Students’ Explanation: Wider Variety of Teaching Methods Increases Motivation and Give Higher Results in Biology

Abstract

By planning and teaching a specific topic, in an Upper Secondary School biology course in a highly formative way the effect on student learning was studied. Within given frames, students planned working methods and examination form within the topic of Gene technology. For the examination students also phrased learning goals and assessment criteria. The design resulted in higher summative grades on the topic compared to traditionally taught topics within the same course. In this study, students were interviewed in focus groups, one year after graduation to investigate student view on the intervention. One important outcome is that students appreciate variation in teaching more than the content itself. There was also a positive reaction to students planning working methods, but students wanted the teacher to perform different kinds of controlling actions. Findings are discussed in the context of formative methods with intentions of improving practical teaching methods.

Keywords

• formative methods
• variation
• student participation
• motivation
• secondary education
• biology