Difficult topics in Biology from the view point of students and teachers based on KBSM implementation

Abstract

Biology subject is a part of the science curriculum ensuring that students can master in biology, aware of themselves and their environment, know the nature of science and biology as well as able to analyse the problems they encounter in daily life. Biology subject consists of many topics and concepts that must be comprehended by the students. However, there are several Biological topics that are considered difficult for many students. Thus, this study was carried out to identify the difficult topics in Form 4 biology from teachers' and students' perspectives. This study involved 352 students and 71 biology teachers from one of the districts in Selangor, Malaysia. The Biological Difficult Topics Questionnaire was used to assess the view on the difficulty of biology topics. Data from the questionnaire given were processed and analysed descriptively using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software. The results of this study revealed that the students have difficulty learning the topics of Nutrition, Cell Division and Chemical Composition in Cells. Meanwhile, the most three difficult topics identified by teachers were the Cell Division, Respiration and Nutrition. This shows that the Cell Division and Nutrition topics can be considered difficult by teachers and students. Based on the teachers' comments in the survey, it was found that the difficulties faced among students in learning the subject were due to the various terminologies and concepts that they could not understand. Findings provide valuable information that lead to a possible solution. The difficulties experienced by the students while learning Biology must be dealt seriously.