دراسة تقويمية لاستخدام منحى القضايا الاجتماعية كمدخل لتدريس موضوعات منهاج العلوم الحياتية للصف التاسع
This study aimed at evaluating the use of social issues as a vehicle to drive the teaching of different subjects of the recently developed biology schoolbook, as viewed by educational supervisors, teachers and students. It also aimed at identifying how the use of this approach contributes to the improvement of students’ learning and teaching, and the extent of its contribution to the change in the way the teacher displays the teaching content; in order to provide the concerned educators feedback about the effectiveness of the use of this approach in teaching. To achieve these objectives, the researcher adopted the qualitative research methodology, with its instruments that include participants’ interviews and classroom observation to verify and confirm the data. Participants were male and female teachers from fifteen public schools from both Rusaifa District of Education, and the District of Education of Al-Zarqa first region. The study concluded that, integrating this approach in teaching help engaging and enhancing students’ learning, as it includes actual and factual problem solving, which helps realizing the students’ purposeful learning. This will be approached through increasing their awareness of the subjects, and improving their ability to interpret and interlink the information. It further assists them in solving certain problems they encounter, which, in turn, contributes to organize their cognitive information and spread it throughout the community they live in. The participants expressed the positive effect of this approach in facilitating the teaching process, without the need to employ additional teaching aids. The study further concluded that there is a shortage in training the teachers on the know-how of this trend, and in including it in their teaching. The researcher recommended adopting the use of this approach in teaching the concepts of biology for the basic ninth graders, and the necessity for training the teachers on how to employ it, and taking into account including it into other school subjects, due to its important role and effect in improving and optimizing the teaching and learning processes. (Author’s abstract)