ABSTRACT
This descriptive-qualitative study found out that for face-to-face; teachers experienced challenging, systematic, and effective, for learners it was enjoyable, boring, and easy, and for parents, it was evident, comprehendible and indifference. The hindering factors were behavior of learners, lack of equipment, noise, scarcity of materials, lots of task, children’s needs, time adjustment, and better understanding. The facilitating factors were feed backing, perform science laboratory, communicative, exploration, lucidity, actual performance, and positive outcome. For MDL, teachers experienced ineffective and difficult, for learners, confusing and busy schedule and for parents, absence of teachers, importance of gadgets and stress. The hindering factors were difficulty in comprehension, modules distribution and retrieval, difficulty in understanding, self-study, poor internet connection, issue on modules, and struggle. The facilitating factors were rest and time, creative, good learning, enough time, fun, cheaper, and time efficient.
Keywords: Science, Face To Face Classes, Modular Distance Learning, Policy Recommendation
INTRODUCTION
As the world grows more scientifically and technologically advanced, the significance of Science in promoting economic progress and national prosperity is increasingly acknowledged.
Consequently, Science education is continually targeted for reform to foster an effective Science culture within society. This education, then, serves as the primary means and a fundamental force by which a society adapts to its needs and drives to sustainable development.
Indeed, high-quality Science education is crucial in cultivating top-notch graduates who emerge as the outstanding leaders and valuable workforce of the nation.
According to Vidhyalaya (2013), Science is a crucial subject at the upper primary level, and has a solid grasp of basic Science concepts that enhances the content knowledge of both teachers and learners.
On the other hand, Dunlonsky et al. (2013) state that the achievement of Science education objectives is significantly influenced by the instructional methods that teachers employ to convey fundamental concepts and skills, which are essential for developing learners’ understanding of Science. Teaching techniques used by educators play a vital role in boosting learners’ abilities and potential for effective, authentic, and meaningful learning.
It is commonly observed that the quality of education that the learners receive largely depends on the quality of instruction that are provided. Undoubtedly, teachers must explore ways to improve how they deliver education to ensure that learning is effectively imparted to the learners.
However, teachers have sometimes struggled to understand certain Science concepts themselves. This difficulty in comprehension can lead to challenges in teaching the concepts effectively. If teachers do not fully grasp the concepts, there is a risk that they may convey information inaccurately to learners and potentially lead to the development of misconceptions.
According to Barnett et al. (2004), the curriculum often receives limited attention in ongoing discussions about teaching and learning in higher education; however, this might change due to the implementation of quality assurance and benchmarking processes. Various teaching methods are utilized in educational settings, with modular teaching that emerges as a novel approach and continue to gain increasing attention. This modular approach to learning has been adopted at all educational levels. It involves a self-learning packet focused on a specific topic or unit and can be used in any environment conducive to the learners, thus, allowing them to complete it at their own pace.
Today, traditional face-to-face education is being enhanced through the integration of the internet that allows teachers and learners to engage in classroom settings during regular class time, while also utilizing an online platform. On this virtual platform, teachers can upload various materials necessary for instruction which serve as a supplementary learning resource for learners at home. Teachers continue with their established methods and forms of communication, now augmented by this technological tool.
The research aimed to enhance comprehension of both face-to-face and printed modular learning methods which serve as foundation for empirical analysis of learners engaged in actual educational activities.
The researcher is highly motivated to examine the impact on imparting key learning competencies in Science using different modalities which are crucial for improving current teaching and learning practices as well as their overall effects on the teachers and learners’ development.
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