The Development and Evaluation of Case Method Teaching Material for Developing the Ability to Plan Science Lessons

Abstract

This study aimed to develop and evaluate a case method teaching material for college students studying to become teachers in order to develop their ability to plan science lessons. The case method teaching material developed in this study combines a manga textbook with a narrative approach and lesson plan. The material is designed to develop the skills and competencies required for science teachers by engaging the students in the activity of comparing the manga textbook and lesson plan. Students' lesson planning abilities were evaluated from three viewpoints: 1) classroom teaching, 2) instruction on experiments, and 3) lesson environment. An evaluation experiment was conducted with college students studying to become teachers. The following three items were examined: 1) changes in viewpoints on how much importance students place on writing their lesson plans; 2) the number of changes made to the contents of the students' lesson plans and how that related to the changes in their viewpoints in (1); and 3) students' perceptions of the use and effectiveness of the case method teaching material. As a result, statistically significant results were obtained for almost all items. These results suggest that this case method teaching material is effective in developing the ability to plan science lessons.