 also agreed that using media such as videos, will
help students to visualise the movement of substances. However, due to the
technical problems, such as weak or no internet connectivity, most of the times,
59
teachers are unable to download the video from a website such as YouTube.
Whereas for Teacher 2, she prefers to conduct an experiment in her class
because she believes that through experiments, students will gain a better
understanding. Teacher 2 said, "I prefer to carry out an experiment with my
students because they can observe the phenomena and experience the real
life situation‖. However, due to time constraint, experiment activities are limited.
Theme 3: Teaching Strategy
The teaching strategy consists of three main codes, which are; static
illustration, multimedia and experiment. The emerging theme and codes are
summarised using schematic diagrams in Figure 4.3 below.
Figure 4.3. The Teaching Strategy Theme
All teachers agreed that they use a lot of static illustration to teach this topic to
their students. As Teacher 3 said, she prefers to draw the structures on the
whiteboard traditionally and asks students to draw them together with her. As
for Teacher 1, she uses PowerPoint presentation to show static diagrams. She
agreed that it was quite challenging to show the movement of substances using
such diagrams. On the other hand, Teacher 2 prefer to refer to diagrams in the
textbook due to the time constraint that eluded her to prepare other teaching
materials for her students.
For Teacher 1, she always uses the workbook to familiarise her students with
HOTS questions and enhances students understanding, and she usually will
ask five questions to her students during her induction set. Her justification for
this strategy is to ensure that students understand and still remember the
previous topic that she has taught. Teacher 1 also emphasises that the
60
repetition of the information is crucial to encourage students to retain the
information in their long term memory. Teacher 1 later added, ―The difficult
terms in Biology have to be memorised, there is no other way for them to
familiarise themselves with the terms. We, as a teacher, need to play a role to
help them memorising those terms‖.
All three teachers have the same perspectives on video presentations. They
said video presentations would assist students in visualising the movement of
substances inside living organisms at the molecular stage. Teachers
sometimes use videos in the classroom to enhance the students‘
understanding. All teachers agreed that the experiment is advantageous to
help students to experience real-life situations. Through these learning
activities, students will be able to apply the concepts taught into the real
phenomena that occur in living organisms‘ cell.
Theme 4: Desired Improvement
From the interview session, all three teachers voiced out their desired
improvements in teaching osmosis and diffusion. The desired improvement can
be summarised into two categories, which are; active learning tasks and
technology. Under the active learning tasks code, all three teachers agreed that
students should be encouraged to ask questions in the classroom because
questions are rarely asked during the lessons except during experiment
activity. Asking questions can help the teacher to measure two factors; the
level of students‘ interest and the level of students‘ understandings. Meanwhile,
experiment and group activities will encourage students to communicate and
collaborate with their peers. As Teacher 2 said, ―Teachers also have to play an
important role to engage in students‘ learning during an active learning task‖.
The emerging theme and codes are summarised using schematic diagrams in
Figure 4.4.
61
Figure 4.4. The Desired Improvement Theme
Under the technology code, all three teachers agreed that videos, animation
and diagrams with resembling the real structures could facilitate students to
visualise the structure and processes of osmosis and diffusion within the cells.
As Teacher 1 said, "I believe by using technology such as animation or videos
can help students to visualise the processes clearly". This is supported by
Teacher 3 and Teacher 2, who agreed that most of the students are able to
understand the cellular processes easier through visualisation.
From the perspective of all three teachers, it seems that this chapter is crucial
for students to comprehend in order for them to grasp the basic concepts in
Biology and to apply the knowledge across the subject. The main problem
faced by students is, their failure to visualise the abstract processes in Biology,
especially those that occur at molecular state. For teachers, they have to put
good effort by using a different strategy to teach their students to understand
this concept. However, the time constraint issue usually stops them from
preparing teaching materials. To make thing worse, technical problems such as
weak internet connectivity also prevent them from using technology frequently
in their classroom. Based on four themes emerged through the interview, it
seems that there is a need for an alternative teaching module to simplify the
process of teaching and learning Biology for both students and teachers.
62
b. Systematic Literature Review
The aim of the systematic literature review is to identify the suitable problem-
posing strategies and activities for the Biology classroom. The identified
strategies and activities were used to develop and design PROPOSE-M. The
research question that guides this analysis is as follows:
RQ1.2: How do the previous studies have implemented a problem-posing
instructional strategy in their studies?
The first stage of this analysis is to identify the classroom activities that used
problem-posing strategies in past studies. To choose the relevant strategies,
only papers that closely adhered to the problem-posing instructional strategies
were analysed. Therefore, papers that explained the strategies but did not
employ problem-posing terms are considered irrelevant for this analysis and
they were eliminated. The systematic literature review examined 14 papers
related to this study. In this section, the analysis of the content of the papers is
explained in details. Strategies and activities were extracted and summarised
in Table 4.1.
Table 4.1. Problem-posing Strategies and Activities by Paper
Author (s) Study Strategies Activities Strategy &
domain activity
(Ponte & suitable for
Henriques, Mathematics Investigation 1. presenting tasks PROPOSE-M
2013) education task 2. exploring
3. presenting and The strategy is
not suitable.
discussing Presentation
students‘ activity is
conclusions suitable.
(Kontorovich Mathematics Workshop 1. Forming a small Strategy and
et al., 2012) education group activities are
suitable.
2. Posing a problem
in a group activity
3. Answering
questions
4. Posed as many
questions to be
answered by
other groups
(Beal & Mathematics Online 1. Students register The strategy is
Cohen, the online not suitable.
2012) Education application application
through their Activity poses
Situation teacher a problem is
2. Answer the
63
problem posed suitable.
earlier by the
teacher
3. Pose a new
problem based
on a given
question
(Kojima et Mathematics Imitation of 1. Students are Strategy and
al., 2013) given an example activities are
Education question of questions suitable.
2. Students
reproduce
identical
problems to the
given examples
(Singer & Mathematics Camping 1. Students were The strategy
asked to create is not suitable.
Voica, 2013) education activities two problems
(one is easy, Group
another one is discussion
hard) and create a
problem
2. In groups, they activities are
would discuss the suitable.
solution
3. The students who
created the good
questions and
found the solution
was then
interviewed for a
further discussion
(Kapur, Mathematics Lecturing 1. Lecturer gave a Strategy and
2015) education lecture regarding activities are
the topic suitable for
PROPOSE-M.
2. Students were
then given a
blank A4 paper to
write down any
questions
3. Students would
find a solution to
their own
questions based
on a lecture given
and prior
knowledge
(Nardone & Critical Daily life 1. Self-reflection Strategy and
Lee, 2010) thinking activities 2. Modelling activities are
3. Metaphor not suitable
4. Grappling for
5. Synthesis PROPOSE-M.
64
(Cankoy, Mathematics Group 1. The teacher Strategy
2014) wrote a potential group
Education discussion problem to be discussion is
solved on the suitable for
whiteboard with a PROPOSE-M.
missing data Activities are
not suitable
2. The teacher for
chose a student PROPOSE-M
and asked him to
add the potential
missing data on
the whiteboard
3. Teacher initiated
a class
discussion to find
a solution
(Christou, Mathematics Mathematica 1. Task 1: students Strategy and
Mousoulides education l situation completed activities are
,Pittalis, questions suitable for
Pitta- PROPOSE-M.
Pantazi, & 2. Task 2: students
Sriraman, would fill in the
2005) blanks with
missing data
3. Task 3: students
would create a
problem based on
the situation
given
4. Task 4: students
would create a
problem based on
the diagrams
given
(Mishra & Computer Group 1. Application Strategy and
Iyer, 2015) education activities 2. Organisation activities are
3. Probing suitable
4. Comparison
5. Connection
6. Verifying
7. Implementation
(Chang, Wu, Computer Game 1. Posing problem The strategy
scenarios 2. Planning is not suitable.
Weng, & education 3. Solving problem Activities are
4. Looking back suitable.
Sung, 2012)
(Sung et al., Computer Collaborative 1. Students logged The strategy is
mobile in by scanning the not suitable.
2013) education learning QR code
Activities
2. Students were create
asked to answer questions is
questions
65
3. Students created suitable.
other questions if
they still do not
understand the
task target
4. The learning is
completed once
the students have
no further
questions
regarding the task
(Hasanah et Mathematics Posing 1. Students were The strategy is
al., 2017) education arithmetic given extraneous not suitable.
word problem through
problems tablet software Activities pose
using tablet a problem is
software 2. Teaching activity suitable.
was conducted by
the teacher
3. Students posed a
problem using
simple words
given
(Nerida, Mathematics Mathematica 1. Students drafted The strategy
2015) education l modelling mathematical is not suitable.
class modelling
problems Activities are
suitable.
2. Students shared
their problem with
their peers
3. Students
presented their
problems to the
class
As illustrated in Table 5.1, some of the strategies were found to be unsuitable
to be included in the PROPOSE-M module due to time-consuming (Chang et
al., 2012; Kapur, 2015; Nerida F, 2015; Nunes et al., 2016; Sousa, 2016).
Strategies like collaborative mobile learning (Sung et al., 2013), arithmetic word
problems using tablet software (Nardone & Lee, 2010) and online application
situation (Beal & Cohen, 2012) were also unsuitable to be inserted due to the
requirement of devices, gadgets and an internet connection that are difficult to
be met in the present learning environment of this studies. Therefore,
PROPOSE-M will only focus on strategies that featured active learning tasks
involving group discussion, imitation of questions, and lecturing.
Throughout the thematic analysis using the Atlas.ti software, four main themes
emerged: critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity. Even
though most of the papers are related to teaching and learning Mathematics,
66
the strategies discussed can be modified into a Biology classroom based on
similarities among themes. Activities such as creating problems and questions,
finding solutions to their own questions and solving problems will require
students to think critically. In order to find a solution to their problems, students
will engage in meaningful collaboration and will learn how to communicate
effectively to complete the task. In addition, posing their questions and answers
will force students to use creative thinking skills to reconstruct and restructure
their answer to be understood by their teacher and peers. The codes under
critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity themes are
summarised using schematic diagrams in Figure 4.5, Figure 4.6, Figure 4.7
and Figure 4.8, respectively.
Figure 4.5. Critical Thinking Theme
67
Figure 4.6. Communication Theme
Figure 4.7. Collaboration Theme
Figure 4.8. Creativity Theme
68
From the analysis of the approaches, it was found that most of the papers
shared the same theme. Firstly, students receive information from the lecture,
then, they will be asked to create their own questions either from a situation
given or to imitate of questions through model questions (Beal & Cohen, 2012;
Christou et al., 2005; Kojima et al., 2013; Mayer, 2010; N. Hasanah et al.,
2017; Nerida F, 2015; Nunes et al., 2016; Sousa, 2016).
Another activity, presenting a situation with missing data is also a good activity
since it improves students‘ thinking skills and this will allow the students to
apply better-thinking skills in their daily life (Christou et al., 2005). This activity
will force the students to find the missing information or to figure out the gaps in
their teachers‘ lecture. By recognising the problem and formulating the
questions on their own, it is believed that students may find a better solution to
the problem (Chang et al., 2012; Christou et al., 2005; Nunes et al., 2016). The
problems posed by students were then discussed during the discussion task
that was conducted with the help of their peers (Cankoy, 2014; Kapur, 2015).
During the discussion, students will work together to find the solution and
answer, and students will practice their communication skill to present their
problem and answers in the classroom (Chang et al., 2012; da Ponte &
Henriques, 2013; Kapur, 2015).
Based on the results from the selected papers, there is a huge potential to be
unlocked in engaging students in problem-posing activities. Problem-posing
activity will lead to wider benefits on students' achievement, problem-solving
skills, levels of problems posed, and attitudes toward learning activities (Rosli
et al., 2014; Singer & Voica, 2013). Thus, a problem-posing instructional
strategy is found to be encouraging in enhancing thinking skills among
students, and the implementation of the activity must be thought thoroughly to
ensure its success.
Based on the content analysis, there are three main strategies that have been
identified suitable for the PROPOSE-M module, which are; 1) Lecturing 2)
Imitation of questions 3) Group discussion. Findings from the analysis found
four relevant activities for the development of the PROPOSE-M which are; 1)
Posing a problem 2) Giving situation with missing data 3) Finding answers to
their own questions 4) Presenting their completed work. Figure 4.9 depicts a
summary of the strategies and steps involved in PROPOSE-M.
69
Figure 4.9. Strategies and Activities Implemented in PROPOSE-M
4.3 Design Phase
a. PROPOSE-M (Multimedia)
PROPOSE-M is a module that will integrate problem-posing instructional
strategy and multimedia elements to enhance HOTS among Form Four
students in Biology classroom. Several discussions have been conducted with
a focus group to ignite the ideas of what PROPOSE-M should consist of based
on the analysis results. The discussion with the multimedia module developer
resulted in a complete storyboard for the multimedia module. The multimedia
module is developed using Adobe After Effects CS5.5 and Adobe Encore
CS5.5 software as discussed earlier in Chapter 3. This module can be played
using Adobe Flash Player 28. The choice to use Adobe After Effects was
based on its cinematic visual effect feature, easy to use and its ability to
produce a high-quality video with clearer and sharper images. The animations
of the module were developed and animated using Adobe After Effects and
transferred to Adobe Encore to be integrated with the main display of the
module.
The module was designed to be interactive with a series of buttons to ensure
easy access during teaching and learning session. The PROPOSE-M has 2D
and 3D images and animations. These elements are vital to constructing a
visual mental model in students‘ mind for future reconstruction of the important
structure and processes in the topic. All the images, texts and narrations were
arranged according to the cognitive theory of multimedia learning (CTML). The
module was designed to make sure that the student‘s cognitive processing
during learning is compatible with the student‘s cognitive capacity to make sure
students would be able to generate meaning to the information presented. In
response to that, PROPOSE-M was designed to reduce unnecessary things as
70
defined by Mayer (2010) as extraneous overload exemplified by flashing
coloured words, non-stop videos, animated words that move around across the
screen and irrelevant photographs. The principles of designing the PROPOSE-
M based on the instructional design of multimedia lessons suggested by Mayer
(2010) were summarised as below:
a) Eliminating extraneous or unnecessary material
b) Inserting printed words near images or animation
c) Presenting words in spoken form (narration)
d) Presenting words together with pictures rather than words alone
e) Using a human voice for narration rather than a machine voice
For interface, the main button consists of the subtopic covered in the
curriculum specification starting with: (1) Introduction; (2) Structure of Plasma
Membrane; (3) Mechanism; (4) Movement of substances in daily life; (5) Video;
(6) Interesting Facts and (7) Activity. The addition of video was considered
necessary based on the result of the need analysis with the teachers during the
previous phase. Interesting facts and activity were added to stimulate curiosity
and encourage students to ask more questions, as suggested by teachers and
previous studies. Figure 4.10 shows the screenshot for the main interface of
the multimedia module drafted in the storyboard.
Figure 4.10. Main Interface
PROPOSE-M has dual language features, which are English and Bahasa
Melayu as an option. Text and narration are inserted for animated scenes with
complex processes to give a clearer explanation, especially in the English
version. PROPOSE-M is designed with text captioning the images to help
students to develop a verbal, mental model and visual mental model in their
mind for better understanding as suggested by Mayer and Moreno (2002).
71
Figure 4.11 shows a screenshot for the contents interface drafted in the
storyboard.
Figure 4.11. Contents Interface
The narration has a mute button option, so students can push the button if they
choose not to listen to the narration. PROPOSE-M is saved in USB flash drive
for easy installation into the teachers‘ laptop. PROPOSE-M is an offline module
that can be retrieved without internet access. Teachers can simply insert the
USB flash drive into the laptop and connect it with a projector.
b. PROPOSE-M (Booklet)
PROPOSE-M (booklet) was developed to expose students to problem-posing
strategies and activities. The strategies and activities were designed according
to findings in the systematic literature review. All the activities in the module will
emphasise 4C elements as described in the analysis phase, which are
communication, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking. Findings from the
previous section entailed that there are four relevant activities that seem
appealing for the development of the PROPOSE-M which are; 1) Posing a
problem 2) Giving situation with missing data 3) Finding answers to their own
questions 4) Presenting their completed work. All problem-posing strategies
and activities were carefully developed in the booklet and are discussed further
in the development phase.
After reviewing textbook and Biology curriculum specification, PROPOSE-M
(booklet) introduces six sessions with ten activities to fulfil all three objectives in
the chapter which are: (1) Analysing the movement of substances across the
plasma membrane (2) Understanding the movement of substances across the
72
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