Development of Diagnostic Test in Science among Grade Six Pupils: Input to Propose Remedial Activity

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

The teacher in the classroom gives a variety of tests in order to measure the pupils' strengths and weaknesses. The least mastered skills are identified to give proper interventions, just like a doctor giving a proper prescription to his patient in order to get well.

The set-up of gaining low performance in the NAT and periodical tests in Science prompted the researcher to do this action research because she believes that developing a diagnostic test in  Science would help to evaluate the skills their pupils are poor at. Having diagnosed their least mastered skills, the teacher will start from here, thus giving interventions like the worksheet which will be an output of this research.

METHODS

The researcher used the descriptive method of research. This helped her gather important facts regarding the overall presentation of the study. The study used a diagnostic test, a researcher-made instrument, to measure the skills in Science pupils learned in the previous grade. It focused only on 38 grade six pupils and only assessed their Science abilities through a developed diagnostic test. By using predetermined sets of questions, the questionnaires were answered based on the priority of concern.

RESULTS

Based on the result, the majority of the respondents belong to developing when it comes to performance in the diagnostic test. It ranked one while those who belong to approaching proficiency ranked two. Most of them have average Science skills and knowledge acquired from their science lessons during grade Five. There are eight pupils that belong to the beginning level, which needs constant remediation from the teachers, families, and peers. It also noticeable that only one belongs to the proficient level. Though the result was quite acceptable, the researcher believes that the Science ability of the respondents could have been improved through the giving of reinforcement activities for continuous learning.

DISCUSSIONS

It showed that the relationship between Science foundation subject and level of performance in the diagnostic test is significant. The study revealed that the result of the diagnostic test is a good indicator of pupils learning in Science in their previous grade. The instrument or the questionnaire used was found to be significant also to the performance of pupils' learning.The worksheet which is the output of this study aims to help pupils in gaining necessary skills in science.