an innovative approach

ecause old knowledge was reinterpreted by using different method and new
techniques. However, he did not appear to focus on using scientific method to find
out an evidence of new knowledge. Moss, Abrams and Robb (2001); Bell et al.
(2003) supported that a lack of scientific experiments might lead the students to
neglect the fact that science demands evidence.
After elaborating on these several aspects of teaching photosynthesis, this
research attempts to show the importance of regarding the specific Thai context.
4. Teaching in the Thai Contexts
In Thailand, as a result of the local socio-cultural context, there are a large
number of students in the classroom. Some students show respect to teachers and
value science as they need it for taking the Entrance Examination (Buranakarn, 2003;
Srivichit, 2004). The research findings indicated that Thai society and culture
influence learning in the classroom. The students are not familiar with participating
actively to the learning activities e.g. discussion. So, discussion in a Thai classroom
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should begin with small group discussions such as think pair share. Also, the teaching
process should develop friendly interactions between the teacher and the students, and
should promote formative assessment. In the case of the Border School, the students
appeared to be familiar with this and have a more positive attitude towards
participating in learning activities.
The case study conducted at the Border School additionally suggests that
teachers should conduct friendly conversations with the students both within and
outside teaching periods. The students should be free to form their own groups, be a
bit of noisy during group discussion and be able to walk from one group to another.
Launching a discussion should begin with think pair share before moving on to group
discussion and class discussion. This strategy appears to encourage the students to
have discussion with the teacher as well.