Exploring Prospective Teachers' Reasons for Choosing General Science as a Specialization

Abstract

Choosing a career path is difficult for students, especially in their transition from senior high school to college. Students struggle to select the most viable program that suits their interests, skills, and passion. Hence, most students end up shifting among courses and, at worst, dropping out of their program. This qualitative study explores the reasons prospective teachers specialize in General Science in a teacher education program. The data were gathered through interviews and were treated through thematic analysis. Eight themes emerged including (1) alignment to chosen senior high school strand; (2) personal choice and interest; (3) passion for science; (4) personal knowledge and skills; (5) inspiration by teachers; (6) encouragement from family; (7) challenge to oneself; and (8) non-availability of a preferred course. The study has established important implications for admission policies in terms of the selection process for students enrolling in the General Science program. Higher education institutions (HEIs) should support the continuous improvement of the science education curriculum, campus and physical facilities, and student services, which are at the heart of education in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world.

Challenges Encountered by Junior High School Students in Learning Science: Basis for Action Plan

“…Morales [3] reiterated that education in the modern world faces compounded uncertainties due to globalization and the extensive and contemporary use of technologies. Manalansan et al [4] stressed that it is imperative to develop the passion and love for learning in a VUCAD 2 world among students.…”

Filipino prospective teachers’ experiences in teaching in K12 science curriculum: A cross-sectional research

“…These studies focused on the teachers' and students' perception on the implementation of the curriculum (Acosta & Acosta, 2017;Montebon, 2014), the assessment of the curriculum (Cabansag, 2014;Rivera, 2017;Sañosa, 2013), spiral progression approach in teaching science (De Ramos-Samala, 2018;Dunton, 2015;Gonzales, 2019;Maing et al, 2019;Mangali et al, 2019;Orbe et al, 2018;Resurreccion, & Adanza, 2015), preparedness and self-efficacy of teachers in teaching in K12 science curriculum (Sakib & Obra, 2019;Walag et al, 2020), and the philosophical foundation of science education in the country (Miranda, 2014). Likewise, previous studies on science prospective teachers focused on their experiences in teaching beyond their specialization (Montebon, 2015), reasons for choosing general science as majorship (Manalansan et al, 2020), self-efficacy of prospective teachers (Aure & Jugar, 2017), science laboratory interest and preferences (Antonio, 2018), preservice science teacher preparation and education (Handa, 2012;Handa & Tippins, 2013), and technology integration in teaching science (Mercado et al, 2019).…”