Evaluation of the Strengths and Weaknesses in Teaching Physics through Competency-based Approach

Abstract

Traditional teaching methods such as the lecture method have been used in the school education, up to G.C.E. (A/L) classes in Sri Lanka for a long time. In 2007, the National Institute of Education in Sri Lanka introduced the competency based approach (CBA) for the first time for grade 6 and 10 (NIE, 2009). It was extended to other grades progressively in the later years. The G.C.E. (A/L) curriculum was reformed in 2009 and CBA was introduced in teaching-learning process. In the CBA, the teacher acts as a resource person and provides the students the required reading material, equipment, other inputs and it is carried out according to the 5E model (Ginige, 2008). It involves five stages of learning phases namely, engagement, exploration, explanation, elaboration, and evaluation (Ginige, 2008). An evaluation of the process development and implementation of curriculum has been carried out for grades 6 and 10 in 2008 (Perera, 2008) and for grades 7 and 11 in 2009 (Perera, 2009) and the strengths and weaknesses have been discussed. The present study evaluates strengths and weaknesses of CBA against the traditional lecture method, focussing on students’ understanding of selected lessons in physics and to identify the difficulties in teaching physics in the school-based environment through CBA.