an innovative approach

need to help develop Thai children’s understanding of science and to use science for
surviving in their lives. Therefore, the development of teaching and learning about
photosynthesis should be done gradually to enable Thai students to understand
photosynthesis concepts, and then relatively to use the concepts for surviving in their
environment.
5. Rationale for Developing a Photosynthesis Teaching Intervention
From my prior observations (Kijkuakul and Yutakom, 2004) of teaching and
learning in Grade 11 at a high school in the 2002 academic year, before the science
education reform would be operated compulsorily in the 2003 academic year, I found
that some teachers used traditional strategies to teach the students about
photosynthesis. They often used ‘yes-no’ questions and accepted correct answers or
followed a teaching manual. The teachers did not give their students enough
opportunities to discuss, to argue or to present what they learned and what they would
like to know. I found that this had a domino effect. The students learned
photosynthesis concepts separately and did not see the relationship among the
photosynthesis concepts. The students’ learning difficulties of photosynthesis had
been addressed in previous sections.
The constructivist belief is that learning plays an important role in developing
a teaching approach. The approach assumes children’s learning is dynamic. Not all
knowledge can be transferred from one person to others, despite children’s meaningful
interactions in the constructivist learning environment. This includes interactions
among students, their friends and teachers, bringing them to process knowledge
understanding, attitudes, and skills (Vygotsky, 1978; Bybee and Sund, 1982; von
Glasersfeld, 1995). There are several instructions based on the constructivist
approach. For example, Osborn and Wittrock’s generative learning model was
developed for New Zealander teachers to implement in the junior secondary level
(Barker and Carr, 1989b). The research finding presented a goal that would result in
70% of the students linking prior knowledge with new ideas and meaningful learning
in the particular topic of photosynthesis outputs. Later, Lumpe and Staver (1995)
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