IMPROVING HIGH-SCHOOL STUDENTS’ CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING AND FUNCTIONALIZATION OF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT DIGESTION THROUGH THE APPLICATION OF THE INTERDISCIPLINARY TEACHING APPROACH

TitleIMPROVING HIGH-SCHOOL STUDENTS’ CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING AND FUNCTIONALIZATION OF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT DIGESTION THROUGH THE APPLICATION OF THE INTERDISCIPLINARY TEACHING APPROACH
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2017
AuthorsPutica, KB, Trivić, DD
JournalJournal of Baltic Science Education
Volume16
Issue1
Start Page123-139
PaginationContinuous
Date PublishedFebruary/2017
Type of ArticleOriginal article
ISSN1648-3898
Other NumbersICID: 1232144
KeywordsConceptual Understanding, functionalization of acquired knowledge, interdisciplinary teaching approach, process of digestion
Abstract

Adolescents are considered as a nutritionally vulnerable subgroup because of their alimentary behaviours. Considering that alimentary habits are strongly influenced by knowledge about digestion, an experiment was conducted with aim to determine whether conceptual understanding and functionalization of this knowledge can be improved by the interdisciplinary teaching approach. The experiment encompassed 258 students attending the fourth year of high school. No statistically significant difference in the level of the previously acquired chemistry, biology and physics knowledge concerning digestion between the two groups was determined on the pre-test. Conversely, the students in the experimental group significantly outperformed those in the control group on the post-test that required a deep understanding and the application of knowledge about digestion in solving real-life problems. Therefore, it was concluded that high- school teachers can be advised to apply the interdisciplinary teaching approach in order to improve their students' knowledge about this process.

URLhttp://oaji.net/articles/2017/987-1493050168.pdf
DOI10.33225/jbse/17.16.123
Refereed DesignationRefereed
Full Text