Study On The Biological Concepts Teaching In High School Based On The Situational Cognitive Theory

Biological concepts are contextual in nature,and the situational cognitive theory emphasizes that learning is a legitimate peripheral participation in a community of practice.Therefore,in the process of biological concepts teaching in high school,attention should be paid to creating real situations to introduce relevant concepts,guiding students to construct concepts in certain situations,to gradually improve the concept system.Then,the situations should be extended to promote concept transfer and application.This study firstly defined the relevant concepts,and sorted out the relevant theoretical basis and the current situation of domestic and foreign research on the basis of the study of relevant literature.After that,a questionnaire survey was conducted to understand the current situation of teachers’ use of the situational cognitive theory for teaching biological concepts in high school.An attribution analysis of the current main phenomena was conducted,and then,the corresponding teaching principles and teaching strategies were proposed in conjunction with teaching practice and literature analysis to the conceptual content in the the compulsory biology textbook(Volume 1,People’s Education Press,2019).Finally,some teaching cases were designed for corresponding teaching practices,and the practical effects were analyzed.The main findings were as follows.(1)Only 6.38% of biology teachers were highly aware of the situational cognitive theory and its application in teaching biological concepts in high school.51.06% of biology teachers indicated that they were not very aware of it,and most of them learned about its content through online media.Biology teachers have a high awareness of contextual design in the preparation process of concept teaching,but the sources of teaching contexts created in the process of teaching biological concepts in high school are mainly graphics of textbooks.Most biology teachers believe that students are more interested in the contexts created when teaching biology concepts and the classroom atmosphere is more active.At the same time,most students thought that the teaching contexts created by biology teachers were mostly consistent with the teaching objectives,and could lead to questions,stimulate interest,and create appropriate teaching situations.Most of the teachers and students held positive attitudes toward the teaching of biological concepts in high school based on the situational cognitive theory.(2)The the compulsory biology textbook(Volume 1,People’s Education Press,2019)covers the molecular composition of cells,the structure of cells,cell metabolism,cell proliferation,and cell differentiation,aging,and death.They are organized in two broad concepts.First,the cell is the basic unit of biological structure and life activities.Second,cells need energy and nutrients to survive and to proliferate through division.Under each major concept,three important concepts are arranged,and under each important concept,a varying number of secondary concepts are organized.(3)The teaching practice of biological concepts in the high school based on the situational cognitive theory of “the entry and exit of substances into and out of cells by passive and active transport to maintain the normal metabolic activities of cells” showed that the average score of the experimental class(82.25±9.17)was significantly higher than that of the control class(77.07±8.34)(p<0.01)).Compared with that of the control class,the observation result of the experimental class was good,with a high level of student participation and a lively classroom atmosphere.The overall score of students’ self-evaluation in the experimental class(11.72±2.39)was significantly higher than that of students’ self-evaluation in the control class(9.74±2.57)(p<0.01).The main findings of the study are as follows.(1)Situated cognition-based approach to teaching biological concepts in high school can improve students’ interest in learning,enliven the classroom atmosphere,and help students understand biological concepts in depth.Students have a higher acceptance of the concept teaching approach in biology based on the situational cognitive theory.Although biology teachers have a certain understanding of the situational cognitive theory applied to concept teaching,they do not have a deep understanding of it due to the lack of systematic learning of the theory.In the practical process,the concept teaching design is not precise and needs to be further refined.(2)The teaching principles that should be followed in creating conceptual teaching contexts are the problem-raising principle,consistent goal principle,principle of truthfulness and credibility,principle of appropriate difficulty,principle of promoting development,and principle of contextualization.Teaching concept strategies based on the situational cognitive theory are to create contexts and introduce concepts,to relate contexts and form concepts,to analyze contexts and consolidate concepts,and to transfer contexts and deepen concepts.(3)The use of situational cognitive theory can help students to have a good grasp of biological concepts in high school,develop their consciousness of problems,and improve their problem-solving skills.(4)Compared with the biological concept teaching approach in high school,the biological concept teaching approach in high school based on the situational cognitive theory was more effective in terms of the students’ performance,classroom observation,and student self-assessment in biology courses.This study not only provides useful reference for the biological concepts teaching in high school,enriches the theoretical resources about education and teaching for teachers,but also develops the core competencies in biology of students and improves the professional quality level of teachers in the research and practice process.