GS Thesis Master of Arts in Teaching Major in Science University of Rizal System, Rodriguez Rizal 2020

The study aimed to analyze how the teachers' guides in biology, currently being used by public school teachers, were developed in terms of general features, teacher development, cultural loading, procedural guidance, advice about the unpredictable, motivation, presentation and use, language of the teacher's guide, lesson planning and implementation, evaluation and assessment, context flexibility, and instructional materials. It also aimed at identifying erroneous answers to student activities and exercises included in the said guides. It was conducted in Rodriguez, Rizal during the second semester of school year 2019-2020 with the participation of twenty-five (25) select high school science teachers who have been teaching biology for at least ten years.

The study presented the profile of the respondents as well as their evaluation on the biology teachers' guides. In addition, the percentage of errors that was identified and the suggested corrections given by the respondents in terms of "pre-assessment", "answers to activities", and "summative assessment were also presented. General research findings favored the assumption that the currently available DepEd-issued teachers' guides in biology are of great help in teaching for both biology and non-biology major teachers who have minimal knowledge and experience. The research findings, however, revealed that these guides contain erroneous answer keys that need some correction and/or revision.

The study made use of descriptive-evaluative method of research and focused mainly on the analysis of teachers' guides in biology being used by high school science teachers in the public sector that was designed and developed to match the respective learners' materials to support them in the implementation of the new K to 12 science curriculum. The respondents were purposively selected according to the nature and needs of the study. Hence, only teachers that have been teaching biology for at least ten years were selected to participate. Using the adapted and modified questionnaire-checklist from Gok's 'Evaluating the Teachers' Guides of a Recently Published Course Book Series for Young Leamers in Turkey', research data were gathered through the following procedure: (1) gathering of science instructional materials, (2) construction and validation of the modified questionnaire-checklist, (3) purposive selection of teacher-respondents, (4) administration of the questionnaire-checklist, (5) retrieval of data, (6) qualitative and quantitative documentary analysis, and finally (7) analysis and interpretation of data.

The research findings indicated that the biology teachers' guides have generally contributed to achieving a good standard of teaching through its comprehensive guidance on teacher development, cultural points, teaching procedures, alternatives, utilization of indigenous materials in classroom discussion and activities, and the use of audio-visual aids and other educational technologies and materials. The said guides, however, lack provisions for a variety of teaching strategies suited for different learner's learning styles, classroom assessment tools and classroom management strategies. Additionally, only the G10 Biology TG does not provide enough teaching tips on how to sustain learner's motivation. Impressively, it is the only TG that has offered sufficient photocopiable additional learning materials among the Biology teachers' guides being analyzed. General research findings have led to the conclusion that the Biology teachers' guides, even though they lack provisions for teacher support in managing classroom and learning outcomes, have fulfilled the instructional needs of the teachers in terms of salient features and comprehensive guidance in the delivery of learning, and therefore generally possess the characteristics of a good and acceptable teacher's guides but there are some areas on the guides that need to be revisited as they contain several erroneous answer keys on it, mostly in the G10 Biology TG.

It is therefore recommended that DepEd may issue a revised better and improved editions of the present Biology teachers' guides (TGs) especially the Grade 10 Biology TG considering the significant evaluation findings of this study and likewise correct the erroneous answers that were identified, and include provisions for various learning assessment tools, classroom management strategies and supplemental learning materials. Additionally, a similar study maybe conducted focusing on other areas of the K to 12 science curriculum such as in Chemistry, Earth Science and Physics involving a significant number of Science Master Teachers as respondents. Moreover, a similar study may also be conducted focusing on the analysis of the respective learners' materials.