Biology educators' classroom practices and awareness of education for sustainable development

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the level of awareness and classroom practices on ESD of the biology educators from Higher Education Institutions in Iloilo City. Specifically, this study sought to determine if any significant difference would exist in the level of awareness on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) among biology educators from Higher Education Institutions in Iloilo City when taken as an entire group and when classified according to: sex, age group, civil status, highest educational attainment, and length of service; and in the level of classroom practices on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) among biology educators from Higher Education Institutions in Iloilo City when taken as an entire group and when grouped according to: sex, age group, civil status, highest educational attainment, and length of service; and to determine the relationship of the level of awareness on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) among Biology educators from Higher Education Institutions in Iloilo City and their level of classroom practices. The study involved 42 respondents teaching Biology in the Higher Education Institutions in Iloilo City. The data were collected using the ESD questionnaire which was adapted from the studies of Dr. Alex C. Michalos, 2009 entitled Measuring Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviours towards Sustainable Development: Two Exploratory Studies and Education for Sustainable Development: Liberation or Indoctrination? An Assessment of Faculty Members' Attitudes and Classroom Practices of Ahmad Mohammad Qablan, Jamal Abu Al-Ruz, Samer Khasawneh, 2009. The SAQ is composed of three parts. Part I contains data on the socio-demographic profile of the respondents, Part II contains information on the level of awareness of the respondents on ESD, and Part III contains data on their level of classroom practices on ESD. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as mean and standard deviation and inferential statistical tools such as independent t-test, One Way ANOVA, Chi-square and Pearson-r. The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) (version 17.0) software was employed in the tabulation, processing and analysis of the data. Findings of the study indicated that there is no significant difference in the level of awareness on ESD among Biology educators from HEIs in Iloilo City when taken as an entire group and when grouped according to sex, age group, civil status, highest educational attainment and length of service. It had been also observed that there is no significant difference in the level of awareness on ESD among Biology educators from HEIs in Iloilo City when taken as an entire group and when grouped according to sex, age group, civil status, and length of service, however; there is significant difference when taken as an entire group and when grouped according to the highest education attainment. Results of Pearson-r showed that there is no significant relationship of the level of awareness on ESD among Biology educators from HEIs in Iloilo City and their level of classroom practices. From the findings of the present study, it highly recommended that the HEIs in Iloilo City should strengthen its faculty development program by encouraging and supporting its Biology educators to take further studies in order to enhance their classroom practices on ESD. It is too recommended for the HEIs to expose its Biology educators to the seminars, workshops, fora, and symposia on ESD in order to update them on the recent development on it in order to improve their classroom practices on ESD.