Clarifying the place of essential topics and unifying principles in high school biology

School Science and Mathematics, Jan 1998 by Chiappetta, Eugene L, Fillman, David A

The content of high school biology courses is overwhelming in quantity. This coverage does not permit students to engage in inquiry whereby they construct knowledge in a meaningful manner. Initially, the study sought to identify a small list of essential topics as the focus of high school biology. With the help of seven science supervisors in a large metropolitan area in the Southwest who have taught high school biology for many years, the problem of course content was examined. After three separate contacts by mail to the supervisors using a Delphi technique, a view emerged: Teach students the big ideas of biology rather than specific topics, but use topics to develop the major themes and unifying principles. These findings need to be discussed with biology teachers to help them focus their teaching on a smaller body of course content that relates directly to the major ideas of biology.

Many students take high school biology because they are curious about life. They view reproduction, disease, growth, and heredity, for example, to be topics of interest. Although much of the content of high school biology is appropriate for the intended audience, there is a problem with the amount of content in this course of study. Biology teachers, science supervisors, and science educators often say that high school biology courses contains too much subject matter. They are concerned about students memorizing too many terms, which will stifle meaningful learning.

The content of many high school biology courses is overwhelming in quantity. The textbook frequently dictates the curriculum, and some of these textbooks contain from 800 to over 1,000 pages. A "cover the course" approach works against teaching for understanding and meaning (Linn, 1987). When a teacher covers a great deal of subject matter, students have difficulty engaging in inquiry that allows them to construct concepts with personal meaning. The problem regarding high school biology courses is reflected in the statement, "The present curricula in science and mathematics are overstuffed and undernourished" (American Association for the Advancement of Science [AAAS], 1989, p. 14).

As a result of the current attempt to reform science education, science curricula are under scrutiny to determine if they meet national goals, state and local mandates, and the needs of students. Course content is a major component of the reform movement, which must be examined through research and scholarly inquiry if significant changes are to occur in science education.

Purpose

The intent of this investigation was to gain useful insights into which biology course content is believed to be essential for the majority of high school students. The professional literature, the experiences of the authors, and the views of local science supervisors were incorporated to synthesize recommendations regarding the topics and unifying principles to be included in high school biology courses.

Related Literature

Most high school biology texts are encyclopedic, containing large amounts of information, as well as many technical terms per chapter (Chiappetta, Fillman, & Sethna, 1991; Lumpe & Beck, 1996; McInerney, 1986). At one time, high school introductory biology textbooks introduced more new terms than did a high school foreign language textbook (Brandwein, 1981). Leonard and Penick (1993) remind us that high school biology textbooks reflect the curriculum and that many biology teachers attempt to cover a large amount of the assigned text.

The National Research Council (NRC, 1990) in their report, Fulfilling the Promise: Biology Education in the Nation's Schools, states:

Textbooks are used by more that 90% of biology teachers (Weiss, 1987, p. 31). In many classrooms, the assigned textbook defines the nature of the course. But most professional biologists who examine high-school texts are appalled at what they find. Most of the texts are far too long and poorly crafted. They contain too much new and unnecessary vocabulary and too little clear exposition of fundamental concepts. They are often boring, and they are also sometimes either misleading or incorrect. (p. 11)

In The Teaching and Learning of Biology in the United States, Anderson ( 1989) discusses many of the curriculum problems facing those who wish to reform high school biology. Although most educators would agree that biology teachers should stress the conceptual development of major biological ideas and de-emphasize the rote learning of large numbers of facts, supporting factual knowledge is necessary to achieve the understanding of large ideas. Anderson indicates that we have a dilemma to face, because we must decide on the terms and factual information that lead to the mastery of fundamental principles of biology and to the transfer of that learning to the many contexts of everyday life.

The Biological Science Curriculum Study (BSCS, 1993) produced a guide for biology courses at the secondary and collegiate levels, indicating biology education should be developed around six unifying principles that can be used to organize the specific contents of a course (Appendix A). The booklet, Developing Biological Literacy, begins with three major recommendations: (a) the contents of biology must be unified by the theory of evolution, (b) biology classes must be opportunities for students to experience science as a process and to understand science as a way of knowing, and (c) the programs should help students develop biological literacy.