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Background: The Informed Health Choices Key Concepts are principles for thinking critically about healthcare claims and deciding what to do. The Key Concepts provide a framework for designing curricula, learning resources, and evaluation tools. Objectives: To prioritise which of the 49 Key Concepts to include in resources for lower secondary schools in East Africa. Methods: Twelve judges used an iterative process to reach a consensus. The judges were curriculum specialists, teachers, and researchers from Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda. After familiarising themselves with the concepts, they pilot-tested draft criteria for selecting and ordering the concepts. After agreeing on the criteria, nine judges independently assessed all 49 concepts and reached an initial consensus. We sought feedback on the draft consensus from other stakeholders, including teachers. After considering the feedback, nine judges independently reassessed the prioritised concepts and reached a consensus. The final set of concepts was determined after user-testing prototypes and pilot-testing the resources. Results: The first panel of judges prioritised 29 concepts. Based on feedback from teachers, students, curriculum specialists, and members of the research team, two concepts were dropped. A second panel of nine judges prioritised 17 of the 27 concepts that emerged from the initial prioritisation and feedback. Based on feedback on prototypes of lessons and pilot-testing a set of 10 lessons, we determined that it was possible to introduce nine concepts in 10 single-period (40-minute) lessons. We included eight of the 17 prioritised concepts and one additional concept. Conclusion: Using an iterative process with explicit criteria, we prioritised nine concepts as a starting point for students to learn to think critically about healthcare claims and choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sub-Saharan Africa secondary school science curricula recognise language as the most important communication tool for learners' biology learning outcomes. Despite this prominent goal, learners' scientific literacy at secondary school appears to be insufficient to cope with classroom teaching and learning of biology. This paper presents a review of literature regarding the way English as the language of instruction and inquiry-based learning strategies affect biology learning in Sub-Saharan Africa secondary schools. The scope of the review included journal articles, books and book chapters published in the period from 2005 to 2020 on the English language of instruction in biology education in Sub-Saharan Africa. We established criteria for first article searches indexed in Scopus, African Journals Online, the Education Resources Information Center, Web of Science and Psych Info as recognised index systems for science education. We considered studies related to the understanding of learners' language backgrounds, language-in-education policy and pedagogical language strategies (practice) that mediate learning. In this case, 53 studies were identified after removing redundancies; 27 studies satisfied the inclusion criteria when screened by key words and abstract and reviewed for eligibility; and only nine were selected after evaluating the full texts. The review analysis suggests that there is a gap in the corpus of literature on what and how pedagogical language strategies should be utilised to support meaningful learning of biology in multilingual settings. Poor learners' academic achievement and conceptual engagement in biology at secondary school level were the main effects reported by the reviewed literature. Less is still known about the effect of the use of inquiry-based learning strategies on learners' conceptual engagement in multilingual biology classrooms. We recommend formulating a clear policy articulation on the use of bilingual instructions in teaching and learning of biology at the secondary school level; assessing teacher and learner performance over pedagogical language strategies; and evaluating the contribution of IBL strategies in addressing language barriers in biology learning for higher order thinking skills in Sub-Saharan Africa secondary schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL) is a well-known modern teaching approach in science education, with proven effectiveness for acquiring scientific knowledge. However, in most Malawi Community Day Secondary Schools (CDSSs), science teachers are still relying on the use of teacher-centered approaches when teaching biology. Further, they appear to be far from practicing IBL. This study explores the role of the IBL 7Es (Elicit, Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate, and Extend) instructional model on biology teachers' pedagogical approach in CDSSs. The aim was to ascertain whether the use of the approach affected teachers' perceptions and practices of biology teaching. The sample consisted of six biology teachers purposively selected from rural and urban CDSSs. Data were collected using a semi-structured interview and lesson observation checklist. Collected data were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. The pre-test results revealed that the most used teaching approach was lecturing. After the training with the IBL 7Es instructional model, the use of IBL was observed in lesson planning and lesson delivery. Furthermore, there was a shift from dominant teacher-centered to learner-centered approach. However, large class sizes and limited teaching and learning resources were reported as key challenges that impede the use of the approach. The study recommends the need to train teachers on how to effectively teach large class sizes and to explore the extent to which pedagogical practices influence biology teaching and learning. More importantly, teachers should be given time, resources, and professional support to adopt and implement contemporary teaching methods to promote meaningful biology teaching and learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to examine the consistency of biology lesson planning and delivery by teachers, focusing on the systematic of invertebrates in Tanzania secondary schools. Data were collected using the Interview Schedule (IS), Lesson Observation Checklist (LOC), and Lesson Evaluation Form (LEF). A total of 40 biology teachers and 160 biology students participated in the research. Results revealed that teachers managed to prepare lesson objectives that were relevant for learners to learn new content. A significant number of teachers (80%, N = 40) struggled to summarize the material while copying it from a book or the internet. Besides, a substantial number (54%, N = 40) of teachers managed to use their own developed figures, field studies, and taxonomic keys to clarify curriculum content in relation to the learners’ levels, as well as the sensitivity of content and language demands. In contrast, few teachers (46%, N = 40) used figures from the school library and videos from YouTube. Further, there were remarkable inconsistencies in the lesson planning and delivery of the systematic of invertebrates. Therefore, current research suggests that biology teachers may adapt or adopt the criteria for successful lesson planning and delivery of the systematic of invertebrates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]