Competency-Based Modules in Physical Sciences for Hearing-Impaired (HI) Students

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

The UNESCO World Conference on Special Needs Education supports the mainstream education system for all learners. The said discussion espoused the Salamanca statement on practices, policies, and principles in special education, which proclaims that every learner has distinctive abilities, interests, characteristics, and learning needs. Many studies support the premise that the use of the learning module increases students' academic achievement. However, not all learning modules are designed to specifically suit the need of every student. There are groups with special needs like hearing impairment. Thus, it can be said that currently available modules may not be suited to the needs of special students. The effort that should be exerted to develop instructional materials carefully designed for them.

METHODS

The key purpose of this study was to design, validate, and evaluate competency-based modules in Physical Sciences for hearing-impaired (HI) students. Utilizing a descriptive-developmental design, this study employed the ADDIE (Analysis, Design, Develop, Implement, and Evaluate) model for module development to come up with the defined learning modules in Physical Sciences. A pretest-posttest design was also used to determine if there is an improvement in the performance of HI students after their exposure to the modules.

RESULTS

The competency-based modules were composed of several features including pre-assessment tools, objectives, subject matter, activities, post-assessment tools, rubrics, the definition of terms, and other characteristics specifically designed to suit the needs of HI students. The modules, as content-validated by a pool of experts, were suited to the science curriculum requirement of HI students based on the determined high content validity index. Results revealed that modules have great potential to improve students' conceptual understanding in Physical Sciences.

DISCUSSIONS

This study offers to resolve inadequacies in Science instructional materials for HI students at the SHS level. It can be recommended that the usability of the modules for another special group of students may be explored and studied. School heads and administrators may promote and fund the development of learning modules for use in their respective institutions. Considering millennials as gadget savvy, future researchers may also work on developing learning modules designed as a mobile application to increase the handiness of the modules.