Al

sim,
EljM.

BSA1A

Lesson3:Sci
enceeducat
ioni
nPhi
li
ppi
nes

I
nt hi
sinnov ati
veage, sciencest if
lesandev endri
vessoci alorderswithit
sthought s
anditemsandal mostcer tai
nly,theef fectofsci enceandt echnologyoni ndiv
iduals'l
ives
wil
lenduret oexistandexpansi onbef orev er
ylong.Thr oughsci ence, t
hemanneri n
whichindiv
idualsthinkmov ement st oamor ebasicmet hodol ogy .Oft
entimes,science
hasbeenper ceivedtobeofext raordinar yimpor t
anceasar esultofi t
sassociationwith
i
nnovat i
on,which,inanadmi nistrationv iewpoi nt,i
svitalregionf ormonet ar
ytur nof
event
s.Thisi sperhapst hemot i
v ationbehi ndwhynumer ousnat ionshaveimpl anted
theactualfeeli
ngofsci encei nthei rindividual schoolsystem t ogi v
eallresi
dent sbe
empower edofdy nami cinterestaccesspr esentdaycul tures.

I
nPhili
ppines,l
ear ni
ngi nscience,
mor ethaninsomeothersubject,i
sv i
ewedasto
beanessentialformoder nizat
ionandpubl i
ct ur
nofevent
s.Subsequent l
y,overt
he
secti
ontwentyy ear
s, whichhav ebeendescribedbydevel
opmentstowar ds
i
ndustri
ali
zat
ionandaccel erat
edf i
nancial
turnofevent
s,sci
enceinstruct
ionhasbeen
atthefor
eofeducat ional pl
anchangedev elopments.

Duringt heearlyy earst hechangesi nsciencetraini

ngaccentuatedsci encef orthe
i
mpr ovementofl ogical andspeci al
i
zedl abor,si
ncet her
ewer e(r
egar dlessar einmany
spots)intensedef icienciesofprepar edlaborsupplyinthesefiel
ds.Thor oughl ogical
preparati
onwasaccent uatedduringt hoseyears,
reflect
ingchangesi nt heWestdur i
ng
thepost -
sput nikperiod, f
ocusingoni nformationi
nt hecustomarylogi cal discipl
ines
andaschol arlymet hodol ogytalearning

Throughoutt helateryears,
scienceeducat ioninPhi l
ippines,i
ndeedf ollowing
promptsemer gi
ngf rom theWest ,
hasbecomeal otmor ecy cl
eordisclosur earranged,
yet,l
i
kewi se,hasstartedtolaysignif
icantlymor esignif
icanceonper ti
nencet anearby
necessi
tiesandcondi ti
onsaswel laspopul istissues, t
ypifi
edbyUNESCO' s" sci
encef or
all
"development sUndert heseimpact s,sciencei nstr
uctor sinthi
sar eaoft hepl anet
havestartedt apresentscienceasaboundar yofcoher entr easoningandanengi neerof
cri
ti
calthinkingabili
ti
es,notjustamongt hel ogicalfi
rstclassassociatedwi t
hcompl ex
i
ssuesandhi ghinnov ati
onyetadditi
onallyamongt henor mal workerandhomemakeri n
thei
revery daybattl
est aearnenought opayt her entandaccommodat ethei rfami l
i
es.

1
 Basi
cEducat
ion

Sci
enceEducat
ionI
nBasi
cAndTer
ti
aryEducat
ion

Int hebasiceducat i
on,sci
enceeducat ionhelpsst udent sl earnimpor t
antconcept s
andf actsthatarer elatedtoev er
ydayl i
fe(Carale&Campo, 2003; Meador ,2005; Wort
h
&Gr ollman,2003)i ncludingimpor t
antski ll
ssuchaspr ocessski l
l
s, cr
iti
cal t
hinki
ng
ski
ll
s, andlif
eski l
lsthatar eneededi ncopingupwi thdai l
yl i
feact iv
iti
es(Chai l
le&
Bri
tain,2002).Sci enceeducat i
onal sodev elopsposi tiv
eat t
itudesuchas: thelovefor
knowl edge,passionf orinnovativ
et hings,curiosit
yt ost udyaboutnat ure,andcr eat
ivi
ty
(Li
nd, 1997).Scienceeducat i
onwi l
l developast rongf oundat i
onf orstudyingscience
andf orconsideringsci encerelat
edcar eersinthef uture.Thi sisani nvestmentf orthe
count r
yt odevelopasci ent
ifi
call
ycul turedandl i
terateci t
izenry .

Ter
ti
aryEducat
ion

Interti
aryeducat i
on, sci
enceeducat iondeal swi t
hdev el
opingst udents
understandingandappr eciati
onofsci encei deasandsci enti
ficworks.Thi sisdone
thr
oughof f
eringbasicsci encecour seintheGener alEducati
oncur ri
culum.Science
educationint hetert
iarylevelalsofocusesont hepr eparat
ionofsciencet eachers,
sci
ent i
st,engineers,
andot herprof
essi onalsinvarioussciencer el
atedsuchas
engineeri
ng, agri
cult
ur e,medicine,
andheal thscience.Thest ateprovidesscholarshi
ps
toencour agemor est udentstopur suesci encecour ses.

Sci
enceSchool
sInThePhi
li
ppi
nes

Oneout standi
ngprogram forscienceeducati
onsupport
edbythegov er
nmentis
theestabli
shmentofSci enceschoolsinv ar
iouspart
softhecount
ry.Thereareal
so
severalgovernmentprogram i
mpl ement edbytheDepar
tmentofEducationandfew
pri
vateschool sforsci
enceeducation.

Phi
li
ppi
neSci
enceHi
ghSchoolSy
stem (
PSHSS)

Thisisagov er
nmentpr ogram forgi
ftedst
udentsi
nthePhil
ippines.I
tisaservi
ce
i
nsti
tuteoftheDepar tmentofSci enceandTechnol
ogy(DOST)whosemandat eisto
off
erfreescholarshi
pbasisf orsecondarycour
sewithspeci
alemphasi sonsubject
s
pert
aini
ngt othesciences,
wi ththeend-vi
ewofprepari
ngit
sstudentsforascience
car
eer( Republi
cActNo.3661) .Theschool mai
ntai
nsador mi
toryforalli
tsst
udents.

2
 PSHSS

STUDENTS

ThePhili
ppi
nesScienceHi ghSchoolSyst
em orthePSHSSst udentshaveprov
ento
beabeaconofexcell
ence,courage,andhopeforthecount
ry.Theyhavebroughthonor
tot
hePhil
ippi
nesthroughthei
rexempl ar
yachiev
ement si
nvariousint
ernati
onal
compet
it
ionandresearchcir
cles.

Speci
alSci
enceEl
ement
arySchool(
SSES)

Pr
oject

Thespeci
alScienceElementarySchool(SSES)Pr ojectispursuancetoDepEdor
der
No.73.S.2008,andDepEdor derNo.51S.2010.Thi spr ojectstart
edinJune2007wit
h
57identi
fi
edelement ar
yschool
st hatpart
ici
patedorwer eident
ifi
edasscience
elementar
yschoolsinthecountr
y .Si
nceitsincept
ion,thenumberhav egrowntomore
than60schoolsnationwideandthisisnowitssixt
hy earofi mplementati
on.

TheSSES

Pr
oject

Speci
alSci
enceEl
ement
arySchool

TheSpeci
alSci
enceElementar
ySchool(SSES)proj
ectai
mst odevel
opFili
pino
chi
ldrenequi
ppedwit
hscienti
fi
candtechnol
ogicalknowl
edge,ski
l
ls,
andv al
uesits
missioni
sto:

 Providealearni
ngenvir
onmentt
oScience-
incli
nedchi
ldr
enthroughaspeci
al
curr
iculum t
hatrecogni
zethemul
ti
plei
ntel
ligenceoft
helear
ners;

 Pr
omot
ethedev
elopmentofl
i
fel
ongl
ear
ningski
l
ls;
and

 Fost
erst
hehol
i
sti
cdev
elopmentoft
hel
ear
ner
s.

3
 QuezonCi
tyRegi
onalSci
enceHi
ghSchool

Theschool wasestabli
shedonSept ember17,1967.Ori
ginally,i
twasnamed
QuezonCi t
yScienceHighSchool .I
twast ur
nedintoaregi
onal sciencehighschool
fir
theNationalCapit
alRegionin1999.Theschool wasaproductofadr eam toest
abl
isha
special
scienceschoolfortal
entedstudentsinsci
enceandmat hemat i
cs.

Theschoolenvi
siontoserv
easasenseinpr ov
idingmaximum oppor t
uni
ti
esfor
sciencegif
tedst
udentstodevel
opspir
itofi
nquir
yandcr eat
ivi
ty.Theschooli
swell
-
suppliedbythel
ocalgover
nmentuni
tandbyt heparentsandteachersAssoci
ati
on
(PTA).Theschooli
sundertheDepart
mentofEducat i
on.

SchoolEnv
isi
on

Mani
laSci
enceHi
ghSchool

Theschool wasest abli

shedonOct ober1,1963ast heManil
aScienceHi ghSchool
(MSHS).Itthef i
rstsciencehi ghschool i
nt hePhili
ppines.Theorgani
zationand
curr
icul
um oft heschool putsmoreemphasi sonSci enceandmat hemat i
cs.MSHSai ms
toproducesci enti
stswit hsouls.I
nor dertot hi
s,humanitiescour
sesandot herel
ecti
ves
areincl
udedi ntheircurricul
um.St udentsar ealsoencour aget
oparti
cipatei
nv ar
ious
extr
acurri
cularactivi
ti
es.

TheSchoolAdmi
ssi
onTest

(
MSAT)

TheSchoolAdmi
ssi
onTest(
MSAT)

TheschoolAdmi ssi
onTest(MSAT),
forstudentswhowi sht
oenr oll
.TheMSAThas
fi
veparts:apt
it
udei nsci
ence,apt
it
udet
estinmat hemati
cs,andprof
iciencyi
nEngli
sh
theschoolpri
desitselff
rom pr
oduci
ngoutst
andingalumniandforwinningvari
ous
nati
onalcompetit
ions.

4
 Cent
ralVi
say
anI
nst
it
uteFoundat
ion

I
sthehomeandpi oneerofthepr ominentschool-
basedi
nnovationknownasthe
DynamicLearningProgram (DLP).TheDLPi sasy nthesi
sofcl
assicalandmodern
pedagogicalt
heori
esadaptedt ofosterthehighestl
ev el
ofl
ear
ning,creat
ivi
ty,
and
product
ivit
y.

Resear
chCent
erf
or

Theor
eti
cal

Phy
sics

(
RCTP)

Resear
chcent
erf
orTheor
eti
calPhy
sics(
RCTP)i
n1992

Theschool t
akespridei
nitsResearchCenterf
orTheor
eticalPhysi
cs(RCTP)
est
abl i
shedin1992,whichorgani
zessmal l
int
ernat
ional
workshopstofosterthe
i
nformal buti
ntenseexchangeofideasandperspecti
veonoutstandi
ngproblem i
n
physicsandmat hemati
cs.

Nonet heless, i
nspi t
eoft heser eactionandbacki ngoft hegov ernmentwi t
hr egards
toSci enceandi nnov at i
oni nt hePhi li
ppinest herear eaddi tional l
ydef i
cienci esexpl i
citl
y
i
nt hef ieldofbackupwi t
hadj acentnat i
onsl ikeJapanandSi ngapor e.Int hePhi l
ippines
therear eanassor tmentofnonf ormal school i
ngpr ogr amsi nsci encei nst ruct i
on.One
oft hemor tvivaciousi st hatoft hesciencecl ub.St artingat1979t herewer ear ound
2500sci encecl ubsi nt hePhi lippineswi thanal l outpar ticipat i
onofmor et han200, 000.
Aconsi derablelotoft hesecl ubshav eausef ulissuedi rection, forexampl e, creat i
ng
foodcr eat i
onpl ans, growi ngnewener gysour cesandmoni toringr egularasset s.
Anot heri nt
riguingmodel i
s"indi vi
duals'school "dev elopment .Uphel dbyt he
I
nt ernational I
nst i
tutef orRur al Reconst ruction, thi
sdev elopmenti nt hePhi li
ppi nes
broughtnewi nnov ati
oni ntodi scouragedr ust i
cr egionst hroughacour seofi ssueI D
(packagi ngpar tici
pat oryr esear ch),admi nistrationpr epar ing, andat wophase
i
nnov ati
onmov e(from exper tst atowndel egat es-" bar angayr esear chers"--andf rom
them t adi f
ferentr esident sthr oughexhi bitionpr ojects) .Thecy clesandt heout comeof
theseel ectiveschool sar epr esent l
ybei ngassessedwi ththeassi stanceofI DRCf onds.
Dul lexecution.

5
 Scienceeducat i
oninournat
ioncan'tbeconsideredasast rengt
h.Inviewof2014
i
nsights,thepassingratefort
hepublicaccompl i
shmenttest(NAT)f orgr
adesix
st
udent sisjust69.21%.Thepassingrat
ef orsecondaryschoolappearstobefarmore
awful,withapassingpaceofjust46.38%f rom 2010measur ements.Besi
des,t
he
Phi
lippinesreli
abl
yper f
ormshorri
fyi
nglyinglobalst
udies.

Onemodel i
stheTrendsi
nI nt
ernat
ionalMathematicsandScienceStudy(TIMSS).
In2003, f
orsecondaryschool
,thenati
onpositi
onedjust34thoutof38nat i
onsinHSI I
Math, and43rdoutofthe46takinganinter
estnati
onsinHSI ISci
ence.Forrudimentary
,
4thgrademember sposi
ti
oned23rdoutoft he25nationsinbothmat handscience.Our
nati
onqui tt
akingparti
nthestudyin2008,may beinthewakeofget t
ingsuchdreary
scores.

Allthemor easofl ate,thenati

ont ookpar tinthe2018Pr ogram forInternational
StudentAssessment( PISA).Ledbyt heOr ganizati
onf orEconomicCooper at
ionand
Development( OECD) ,therev i
ewpositi
oned79par t
akingeconomi esinlightoft heir
understudies'
presentat i
oninperusing,scienceandmat h.Fil
ipi
nounder studieshadt he
mostmi ni
mal meanscor einunderstandingappr eciat
ion(340focuses, beneatht he487
-poi
ntstudynor mal).Theyaddi ti
onall
yposi t
ionedsecondt otherearwardi nscience
(357)andmat h( 353),underneaththe489- pointnormal inthetwosubj ects.

Thi
sbr
ingsupanext
remel
ysi
gni
fi
canti
ssue:Whyi
sthi
sso?

Theresearcheralumni oftheprogram wouldli

kewi segetani nst
ructorpreparing
program fort
hem tomeetal l
requir
ement sfortheLicensureExami nati
onf orTeachers
(LET).Quali
fyi
ngmov esonf r
om thegrantwoul dbegiventhepl aceofuni quescience
educatorwithabeginningcompensat i
ongradeof13.DepEdl i
kewi secall
edf oralumni
ofScience,Math,orEngineeringcourseswithoutLETconf i
rmat i
on, t
ooTESDA
authori
zespeciali
zedprofessionalalumniwithskil
li
nexpl i
citacquiri
ngregions,toapply
aspar t
ti
meeducat orsfortheKt o12Seni orHighSchool Program.

Def
ici
encyofst
udyhal
ls

Thedefi
ciencyofst
udyhall
sforDepEdschoolsisaddit
ional
l
yani ssue.Withthe
executi
onoftheK-12program,Benj
ieVal
buena,publi
cseatoftheAlli
anceof
ConcernedTeachers-
Phil
i
ppines(ACT-
Phil
i
ppines)assessedthestudyhalldef
ici
encyin

6
thecount r
ytobe113, 995st ar
ti
ngat2017.ByJune2017, Educati
onUndersecretary
JesusMat eodeclaredt hat50,
000oft herequi
red113,000studyhall
shadpr ev
iously
beenfinishedandar ef orthcomingforuse.Theundersecret
aryfocusedonthet argetof
thepublicaut hor
it
yt omakemor ehomerooms" t
omeetl owerclasssize,
whichpr ompts
helpf
ullearning."

Lackofl
abs

Besidet heconspi cuousabsenceofhomer ooms, thereislikewiseanabsenceof

sci
encer esear chcent erst oworkwi thsciencel ear
ni ngandut ili
zati
onofi tsi
deast o
understudies.In2014, DepEddet ai
ledal ackofsci encer esearchfacili
ti
esinl ocalesII
I,
IV-
A, X,XI,
andXI I,withanor mal ofonlyoneoutoft enschool shav i
ngi tsownl ab.Inthe
NationalCapi t
al Region, theproporti
onimpr ov edwitht hreelabsf oreach10school s;in
anycase, t
hedi scoveriesshowedt hattheot herareashadnosci encer esearchf aci
li
ti
es.
Thisissuei nci
tedanal y stsfr
om DilimanandLosBanosoft heUni versit
yofthe
Phil
ippinest ofosterVer sat
il
eInstr
ument ationSy stem f orScienceEducat ionand
Research( VISSER) .

Thisi nstrument ati

onf ramewor kincor por atesequi pment ,programmi ng,sensor s,
andexami nat i
onmodul esf ordi ff
erentsci encesubj ects.Thegadget '
sequi pmentpar t
i
ncor poratesmul t
i-channel fit
tingandpl aysi mpl eandadv ancedsensor sthatsudden
spikeindemandf orami crocont r
oller.Themi crocontr ollerpool sallthedat aand
associatessuchequi pmentt ot hegadget 'smodul es, whi chr emembert estsforsci ence,
science,phy sicalscience, anddesi gning.Wi tht heseimpedi ment sinsci enceeducat ing,
onecan' tresisttheur get ot hi
nkabouthowourcompat riot sseesci ence.Thenor mal
Fil
ipi
nowhodoesn' twor kinasci ence- relatedi ndustryhaspr obabl ynev errel
at edthe
i
deat othei rdayt odayexi stence.Thewor d'sci ence'itsel fappear stobef arof fand
subtle,j
ustbei ngappl i
edt oindi vi
dual swhobur nthrought hev astmaj orit
yoft heirday s
i
nt helabori nt hehomer oom.Wheny ouheart hewor d' sci ence',whatr ingsabel l?
Presumabl y,i
t'salotofi deasf rom sci encel ikedev elopment ,orthef requentlyr ehashed
explanationt hat"themi tochondr i
ai st hef orcet ober eckonedwi thoft hecell."Asf aras
sciencegoes, youcoul dr ecollectbl ends, mi xtures,andcomponent s.Asf arasphy sical
science,y ouwoul dmostl ikelyenv isionboar dbr i
mmi ngwi t hcondi ti
onsandi mages,
withAlber tEinstei
ncal ml yandmet iculousl yat tempt i
ngt ocausey out ogetthem.

Sci
enceeducati
oninPhil
ippinesi
sabigdeal,asessenti
altobearingsoffut
ure
publi
cdevelopmentandadvancement,capaci
ti
eswithrespecttoindiv
idualandpubl
ic
cri
ti
calt
hinkingandthepr
oductionofsympathet
icandpopulistsocialor
ders.

7
 Hence,manywoul dagreethatt
hatscienceissomet hingt
hattypical
indivi
duals
don'
teffect
ivelypart
ici
pat
ein.Bethatasitmay ,
trul
y,sciencei
sanessent ialpi
eceof
ourdail
yexistences.Oneofthemostnotableadvert
isersofscience,CarlSagan,once
sai
d

“
Scienceismorethanabodyofknowl
edge.I
t’
sawayoft
hinki
ng;
awayof
skepti
call
yint
err
ogati
ngtheuni
ver
se.”

Noti
cethati
nhisstat
ement,ther
ei snoaccentuat
iononr
ememberingeveryoneof
thebonesinthebody,
orbeingprofi
cientatset
tl
ingallt
heki
nemat
iccondit
ions.I
t
basi
call
ycomesdownt oaddressingeveryt
hingaroundus.

Furt
herdevelopingsci enceeducat ionwon' tjustpermitourcount r
ytohav e
resi
dentswhoar emast ermindsabov eallelse,yetaddit
ionall
yi ncr
ementthequantit
yof
STEM graduatestoaddr essthegl ar
ingmoder nandf armingr equir
ementsthatwil
l
supportthemonet arydev elopmentofourcount ry.
ThePhili
ppi nesisasyetan
agri
cult
uralnati
on; i
nanycase, t
hatisnotanar rangementt hatoneoughtt obe
embar r
assedabout .It
'sasi gnt hatt
hatournat i
onexper i
encedhugemi shapsbecause
ofcolonizat
ion,
debasement ,andtheabsenceofanappr opr i
atelyi
nstr
uctedcasti
nga
ball
otpopulace.Truthbet ol
d, wearet otal
lyfitf
oraccompl ishingthevict
ories
experi
encedbynat ionsont heopposi tesideoft heglobe.

Whatwecannotdenyi sthatasfaraswe'reconcernedtoar r
iveatsuchanobj ect
ive,
wereall
ywantscience.Notsi
mplyscienceexami nedincoursebooksandseeni n
r
esearchcenter
s,howeversci
enceinregulardai
lyexist
ence;sciencet hatisobvi
ousby
t
heywaywehandl eourer
randsingeneralandchoices.Asolidsciencei nstr
uct
ionisn't
achoi
ce,iti
samust .Weshouldfur
therdevelopthemanner sinwhi chweshowsci ence
i
nthePhili
ppi
nes,ifweneedtoseeour sel
vesmov i
ngandthinkingf or
war d.