CONTINGENT TEACHING AND 6E SOFT SCAFFOLDING STRATEGIES IN DEVELOPING BASIC SCIENCE PROCESS SKILLS AMONG GRADE 7 SPECIAL PROGRAM IN THE ARTS STUDENTS IN MODULAR DISTANCE LEARNING

The idea of scaffolding has been widely used over the preceding years because it emphasizes the key facets of student’s learning, which is ‘‘guided by others’’. Many studies had found out that scaffolding is effective in develop science process skills, particularly the basic skills. (Van Der Stuyf, R. R., 2002). Yet it is scarce in classrooms (Pol, J. V., Volman, M., & Beishuizen, J., 2011), mostly because it is so challenging to perform. Due to the results of the 2019, Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2019 where it was revealed that Filipinos scored 'significantly lower' than any other country that participated, this study aims to enhance the students’ performance in science. Particularly, this two- group Pretest- Posttest design, quasi-experimental research aims to determine the effectiveness of contingent teaching strategy (CST) and 6 E soft scaffolding strategy (6E) in developing the Basic Science Process Skills (BSPS) among fifty (50) Special Program in the Arts Students who are enrolled in Grade 7 modular distance learning in Calamba City School for the Arts during S.Y. 2020-2021. The research instruments that were used are lesson plans, activity sheets for CST and 6E, and pre-test and posttest for the 6 BSPS. The test scores show that most respondents in both groups before the strategies have no skills to developing level in observing, classifying, predicting, inferring, measuring, and communicating. While after the study, most of respondents reached developing to approaching proficiency. The results of tests in the two groups indicate that there is a significant difference in the BSPS. Additionally, the study also found out that there is no significant difference in the pretest and posttest result of the respondents exposed in the two strategies