Causal Modeling to Explore the Correlations among Teachers’ Competence, Teaching Strategies, and Student Learning Achievement in Science

Abstract

The misalignment between the teaching process and expected outcomes of the K-12 curriculum guidelines, traditional teaching strategies, the unresolved problems in the science program and almost absence of teachers’ competence are among the challenges of the education system. Rooted in theory of cognitivism, this perspective underscores the importance of understanding the teachers role in the students learning achievement, which could cause the Philippines to lag behind other countries in international assessment. The study provides a concrete view of the relationship of teaching competence, teaching strategies and student learning achievement through Path analysis using SEM. The data were obtained through descriptive survey among 45 teachers and achievement test results of 450 students in Partido district. There were a total of five variations of methods used by the teachers to teach the science classes, and the dominance of traditional methods was observed. The occurrence of inadequately capacitated teachers in science, does not spell a bright prospect for science education in senior high school. These serious constraints deserve serious attention to pre-empt the situation from evolving into a critical educational concern. The study also found a strong correlation between innovative teaching strategies such as interactive and experiential learning to teachers’ competency. The path analysis through SEM avers that when teaching competence is combined with appropriate teaching strategies, it provides a mediation effect that enhance student learning achievement. This paper suggests that for teachers to uphold and promote innovative teaching strategies, their competitiveness needs to be enhanced and their self-efficacy needs to be strengthened initially.