The Development and Validation of Printed Instructional Materials (Comics) for Teaching Kinematics

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Physics is considered by many students as the most difficult subject as it requires a lot of mathematical visualization. Teachers should innovate to address this dilemma by developing graphic materials that can convey complex ideas and hold learners' attention. This study aimed to develop and validate printed instructional material in a form of comics.

METHODS

Research and Development (R & D) Design was used in this study. Fifty (50) Grade 7 students took the pre-assessment test to identify their least-mastered competencies. This served as the bases of the content of the material. Fifteen (15) validators composed of 10 Non-Master Teachers and 5 Master Teachers validated its acceptability using an adapted validation tool. Data gathered were statistically analyzed using weighted mean and t-test.

RESULTS

The pre-assessment test showed that Grade 7 students performed poorly in Kinematics. Specifically, students have low mastery in a. describing the motion of an object in terms of distance or displacement, speed or velocity, and acceleration, b. differentiating quantities in terms of magnitude and direction, c. interpreting the visual representation of the object's motion such as motion graphs. The result of the t-test displayed that both Master Teachers and Non-Master Teachers showed unanimity on their evaluation of the comics in terms of its accuracy, clarity, appeal, and originality.

DISCUSSIONS

The poor performance of the students in Kinematics implies the need to develop instructional materials like Comics that is perceived to be Very Highly Acceptable by most Science Educators. Comics, as a great visual representation, will not only incite students to easily remember visual graphics containing key information, it will also develop their creative and higher-level thought processes which is one of the goals of the 21st Century Education.