Professional Certification Program in Secondary Education
Kim Cheong
The Main Ideas/Topics that Should Be Taught in AP Biology or Equivalent Levels
Kim Cheong
The knowledge in the biological sciences is growing at the most rapid pace amongst the three traditional sciences with the explosion of new information and monumental discoveries in the past several decades. A contemporary high school biology curriculum should reflect the new knowledge. This study aims to find out the kind of new knowledge that should be taught in high school Advancement Placement (AP) Biology and/or equivalent programs around the world e.g. International Baccalaureate (IB) and GCE ‘A’ Level Biology. Using the Delphi survey, the method seeks and relies on expert opinions and inputs from a select panel of biological educators/scientists. Their recommendations would then be used as a basis to draw up a program of topics/ideas to be included in the teaching and learning of a Biology curriculum at the AP equivalent level. Such a forward looking curriculum should prepare and align students adequately for their career aspirations and future needs in a rapidly changing world in biology and the life sciences. The topics that were selected (and those that were not selected) by experts reflect the rapid development of new areas of interest in research and technology in the biological sciences. The expert panel also recommended a number of what appeared to be more “traditional” topics. However, it does not escape notice that the expert panel comments about these “traditional” topics necessitated a need for such topics to keep up with the trends in biological sciences in order for them to be relevant. The introduction of new topics would mean that teachers would also need to upgrade their own content and skills to ensure a smooth delivery of the curriculum. With such a rapidly expanding field in Biology, the biology curriculum should be more focused and selective than that of a traditional survey syllabus as in the current practice of most school biology syllabuses.
Kim CheongThe knowledge in the biological sciences is growing at the most rapid pace amongst the three traditional sciences with the explosion of new information and monumental discoveries in the past several decades. A contemporary high school biology curriculum should reflect the new knowledge. This study aims to find out the kind of new knowledge that should be taught in high school Advancement Placement (AP) Biology and/or equivalent programs around the world e.g. International Baccalaureate (IB) and GCE ‘A’ Level Biology. Using the Delphi survey, the method seeks and relies on expert opinions and inputs from a select panel of biological educators/scientists. Their recommendations would then be used as a basis to draw up a program of topics/ideas to be included in the teaching and learning of a Biology curriculum at the AP equivalent level. Such a forward looking curriculum should prepare and align students adequately for their career aspirations and future needs in a rapidly changing world in biology and the life sciences. The topics that were selected (and those that were not selected) by experts reflect the rapid development of new areas of interest in research and technology in the biological sciences. The expert panel also recommended a number of what appeared to be more “traditional” topics. However, it does not escape notice that the expert panel comments about these “traditional” topics necessitated a need for such topics to keep up with the trends in biological sciences in order for them to be relevant. The introduction of new topics would mean that teachers would also need to upgrade their own content and skills to ensure a smooth delivery of the curriculum. With such a rapidly expanding field in Biology, the biology curriculum should be more focused and selective than that of a traditional survey syllabus as in the current practice of most school biology syllabuses.