Theoretical Framework

This study was anchored on Ausebel’s Meaningful Learning Theory,

Cognitive Constructivist’s Active Learning Theory and Thorndike-Woodworth’s

Transfer of Learning Theory.

David Ausebel in his Meaningful Learning Theory defined meaningful learning as

the acquisition of new meanings which can be achieved in two ways. First the materials

to be learned are potentially meaningful, that is, it is appropriate for the students.

Second, the acquisition of new meaning refers to the processes by which students turn

potentially meaningful materials into actual meaningfulness. The meaningfulness of

materials refers to the emotional and motivational significance of a material. Students

learn fast if they are interested in the materials they are learning and they can be able to

translate their learning into real life situations (Gines, 1998).

Likewise, the Cognitive Constructivist’s view of learning-and-teaching suggests

that “active learning occurs whenever experiences stimulate mental activities that lead

to meaningful learning. People learn by using what they know to construct new

understanding so teacher should try to understand what students know, and build on

this foundation. Meaningful learning occurs when the learner strives to make sense of

the presented material by selecting relevant incoming information, organizing it into a

coherent structure, and integrating it with (the learner’s own) organized knowledge”

(http://www.asa3.org). The Constructivists theory of learning further asserts that

“learning is successful when students can demonstrate conceptual understanding and it

becomes meaningful and effective if students are given the opportunity to link their
learning with real-life experiences”. So learning in this way demonstrates a positive

transfer of learning.

Hence, Edward Thorndike and Robert Woodworth’s view of learning states that

positive transfer of learning occurs when learners are able to link new materials to what

was learned in the past and that learning in one context improves performance in some

other context. Transfer of learning is usually described as the process and the effective

extent to which past experiences (also referred to as the transfer source) affect learning

and performance in a new situation (the transfer target) (Lucas et.al, 2007).

Moreover, Israel Galindo in his article about the Five Stages for Effective

Teaching and Meaningful Learning in the Classroom also agree with the

aforementioned theories. In his article, he wrote that “the three basic evidences of

learning are comprehension, application, and retention. Those three evidences only

happen when there is “meaningful learning.” Meaningful learning refers to knowledge

that has value to the learner; knowledge that satisfies, can be and which the learner can

identify with and incorporates into their thinking, feeling, or doing”. He further stated that

the design of learning follows the structure that begins with (1) learning about concepts

and principles, (2) understanding the concepts and principles learned, (3) manipulating

information to internalize knowledge, (4) retaining knowledge through rehearse and

tests, and (5) using or applying knowledge in the real world (Galindo, 2014).

Furthermore, development of meaningful and effective curriculum materials was

also supported by the curriculum model of Berlin Brundenburg International School

which states that an effective curriculum should strive for a balance of the five essential

elements—concepts, knowledge, skills, attitudes, action—so that students are given the
opportunity to: gain knowledge that is relevant and of global significance ; develop an

understanding of concepts, which allows them to make connections throughout their

learning ; acquire transdisciplinary and disciplinary skills; develop attitudes that will lead

to international-mindedness; and take action as a consequence of their learning

(http://www.victoria.edu.hk ).

Thus, combining the Meaningful Learning theory of Ausebel, Cognitive

Constructivists’ view of learning, principles of positive transfer of learning , it follows

then that meaningful learning occurs when learners are engaged in using meaningful

learning materials. Through these principles and theories of learning, the present

researcher concluded that a curriculum material with concept learning activities linked

with real-life experiences and situations can positively result to a meaningful

learning. The development of workbook that enhances students’ conceptual

understanding and enables them to link learning with real-life experiences is indeed a

meaningful material that can be used in the teaching learning process as one of the

strategies for curriculum development.

The theoretical paradigm of the study is shown in Figure 1.

➢ Meaningful learning materials, Real-life experiences , Meaningful learning

are the constructs or principles that inspired the study
• Meaningful Materials
Meaningful

Learning
• Real-life Experiences

Figure 1. Theoretical Paradigm

Conceptual Framework

A challenge that teachers face today is having students who are unmotivated to

learn, bored, inattentive and unable to see the relevance of science in their lives and in

their future careers. Experts believed that a teacher should continuously strive to make

Physics instruction as engaging, enjoyable and meaningful as possible to be able to

motivate learners. Developing and using a research-based curriculum material in

Physics is a vital step towards adding such challenge because according to the

Constructivists’ perspective of curriculum development, teachers are developers and

deliverers of curriculum. If students are not constructing knowledge as anticipated by

the teacher, the teacher must quickly analyze the reactions and alter the curriculum or

develop a new curriculum (http://www.ascd.org).

So, one way of motivating learners is to provide them a learning material that

they can work on with meaningfully. If a teacher will use an enhancement material

which is appropriate to the needs of the students, that would help them to prepare for

the actual test and the result of the students’ performance will also be desirable. Having

an appropriate competency-based learning material could be of great help in achieving

a higher performance level and mastery level. On the other hand, learning, according to

Jaramillo happens when students are motivated30. It is for this reason that teachers

should always strive to provide a rich learning environment and maintain the students’

high level of interest. To achieve this, a variety of motivation techniques, teaching

strategies and materials should be used. The use of curriculum materials contribute to

the interest and enthusiasm for learning which will likewise develop positive transfer of

learning.
 A meaningful curriculum material according to Ausebel, Galindo and the

Constructivists’ perspective, should be something that will result to meaningful learning.

Wherein, meaningful learning occurs when learners gain conceptual understanding

through the meaningful material used and are able to link previous knowledge with real-

life experiences. And, if meaningful learning occurs in this way, a positive transfer of

learning will occur because their conceptual understanding linked with real-life situations

in this context can improve their performance in another context. Performance in

another context can be the students improved mastery level and attitude towards the

subject they are learning. Thus, a learner truly learns if he does not just only learn the

concepts but likewise sees the relevance of what was learned in school into real-life and

in their future life. If good attitudes and values in another context have been developed

in the learner through the use of meaningful materials such as workbook, it surely

means they have learned meaningfully and because they have learned meaningfully

they were able to transform themselves.

Certainly, these concepts have provided the researcher the drive to develop a

curriculum material, a workbook in Optics, in response to the challenge. The researcher

believes that a curriculum material which is competency-based, having creative

presentation and style, with features that develop conceptual understanding among

students and enables them to link its relevance with real-life situations especially on

career awareness, can help effectively improve students’ performance in another

context by improving their mastery level of the competencies and attitude towards

Physics.

The paradigm of the conceptual framework is presented in Figure 2.

 Juror’s Assessment of
the developed
Workbook in workbook Effectiveness of
Science and the Workbook in
Technology • Competencies improving
IV for Optics • Presentation and Students’
Style Mastery of
• Relevance to Real- Concepts and
Life Attitude towards
• Career Awareness Physics

Figure 2. Conceptual Paradigm

Definition of Terms

To facilitate a clearer understanding of the study, the following terms are

operationally and conceptually defined.

Workbook. It is a booklet containing problems and exercises that a student may

work directly on the pages (http://www.merriam-webster.com). In this study, it refers to

the curriculum material that the researcher developed in addition to the existing learning

materials in the setting of her study which will be used as intervention material for the

least mastered competencies in Science and Technology IV for Optics and for the

development of positive attitudes towards Physics.

Worksheet. It refers to the fill-in the blank sheets of questions, diagrams, or

exercises which facilitate learning (http://www.encyclo.co.uk/). In relation to the study,

worksheet refers to the six sets of activity sheets that contains concept learning

activities and questions for reflection, real-life connection and career integration which

students could work on with directly on its pages.

➢ Blue font is a conceptual definition

➢ Red font is operational definition