The Synectics Teaching Method: Effects On The Problem- Solving . - IJSR

International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR)ISSN: 2319-7064SJIF (2019): 7.583Filipino teachers are continuously looking for strategieswhich can enable students to develop problem solving andcreative thinking skills in Physics. One way to achieve thisis through the use of synectics in teaching developed byWilliam J. Gordon.Gordon named it the familiaritybleaching (Tajari & Tajari, 2011) in which a person tries toget familiar with new vision and creative thinking. Thismanner is formed by activities and metaphorical analogy(Tajari&Tajari, 2011).Notable researchers have been oriented on the role ofSynectics patterns in critical thinking, problem solving skillsand its impact on creativity. Sedaghat, Darivash andKashkooei (2015) evaluated the impact of a Synecticsteaching pattern on improving the creativity in thecomposition of students. The result showed that using theSynectics teaching pattern is more effective than thetraditional teaching method in improving the flexibility ofthe thinking of students in the composition study. Abed,Davoudi and Hoseinzadeh (2013) investigated the effects ofthe Synectics pattern on increasing the level of problemsolving and critical thinking skills of students. The findingsdemonstrated that the Synectics pattern leads to an increasein the level of critical thinking and problem-solving skills.Based on the facts provided, the Synectics teaching methodis a new teaching method which develops the thinking andproblem-solving capacity of students and creativeexpression of new ideas(Amir &Moktahab, 2011). But sincethere is deficiency of materials that can help students tolearn more about physics, the researcher constructedinstructional materials for Grade Twelve physics tosomehow contribute to the scarcity of learning materials inthe field. These materials incorporated the use of synecticstechniques which is known as one of the creativitytechniques popularly applied for problem solving approachstudied by Chadrasekaran (2014) in the effectiveness ofsynectics techniques in teaching ofzoology in the secondarylevel.This study sought to help students to understand the leastlearned competencies by developing, validating and testingthe effects of synectics teaching in grade twelve students inphysics through Synectics teaching model.2. Theoretical FrameworkThis study is anchored on the Connectivism Theory bySiemens and Downs (2009)denouncing boundaries ofbehaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism, which hadvery much influenced the teaching-learning scenarioworldwide. Connectivism is characterized as a reflection ofour society that is changing rapidly. Society is morecomplex, connected, socially, global, and mediated byincreasing advancements in technology. It is theorchestration of a complex disarray of ideas, networked toform specific information sets. Ways of knowing are derivedfrom a diversity of opinions. The individual does not havecontrol; rather it is a collaboration of current ideas as seenfrom a present reality. The core skill is the ability to seeconnections between information sources and to maintainthat connection to facilitate continual learning. Decisions aresupported by rapidly altering fundamentals as newinformation is quickly integrated to create a new climate ofthinking. This constant update and shift of knowledge canalso be contained outside the learner, such as in a databaseor other specialized information source. For the learner, tobe connected to this outside knowledge is more importantthan his or her existing state of knowing. The first point ofconnectivism is the individual. Personal knowledge consistsof a system of networks, which supplies an organization,which in turn gives back to the system. The individualcontinues the cycle of knowledge growth by his or heraccess back into the system. The advantage is that thelearner can remain current on any topic through theconnections they have created. Within any defined socialnetwork, there is a focus for groups of people with acommon goal. In other words, learners can promote andsustain a well-organized flow of knowledge.Connectivism as a learning theory is characterized as theenhancement of how a student learns with the knowledgeand perception gained through the addition of a personalnetwork (Siemens, 2005).It is only through these personalnetworks that the learner can acquire the viewpoint anddiversity of opinion to learn to make critical decisions. Sinceit is impossible to experience everything, the learner canshare and learn through collaboration. Second, the sheeramount of data available makes it impossible for a learner toknow all that is needed to critically examine specificsituations. Being able to tap into huge databases ofknowledge in an instant empowers a learner to seek furtherknowledge. Such a capacity to acquire knowledge canfacilitate research and assist in interpreting patterns. Third,explaining learning by means of traditional learning theoriesis severely limited by the rapid change brought about bytechnology. Connectivism is defined as actionableknowledge, where an understanding of where to findknowledge may be more important than answering how orwhat that knowledge encompasses.Similar to constructivism, the learner is central to thelearning process in connectivism. However, the networkingprocesses in connectivism add a dimension to the socialcontext in which the collaborative activity, enhancesknowledge construction (learning) in a slightly differentway. Researches show that in constructivism, learning isdetermined by the complex interplay among learners’existing knowledge, the social context, and the problem tobe solved.Anchoring on Connectivism, the Synectics Theory holdsthat the real meaning in a statement comes from places otherthan the pure content words. The theory has a directapplication to qualitative research, particularly when theobjective of this research is conceptualized or synthesizedina concept or idea from a body of materials on the subject athand. Since, the current research is developing a SynecticsTeaching Model, the theory suggests that the moderator orgroup leader in a conceptualization session will have toinstall a set of exercises or probes to extract true meaningfrom the statements of participants from inputs or stimulisuch as subtest, diction, syntax, gesticulation and repetition.Volume 9 Issue 12, December 2020www.ijsr.netLicensed Under Creative Commons Attribution CC BYPaper ID: SR201220172445DOI: 10.21275/SR2012201724451190

International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR)ISSN: 2319-7064SJIF (2019): 7.583Using the premises cited, there is a need to develop amaterial that would help in the teaching-learning processthat are creative and appropriate for the learning needs ofstudents in Physics. In this study, the utilization of SynecticsTeaching Method can serve as a strategy in promotingfunctional physics literacy among learners. In this method,metaphor and analogy were used to enhance creative powerof learners. Incorporating the comparing, classifying,metaphors, analogies and graphic organizers technique ofSynectics, may help learners to process knowledge bymaking direct, personal and compressed- conflict analogies.There are three Synectics model: the original Synecticsmodel, the corporate Synectics model and the K-12Synectics Model (Gunter, Estes and Schwab, 2007).Primarily, this study anchored on K-12 Synectics TeachingModel in Physics would improve the problem-solving skillsand creative thinking skills of senior high school studentsunder Academic Track at Muntinlupa National High School.teaching method) are the treatment variables. It suggests thatthe Problem-Solving and Creative Thinking Skills aredependent variables.It assumes that the use of the Synectics Teaching Method iseffective in enhancing Physics Problem Solving Skills andCreative Thinking Skills in Physics as presented in Figure 2.4. Conceptual ModelFigure 2: Conceptual ModelFigure 1: K-12 Synectics ModelGunter ,Estes and Schwab (2007) described the componentsof the of the K-12 Synectics Model which are: SubstantiveInput, teacher provides information on new topic; DirectAnalogy, teacher suggests direct analogy and asks studentsto describe the analogy; Personal Analogy, teacher hasstudents “become” the direct analogy; Comparing Analogy,students identify and explain the points of similaritybetween the new material and the direct analogy; ExplainingDifference, students explain where the analogy does not fit;Exploration, students re-explore the original topic on its ownterms3. Conceptual FrameworkThe schematic diagram shows the relationships amongvariables. The variables are categorized as Independent andDependent Variables. The Independent variables arecomposed of treatment variables (experimental variable) andcontrol variables. The experimental variables may affect thelearners’ problem-solving skills and creative thinking skillstowards Physics and that, applying the Synectics TeachingMethod can have a significant effect on the problem-solvingskills and creative thinking skills of the students in Physics.The methods of teaching (traditional method and SynecticsThe conceptual model shows the relationships among thevariables: the Independent and Dependent Variables. Theindependent variables are the teaching strategies utilized bythe researcher in the conduct of the study. The experimentalgroup was exposed to the use of Synectics in which theteacher provides information on a new topic; teachersuggests direct analogy and asks students to describe theanalogy; teacher has students “become” the direct analogy;students identify and explain the points of similaritybetween the new material and the direct analogy; studentsexplain where the analogy does not fit; students re-explorethe original topic on its own terms, while the traditionalgroup will be the group that makes use of the chalk andboard techniques. This study aimed to measure the effect ofthe use of the Synectics teaching method in the problemsolving and creative thinking skills of the students inPhysics.5. Statement of the ProblemThis study aimed to determine the effects of the SynecticsTeaching Method on the Problem-Solving and CreativeThinking Skills in Physics among Grade 12 Senior HighSchool students in the City of Muntinlupa for the 2ndSemester A.Y. 2018-2019.Specifically, the study sought to answer the followingquestions:1) What are the pretest and posttest mean scores of theExperimental and Control Groups in Problem-SolvingSkills Test (PSST)?2) What are the pre and post assessments of theExperimental andthe Control Groups in their CreativeThinking Skills?Volume 9 Issue 12, December 2020www.ijsr.netLicensed Under Creative Commons Attribution CC BYPaper ID: SR201220172445DOI: 10.21275/SR2012201724451191

International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR)ISSN: 2319-7064SJIF (2019): 7.5833) What is the difference in the pre-test and post-test meanscores in Problem- Solving Skills Test of theExperimental and Control Groups?4) What is the difference in the pre-assessment and postassessment in Creative Thinking Skills of theExperimental and Control Groups?5) What is the difference in the post-test mean scores inProblem- Solving Skills Test of the Experimental andControl Groups?6) What is the difference between the post- assessments inCreative Thinking Skills of the Experimental and ControlGroups based on the identified components?7) What is the relationship on the assessment betweenProblem-Solving Skills Test and Creative ThinkingSkills of the Experimental Group?8) What teacher’s guide maybe developed to improve theproblem-solving skills and creative thinking skills of thestudents using the Synectics teaching method?pretest-posttest non-equivalent group designusing matchedsubjects (Fraenkel & Wallen, 2009)with a Control Groupand an Experimental Group was used to determine theintervening factor of a teaching method as a better methodof teaching the course Physics. The Control Group used thetraditional method of teaching while the ExperimentalGroup used Synectics as a strategy in teaching Physics.Hypotheses of the StudyThe research tested the following null hypotheses foracceptance or rejection:1) There is no significant difference between the pre-testand post-test mean scores in Problem Solving of theExperimental and Control Groups.2) There is no significant difference between the post-testmean scores of the Experimental and Control Groups.3) There is no significant difference between the preassessment and post- assessment in Creative ThinkingSkills of the Experimental and Control Groups.4) There is no significant difference between the postassessments in Creative Thinking Skills of theExperimental and Control Groups based on the identifiedcomponents.5) There is no significant relationship on the assessmentbetween Problem Solving Skills and Creative ThinkingSkills of the Experimental Group.Where: M represents that the groups are non-equivalentX is the administration of Synectics Teaching in PhysicsC is the administration of Traditional Teaching in PhysicsO1 and O3 are the pretest of the control and experimentalgroupO2 and O4 are the post-tests of the control group andexperimental groupScope and Delimitations of the StudyThis study determined the effects of the use of the SynecticsTeaching Method as a factor that might increase theproblem-solving and creative thinking skills aside fromcritical thinking skills of the students toward Physics. Thestudy involved the selected Grade 12 Senior High Schoolstudents of Muntinlupa National High School, MuntinlupaCity. The time frame for the study was the Second Semesterof the School Year 2018-2019. The development of theSynectics Teaching Method was limited to topics that werebased on the results of the reported least mastery level inPhysics of the students in the Division of Muntinlupa. Thestudy used the Control Group and the Experimental Groupconsisting of 31matched pairs based on Physics 1 GeneralAverage, Age, Gender and Pre-Test Scores. The study wasconducted to improvise instructional materials that wouldrespond to the inadequacy of the existing learning resourcesof many public secondary high schools. It will also measurehow effective the use of a teaching strategy called SynecticsModel in enhancing the Problem Solving and CreativeThinking Skills of the Students.Research MethodThe researcher used the descriptive-quantitative researchmethod, specifically the quasi- experimental design. TheThe study followed the matching or equating the groups,where the Control Group and the Experimental Group wereset initially alike or parallel in terms ofAcademic Grade inPhysics 1, Age, Gender, Schedule of Classes, and Teacher.Treatment GroupControl GroupMMO1O3XCO2O4Figure 3: Pretest-PosttestControl Non-Equivalent GroupDesign, using Matched Subjects6. Research InstrumentsValidation of Problem-Solving TestQuantitative Problem Solving involves formulas and solvingproblems quantitatively (Argaw, Haile, Ayalew& Kuma,2017).The test was constructed based on the Table ofSpecification. Three physics instructors were requested toface, and content validate the said test in the followingtopics 1) Nature of Light, 2) Reflection of Light, 3) MirrorImages formed by Plane Mirror, 4) Curved Mirror, 5)Images formed by curved Mirror, 6) Refraction of LightRays (Index of Refraction), 7) Anatomy of Lens (FocalLength and Power of the Lens), 8) Refraction of Light inLenses (Image Formation in Lenses), 9) Refraction of lightin Lenses (Constructing Images Formed in Lenses). Thesetopics were the least mastered competencies of physicsstudents based on the Division Performance Summary perquarter.Qualitative analysis was determined whether or not the testquestions were appropriate as pretest for the Grade 12learners in terms of clarity of options, significance ofconcept, simplicity of responses, appropriateness ofvocabulary and similarity of options. Correspondingrevisions were made based on their comments andsuggestions. After a slight modification following theirsuggestions, the test was administered to thirty (30) Grade12 students who took Physics Subject. This test was itemanalyzed using the U-L Index method and was validated byPhysics instructors from Muntinlupa National HighSchooland experts who were a STEM-Teacher III, STEMMaster Teacher I at Muntinlupa National High SchoolandDivision Science Supervisor in the Division ofMuntinlupa.Volume 9 Issue 12, December 2020www.ijsr.netLicensed Under Creative Commons Attribution CC BYPaper ID: SR201220172445DOI: 10.21275/SR2012201724451192

International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR)ISSN: 2319-7064SJIF (2019): 7.583The researcher followed the procedure in item analysis forthe Problem Solving Test. 1) Score each Problem SolvingTest. 2) Sort the papers in numerical order according to thetotal score, highest to lowest. 3) Determine the upper 27 %and the lower 27 % groups. “Maximally reliable itemdiscrimination results will be obtained when each criteriongroup contains 27% of the total.” (Kelly, cited by Valdez,2014). 4) Record separately the number of times eachalternative was selected by individuals in the high and lowgroups. Some questions were deleted/discarded because theywere either too difficult or too easy. There were thirty (30)items under revised/rejected, thirty-three (33) items thatwere good items and twelve (12) items which wereinterpreted as very good items. In the end, forty-five (45)questions were left in the test. To establish the reliability ofthe instrument, test-retest was used with another section whois taking up Physics which comprise of 30 students. Thereliability of the Problem-Solving Skills test was calculatedusing the Kuder-Richardson (KR-20) Formula. Thereliability value obtained was 0.87.continuum and interpretation below were used to interpretthe result.4.50 – 5.00 Manifested with very great extent3.50 – 4.49 Manifested with great extent2.50 – 3.49 Manifested to a moderate extent1.50 – 2.49 Manifested to a least extent1.00 – 1.49 Poorly manifestedApparatus Used in the Activities on SynecticsThe instructional materials to be organized should support,enrich and extend the school’s curriculum and to encourageinformational, educational and recreational reading, viewingand/or listening (Marbas, and Pelley 2015). There areimportant factors to be considered in constructing aneffective instructional material. This includes diverse userinterests, abilities, backgrounds, cultures, languages, andmaturity levels. Materials intended for student use should beappropriate for the subject area and for the age, socialdevelopment, ability levels, special needs, and learningstyles of students served. As planning the instructionalactivities, the researcher gathered additional insights on thepreparation of the materials specifically on content and onhow to use Synectics through reading, surfing the net,selecting of books and other reference materials in physics.The questionnaires are Likert Type Scale with the followingranges and interpretations:3.50 – 4.00Very Satisfactory3.00. – 3.49Satisfactory2.00 – 2.49Poor1.00 – 1.49Not SatisfactoryThe laboratory devices used by the researcher in this studyduring the lesson executions include: protractor, ruler, pushpins, graphing paper, cheap commercial laser, glass plate,ball and flat mirror. These readily available localized andindigenized material was used in Module 1. In Module 2 and3, same materials were used with the addenda of clear glass,toy car/marching band. In Module 4 and 5, plane mirror,concave mirror, convex mirror, spoon, bowl and flashlightwere utilized to perform the activity. The convex lens,concave lens, push pins, graphing paper, playing cards,cheap commercial laser were the materials used to conductthe activities in module 6, 7 and 8. The researcher engagedthe help of three physics instructors to validate the saidactivities and instruments. Corresponding revisions weremade based on their comments and suggestions.Creative Thinking Skills TestThe creative thinking skills test was adapted from the studyof Talens (2016) about the influence of problem-basedlearning on the creative thinking skills of physical sciencestudents of De La Salle Lipa. The said instrument is madeup of 48 indicators using the Likert Scale with four mainindicators of manifestation of creative thinking skills such asoriginality (15 indicators), fluency (14 indicators), flexibility(8 indicators) and elaboration (11 indicators). TheSynectics LessonsSynectics Teaching Methods in this study pertain to thedeveloped materials used in teaching the experimental groupof the concepts about lights and optics. To validate theteacher’s guide with Synectics teaching, the researcherconsulted his adviser, Division Science Coordinator ofMuntinlupa City, STEM Coordinator of MuntinlupaNational High School-Main and a Head Teacher III atMuntinlupa National High School Annex. The QualityReview for the Instruments used byBuna (2016) wasadapted as an instrument to measure the quality of theinstructional materials.The steps followed in delivering the synectics/analogies are:(1) introduce students to the unfamiliar concepts, (2) remindstudents of a familiar concept (3) compare and contrast thefeatures of the two concepts, and (4) draw conclusion aboutthe analogy and highlight the overall similarities betweenthe two concepts.The Synectics Teaching uses delivery strategies such aslectures, demonstrations, guided discussions, inquiries andlearning. The learning or scaffolding activities which weregiven to the experimental group are experiments, puzzles,games, simulations, science magic tricks, POE (Predict,Observe, and Explain), graphic organizers, videointegration, quizzes and performance activities. Theseactivities will be broadly applied to equip students to engagewith develop and demonstrate the desired understanding.There are eleven (11) instructional analogies that wereembedded in the lesson plan of the experimental group.The5 E's instructional model based on the constructivistapproach to learning lesson plan in which instructionalanalogies were embedded and served as the guide inteaching. Each of the 5 E's describes a phase of learning, andeach phase begins with the letter "E": Engage, Explore,Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate.Data Gathering ProceduresPrior to the study, are quest letter to conduct the experimentwas addressed to the Schools Division Superintendentthrough the Principal of the School. Upon the approval ofthe request and after identifying the students’ needs in termsof curriculum content, the Physics Problem Solving Testinstrument was developed which was validated by expertswho are knowledgeable in research and Science Curriculum.Volume 9 Issue 12, December 2020www.ijsr.netLicensed Under Creative Commons Attribution CC BYPaper ID: SR201220172445DOI: 10.21275/SR2012201724451193

International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR)ISSN: 2319-7064SJIF (2019): 7.583To gather the reliable data needed in the conduct of theexperiment, the problem-solving test consisting of 75 itemsof an objective type of test covering the learningcompetencies was used. The test was content-validated byexperts in test preparation. A suggestion provided by theexperts was taken into consideration. Creative ThinkingSkills Assessment is another instrument that was used in thestudy.Pilot testing of the problem solving-test instrument was doneto thirty (30) Grade 12 students. The test results were usedto improve the test items and to identify which items are tobe rejected, revised or retained. Before the experiment, twogroups were purposively selected and matched. The firstgroup was exposed to the Synectics teaching method and thesecond group used the traditional teaching methods in whichthe teacher acted as facilitator of learning. After eachteaching methods were applied posttest was given todetermine the level of problem-solving skills and creativethinking skills assessment of the two groups of respondents.The data obtained in the posttest were subjected to statisticaltest to measure the significant difference between the pretest and posttests. Table 3 shows the conduct of the study.Statistical Treatment of DataThe researcher also used the following inferen

problem solving is the main factor in physics education (Ceberio, Almudí, & Franco, 2016). The students' lack in problem solving skills is due to their scant attention given to problem solving; in addition, they have a weak understanding of physics concepts and laws (Ceberio, Almudí, & Franco, 2016). In the learning process,