SCIENCE-BASED DIGITIZED INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIAL IN SELECTED BIOLOGY TOPICS AND THE SELF-DIRECTED LEARNING SKILLS OF GRADE 10 SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND ENGINEERING (STE) STUDENTS

The study dealt on the utilization of a science-based digitized instructional material (SBDIM) in tackling competencies in Grade 10 Biology. Specifically, the study determined the correlation between the perceived acceptability of SBDIM as to content quality, applicability, appeal to the target users, and originality in presentation with the self-directed learning skills of the Grade 10 STE students as to critical thinking and decision-making skills. Using descriptive correlational design, two sets of instruments that undergone reliability and validity were used. Mean percentage score was calculated to determine the mean performance of the students in Biology and to determine the perceived level of acceptability of the SBDIM, weighted mean and standard deviation were utilized. Moreover, to identify the relationship between variables, Pearson Product-Moment correlation coefficient was used. Results revealed that the students are ‘moving towards mastery’ in the assessed self-directed learning skills; the SBDIM is highly acceptable in terms of content quality, applicability, appeal to the target users, and originality in presentation. This implies that the SBDIM on selected Grade 10 Biology topics had achieved the criteria and standards for the acceptability of the instructional material in the teaching-learning process. Moreover, among the four criteria, originality in presentation was found to be significantly related to critical thinking and decision-making skill of the learners. The previous suggested that when the students were exposed to a novel instructional material such as SBDIM, they tend to think rationally in order to understand why they were learning biology. The results also suggest that when the students recognized a novel instructional material, they tend to consider it in choosing a good option and take them into account in making decisions. It can be assumed that it is imperative that novelty of digital instructional material should be taken as one aspect to be kept in mind during the development of digital instructional material