“The effect of teaching some contemporary biological issues on developing critical thinking for secondary school students.”اثر تدريس بعض القضايا البيولوجيه المعاصره علي تنميه التفكير الناقد لدي طلاب المرحله الثانويه

مرفت رشاد احمد محمد ” عين شمس ا لتربية المناهج وطرق التدريس الماجستير 2001 Name : Mirvat Rashad Ahmed Mohamed

The problem of the present research was defined in the non-efficiency of the presend declarative methods in preporing the Modern student who is able to understand the new biological discoveries and what they raise of issues, Most of them are not granted now. It is probable that teaching these Issues into a proposed unit would develop the critical thinking, for what these issues raise from thought waves inside the class when presenting them:

– The researcher has followed the following procedures:

1- Preparing a list with the most important biological issues.

2- Analyzing the content of the third unit in biology for the first grade in secondary school.

3- Building a study – unit including some of the contemporary biological issues convenient with the maturity level for the students.

4- Using the critical thinking scale (For Abdel Hamid Assfour, 1994).

5- Applying the critical thinking scale on two pre-test groups.

6- Teaching the unit involving some contemporary biological issues to the subjects of the experimental group.

7- Reapplying the scale again on the two post – test groups.

8- Statistical treatment, deriving results, explaining them, and introducing recommendations and suggestions.

The present study showed the following results:

1- There were statistically significant differences between the Mediumscores for female students in the experimental group in the pre – and – post  application for critical thinking scale at 0,001 level in favor of the post application.

2- There were statistically significant differences between the mediums scores for female – students in the experimental group and the medium scores for female – students in the control group in the post – application on the critical thinking scale in favor of the experimental group at 0.001 level.

Key Words:

1- The Recent Biological Issue.

2- Developing the critical thinking.

Although that this critical thinking has a greatimportance as a form of the productive thinking which requires excelling in various abilities and not to restrict to a specific method of teaching or evaluating, the pedagegues did not give a suitable attention to it and also the way of teaching sciences at the present time could not achieve this Goal. – So, we must re-think about the curricula and focusing on developing the scientific mental ability of the learner in such mazy technological age.

– The research’s problem:

By reviewing the previous studies and their results, it was made clear the non- sufficiency of the present declaratine methods and their deficit in meeting the requirements of preparing the modern student who is able to take realistic decisions in respect to new biological discoveries and practices, and what these discoveries include of non granted biological issues to this date, and the difference in opinions and interpretations about them because of what they raise from thought waves when presenting them, the matter that results in the distraction of students and pushing them toward radical views and efforts for thinking about them, thus, and this may have a positive role in developing critical thinking for students, which is among the objectives that did not receive sufficient attention for their development by the educators except in 1980.

The research’s problem is represented in the following question:

– What is the impact of some contemporary biological issues on developing critical thinking for secondary school students.

This question is subdivided into the following research questions:

1- What are the contemporary biological issues which the student needs and which suite their maturity level at the secondary stage?

2- What is the availability extent of these issues in the content of biology curriculum for the first grade of secondary school?

3- What is the pupils’ level of comprehension for that issues? What is the effect of teaching a unit dealing with contemporary biological issues on developing critical thinking for the student?

– The research’s importance:

1- It is expected that this research will be utilized by biology curriculum designers at secondary stage in building curricula that include contemporary biological issues.

2- This research gives some a configuration for how to develop critical thinking through teaching some contemporary biological issues.

3- Confirming on the importance of training students on critical thinking skills through teaching the biological science.

4- The secondary stage students have participated in discussing, and evaluating some contemporary biological issues as genetics bibe-children and producing useful materials from genetically modified microbes, and other wise of important issues.”