Physics Teachers’ Perceptions about Their Judgments within Differentiated Learning Environments

A Case for the Implementation of Technology

Bibliographic Data

ID22044955
AuthorsPurwoko Haryadi Santoso (0000-0002-7093-5309, Yogyakarta State University, corresponding author), Edi Istiyono (0000-0001-6034-142X, Yogyakarta State University), Haryanto (0000-0002-4577-8831, Educational Research and Evaluation, Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta, Sleman 55281, Indonesia), Haryanto Haryanto (0000-0003-3595-9492, Yogyakarta State University)
Year2022
Volume12
Issue9
Pages582
Publication date2022-08-25
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEducation Sciences (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2227-7102 • E-ISSN: 2227-7102
PublisherMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/educsci12090582
OpenAlexW4293104191
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited51

There is a national shift in the new Indonesian curriculum towards employing differentiated learning approaches in addressing the diversity of students’ needs and abilities. A teachers’ judgment evidently corresponds to the duty required of physics teachers to monitor their students at an individual level. Within the context of Indonesian physics education research (PER), empirical study addressing this subject is still lacking. To fill this gap, eight Indonesian physics teachers’ experiences and limitations about their judgments within differentiated learning environments have been investigated through phenomenological study. Physics teachers were voluntarily recruited after they declared their endorsement and personal consent to participate in the study. Our participants were distributed over several teaching experiences, geographic regions, and information and communication technology (ICT) experiences. The latter experience might be taken into account since, through this study, upcoming developmental research will be projected on engaging recent technological approaches to address the limitations of teachers’ judgments. Online semi-structured interviews (~50 min) were conducted by the first author to all physics teachers involved. Other authors contributed in reviewing the interview protocol and training the first author’s pilot interview. The model of teachers’ thought and action, from Clark and Peterson, was implemented to uncover physics teachers’ experiences and limitations in making judgments within a diverse group of students. The findings revealed that physics teachers have conceded that they should dynamically adapt the learning process in order to meet heterogeneous students’ performances. Personal observation has mainly informed teachers in identifying students’ differences. After students have been identified, the teachers creatively designed learning transformations to accommodate the wide spectrum of students’ abilities. Nevertheless, several limitations were discovered as being encountered by physics teachers, particularly in terms of judgments’ equity and accuracy, as well as the teachers’ workloads. To overcome this, the teachers indicated various and supportive attitudes about technological implementations that would assist their judgments. Ideas for technological development were provided to address identified obstacles during the teachers’ judgments

Curriculum · Duty · Indonesian · Mathematics education · Pedagogy · Perception · Experimental Learning in Engineering · Innovative Teaching Methods · Psychology · Technology-Enhanced Education Studies

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