The Teaching Method of Science Subject in Primary Schools Based on Students’ Competency Development: Results From a Field Study

Hong Bui Van,Thi Ngan Doan

doi:10.34256/ajir21112

Abstract

Renovating the General Education Curriculum is one of the most important goals of the education renovation in Vietnam at the present. Particularly, the renovation of teaching methods has been receiving increasing attention during the past few years. This originates from the growing demands for social developments and the inadequacies of the current General Education curriculum. This article explores the current teaching methods used to teach the science subject with an orientation toward the development of students’ competencies in primary schools in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. This scientific and objective account will provide the foundation for improving teaching methods, enhancing the quality of science education in primary schools with an orientation toward students’ competency development to meet the demands for the renovation of the General Education Curriculum at the primary level.

Highlights

In the age of educational renovation where the body of scientific knowledge is growing rapidly, more and more educators have abandoned the conventional way of delivering knowledge (Eurydice, 2006; Ministry, 2015)
One of the fundamental approaches with the power to affect competency development is renovating teaching methods to maximize students’ proactivity, autonomy, and creativity. This field study investigated the current teaching methods used for the science subject with an orientation toward competency development with the participation of 45 administrators, 354 teachers, and 1,880 students from 27 primary schools in 18/24 districts in Ho Chi Minh City
The findings reveal that the current teaching and learning of the science subject still revolve around conventional teaching methods in which the teachers give lectures while the students listen and memorize the lessons

Summary

Introduction

In the age of educational renovation where the body of scientific knowledge is growing rapidly, more and more educators have abandoned the conventional way of delivering knowledge (Eurydice, 2006; Ministry, 2015). Instead, they teach learners the way to learn and help them form and develop the necessary competencies. As a result, renovating the current teaching methods has become a vital task. There should be learning problems to encourage students to participate in learning activities, recognize their own competencies and preferences, practice learning autonomy, enhancing their abilities and learned skills and knowledge for further development. It is important to ensure that every student has the opportunity to complete learning tasks and gain experience

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion