Analysis Of Textbook Of Biology For Higher Secondary Students With Reference To 21stcentury Life Skills

Abstract

The science education in 21st century has become more challenging with reference to
educating students in 21st century skills in addition to imparting scientific attitude,
knowledge and skills required for science education. The present paper investigated the
biology textbook of higher secondaryschool published by national book foundation
Islamabad (Pakistan) in accordance with 21st century requirements like creativity,
critical thinking, collaboration, flexibility and responsibility etc. Findings reported that
the textbook of Biology for higher secondary school level did not meet the requirements
of 21st century for students of secondary level. The research study suggested that there
is a need to update the content and methodology of textbook of Biology of higher
secondary school level according to the life skills requirements of 21st century. The
present paper is useful for curriculum experts and teachers of Biology.

Full text

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Analysis Of Textbook Of Biology For Higher
Secondary Students With Reference To 21st century
Life Skills
Mubeshera Tufail
Ph. D Scholar
Faculty Of Social Sciences Department Of Education
National University Of Modern Languages Islamabad, Pakistan
Brig (R) Dr. Riasat Ali, Si(M)
Director Students Affairs
National University Of Modern Languages Islamabad, Pakistan
Prof. Dr. Sufiana Khatoon Malik
Dean Faculty Of Social Sciences
National University of Modern Languages Islamabad, Pakistan
Abstract
The science education in 21st century has become more challenging with reference to
educating students in21st century skills in addition to imparting scientific attitude,
knowledge and skills required for science education. The present paper investigated the
biology textbook of higher secondaryschool published by national book foundation
Islamabad (Pakistan) level in accordance with 21stcentury requirements like creativity,
critical thinking, collaboration, flexibility and responsibility etc. Findings reported that
the textbook of Biology for higher secondary school level did not meet the requirements
of 21st century for students of secondary level. The research study suggested that there
is need to update the content and methodology of textbook of Biology of higher
secondary school level according to the life skills requirements of 21st century. The
present paper is useful for curriculum experts and for teachers of Biology.
Key words: Science Education, Biology Textbook, Higher Secondary Level,
21stCentury Skills, Inquiry-based learning, Life and Career Skills
Introduction
The ‘knowledge age’ of 21stcentury has brought the globalization, the scientific
and technological revolution. The scientific and technological innovations has
facilitated the processes of learning and teaching through variety of resources

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and technology. But it has also placed a variety of demands on young students to
prepare competently for their work, career and life. The students are now
expected to gain knowledge and learn to apply it for doing things, rather than
just accumulating the theoretical knowledge (Osman, Hiong&Vebrianto, 2013;
Osman &Marimuthu, 2010). In addition, the work and life skills are equally
important for survival in 21stcentury (Osman, Hiong&Vebrianto, 2013).
It is crucial to inculcate mastery of 21st century skills among higher secondary
school students. Because the higher secondary school level is end of formal
schooling. After this stage, students select their career. Additionally, the
personality of the adolescents is growing and character is formed during this
stage (Higher Secondary Education, n.d.). So, it is easy to mould into any shape.
Moreover, most of students go for work after completion of higher secondary
school level.
The science education in the modern era expects students to engage in scientific
inquiry to use their knowledge for skill development (Iowa Department of
Education, 2015; Osman, Hiong&Vebrianto, 2013; Sorgo &Spernjak,2012) and to
make decisions about scientific and socio-scientific issues (Sorgo &
Spernjak,2012). Besides developing scientific attitude and mastery of cognitive
skills, science education must play its role for educating the students to produce
moral attitude, and awareness about environmental and different global issues
(Khalil, Lazarowitz& Hertz-Lazarowitz, 2014).
A number of frameworks have been proposed by various international
organizations to list the 21stCentury Skills i.e., National Research Council,
University of Chicago Consortium, Collaborative for Academic, Social and
Emotional Learning (CASEL), Strive Network (Hagen, 2013). However, National
Research Committee (NRC) U. S. Ahaspresented a very comprehensive
account of competencies for 21stCentury. NCR, (2012) has divided the
21stCentury Skills into three main categories:
a) Cognitive domain involves reasoning and memory. It includes three main
clusters of competencies: cognitive processes and strategies, knowledge and
creativity. Critical thinking, information literacy, reasoning and argumentation,
and innovation characterize this domain.
(b) Intrapersonal Domain refers to the ability to manage one’ behavior and
emotions. Intellectual openness, work ethic and conscientiousness, and positive
core- self-evaluation are clusters of competencies included in this domain. The
skills like flexibility, initiative, appreciation for diversity and metacognition
(thinking about one’s own thinking, and attitude) are involved in intrapersonal
domain.

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Interpersonal
Cognitive
Intrapersonal
(c) Interpersonal domain involves effectively communicating and interacting with
other people. Teamwork and collaboration, and leadership are involved in this
area. Skills required for this domain are communication, collaboration,
responsibility and conflict resolution.
Figure 7 Domains for 21st Century Skills (National Research Council, 2012)
For inculcating 21stcentury into the school education, it is important to
recognize which 21stcentury skills are best suited to a school’s and community’s
vision. After this, planning should be done for necessary changes in the system
to equip students with those skills (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2007;
National Central Regional Educational Laboratory, 2003)
Pakistan needs scientifically literate society to cope successfully with the global
and regional challenges (Faize, 2011). The development of inquiry skills are as
much important as the awareness about scientific knowledge. But the science
course is overloaded and contained irrelevant material (Faize, 2011). There is a
need to reduce the overload of curriculum so that teachers can be able to
inculcate in students in-depth understanding of various concepts and
development of wider range of skills (Zareen, Kayani&Kayani, 2014).
Biology is taught as an elective science subject at secondary and higher
secondary level. A number of studies have been conducted in Pakistan and other
countries to improve the Biology Curriculum of Secondary and higher
secondary level in accordance with the requirements of modern era i.e., Khalil,
Lazarowitz&Lazarowitz (2014);Hussain (2014);Zareen(2014), Osman,
Hiong&Vebrianto (2013), Sorgo &Spernjak (2012), Berjevin (2010), Osman
&Marimuthu (2010) and Gillani(2005). It was observed that all the above
mentioned researches were related to learning targets, instructional
methodology, instructional technology, practical work and integration of other
subjects in biology. The researcher did not find any study national or local level
that could have evaluated the curriculum of Biology with reference to 21st
century skills. Realizing the gap, the researcher decided to conduct research in

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this area and to assess the textbook of Biology in perspective of 21st century
skills. The researcher consider to conduct content analysis of the Biology
textbook to achieve the objective.
Statement of the problem:
The present research paper was an attempt to analyze the current textbook of
Biology forhigher secondary level published by National Book Foundation with
reference to 21st century skills required for students of higher secondary school
level.
Research Objectives:
The research paper was aimed to achieve the following research objectives:
1. To explore the 21st century skills required for students of higher secondary
school level;
2. To analyze the current textbook of Biology of higher secondary school level
in Pakistan with reference to 21stcentury skills.
Research Questions:
The following research questions were developed to achieve the objectives of
the research paper:
1. What are the 21stcentury skills required for students of higher secondary
school level?
2. Which 21stcentury skills are included in textbook of Biology of higher
secondary school level in Pakistan?
3. Is there any need to address the factor of 21stcentury skills in textbook of
Biology of higher secondary school level in Pakistan?
Delimitation of the Study
Due to constraints of time and resources, the researcher delimited her research
study to:
1. Examining the textbook of Biology published by National Book Foundation,
Islamabad forstudents of higher secondary school level in Pakistan
2. Conducting the research study through qualitative document analysis of
textbook of Biology forhigher secondary School level in Pakistan
3. Analyzing the four chapters of textbook of Biology Part-II for Higher
Secondary School level in Pakistan with special reference to 21stcentury
skills.

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Procedure of the study:
It was a theoretical and desk review study. The researchers accessed the
relevant literature in the form of research articles, reports, books and web
search. After consulting the relevant documents, the researchers formulated a
theoretical framework for the research study. The researchers analyzed the
textbook of Biology of higher secondary School level keeping in mind the
theoretical framework. In the light of findings of the analysis of textbooks, the
researchers were able to point out the required modifications in the textbooks
of Biology for higher secondary school in Pakistan.
Theoretical framework of the study
After consulting21stcentury skills map for science education developed by
Partnership for 21st century skills (2009), Iowa Core K-12 21st century skills
(2012), National Research Committee report (2012), theIowa report for
science Standards (2009), National Education Association Guide on 4Cs (2011),
21stcentury skills by National Central Regional Educational Laboratory and
Metiri Group (2003), the researchers formulated a conceptual framework for
the research paper. Besides content mastery skills for science subjects, the
following 21stcentury skills are very important:
1. Creativity and innovation: Science education demands creativity.
Scientific and technological innovation are main core of science
education.Creativity refers to create a thing that is genuine and original
(National Central Regional Educational Laboratory and Metiri Group, 2003)
by using previous knowledge and applying theory to a real world situation,
and by using cross disciplinary approaches(Partnership for 21st Century
Skills, 2009). It involves creating new ideas, products and processes (Iowa
Core K-12 21st Century Skills, 2012). Creativity and innovation skills covers
the concepts of:
a. Thinking creatively through creating, analyzing and evaluating the ideas
b. Working creatively with others by developing, implementing and
communicating new ideas, and learning from mistakes
c. Implementing new innovations through acting on creative ideas to make
useful contribution to any field (National Education Association U. S. A,
2011).
2. Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving: Critical thinking and problem-
solving skills are vital for thinking logically about various scientific concepts
and applying carefully those concepts to solve real-life problems

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(Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2009). Critical thinking skill involves
analyzing and evaluating evidences, arguments and alternative point of views
(National Education Association, 2011; Partnership for 21st Century Skills,
2009),evaluating information from multiple perspective (Iowa Core K-12
21st Century Skills, 2012), deriving conclusions on the basis of analysis,
asking relevant questions and solving different problems (National Education
Association, 2011; Partnership for 21stCentury Skills, 2009).
3. Communication: Communication is vital in science education to describe
information to other people so that research can be duplicated or advanced
(Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2009).Scientific ideas and thinking can be
communicated through a variety of oral, written and nonverbal (National
Education Association, 2011; Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2011;
Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2009), mathematical, graphical and
pictorial representations (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2009).
Listening and reading effectively to grasp the meaning (National Education
Association, 2011), speaking or writing to inform, instruct or persuade
(Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2011; Partnership for 21st Century Skills,
2009), asking questions, and expressing ideas (Iowa Core K-12 21st Century
Skills, 2012)are aspects of effective communication.
4. Collaboration: Collaboration refers to working effectively and flexibly
with diverse teams to achieve a common goal (National Education
Association, 2011; Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2011; Partnership for
21st Century Skills, 2009). Collaboration requires shared responsibility for
achieving the common goal and ensures individual contribution to group
effort (National Education Association, 2011; Partnership for 21st Century
Skills, 2011). Science education in 21stcentury accentuate interdisciplinary
research and collaboration between hard and social sciences (Partnership
for 21st Century Skills, 2009).
5. Information Literacy: Information literacy refers to accessing and
evaluating information from different sources and managing the information
(Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2011), interpreting information and
drawing conclusions to resolve an issue or problem (National Education
Association, 2011; Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2011).
6. Media literacy:Media literacy involves analyzing the techniques used by
print and non-print media sources, and judging the validity and credibility of
the information displayed in various media sources (Iowa Core K-12 21st
Century Skills, 2012; National Education Association, 2011; Partnership for
21st Century Skills, 2011; Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2009).
7. Information and communications technology (ICT) literacy:
Information and communications literacy involves the use of digital

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technologies (computers, media players), communication tools and social
networks to access, manage, create and evaluate information (National
Education Association, 2011; Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2011;
Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2009).
8. Flexibility and Adaptability: Being flexible and adaptable is vital in
science education so that innovative evidence based theories can replace
previously formulated ideas and hypotheses. However, the application of
scientific knowledge and scientific reasoning skills is essential for flexibility
and adaptability (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2009).This skill can help
to adapt to varied roles and to balance diverse views to reach at workable
solutions (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2011).
9. Social and Cross-cultural Skills: Social and cross-cultural skill is
important to be developed in science students because science involves
working with people of different ages and backgrounds in a respectful
manner. Social and cross-cultural skill is required to interact and work with
different perspectives, opinions and interpretation from different individuals
(Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2011; Partnership for 21st Century Skills,
2009).
10. Productivity and Accountability: It involves making a plan by setting
goal, managing it, and working collaboratively and professionally to achieve
the results (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2011). Science demands
producing accurate data to arrive at conclusion and communicating the
results with community (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2009).
11. Leadership and Responsibility:Science education demands drawing
conclusions on the basis of evidence, addressing the bias and other
influences on the results. It requires to appropriately and safely apply
scientific knowledge on different situation (Partnership for 21st Century
Skills, 2009). It is essential to conduct an inquiry by keeping in mind the
interests of community and environment (Partnership for 21st Century
Skills, 2011).Partnership for 21st Century Skills i.e., a group 36 organizations,
has incorporated four interdisciplinary themes into the list of 21stcentury
skills:
12. Global awareness to understand the global issues and working
collaboratively to resolve them
13. Financial, economic, business and entrepreneurial literacy to know
about economic trends around the world to make career, business and
workplace choices

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14. Civic literacy to recognize the environmental health, natural resource
management and human wellness while using and applying scientific
principles and theories(Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2011; Partnership
for 21st Century Skills, 2009).
15. Health literacy to know about human biology and role of humans in the
environment. It involves thinking about the use and application of scientific
knowledge for personal, family and public health and safety issues(Iowa
Core K-12 21st Century Skills, 2010; Partnership for 21st Century Skills,
2011; Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2009).

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Analysis of Textbook of Biology
The biology curriculum for higher secondary school level consisted of
theoretical concepts in the form of textbooks and a certain number of practicals
i.e., 55 practicals, related to those concepts (Hussain, 2014). There are two
textbooks of Biology for higher secondary school leveli.e., Biology Part-I is for
1styear and Biology Part-II for 2ndyear of higher secondary school level. Biology
Part-I includes major topics of Introduction to Biology, Biological molecules,
enzymes, the cell, variety of life forms, animal and plant kingdom, bioenergetics,
transport and nutrition. Biology Part-II includes topics of gaseous exchange,
support and movement, homeostasis (haemostasis), coordination and control,
reproduction, chromosomes and DNA, development and aging, evolution,
genetics, biotechnology, biology and human welfare.
The researchers selected four chapters from Biology Part-II published by
National Book Foundation, Islamabad for higher secondary school level i.e.,
Behavior, Development and Aging, Man and His Environment, Biotechnology
and, Biology and Human Life, for content analysisin accordance with 21st century
skills. The content analysis of selected four chapters of Biology part-II is given in
the table below:
Table 7: Table of Content Analysis of Selected Chapters of Biology II
Sr.
No.
Chapter Name
21st Century
Skills
Behavior
Development
and Aging
Man and His
Environment
Biology and
Human Welfare
1.
Creativity and
Innovation
-
-
-
-
2.
Critical Thinking
& Problem-
solving
Non-Orientation
Behavior
Human
Embryonic
Development,
Disorders During
Human
Embryonic
Development,
Aging, Birth and
Nursing
Nitrogen Cycle,
Concept of
Trophic Levels,
Ecological
Succession
Methods of Plant
Breeding for Crop
Improvement
3.
Communication
Learning, Innate
Behavior, Animal
Society and
Aggregation,
Agonistic
Behavior
Aging, Premature
Birth, Human
Embryonic
Development,
Genetic
Abnormalities
and
Spontaneous
Abortion,
Ecological
Succession,
Population
Dynamics,
Principles of
Demography,
Protection of
Environmental
Resources,
Vaccination and
Integrated Disease
Management,
Latest Techniques
Applied to
Enhance Crop and
Fruit Yields, Role
of Microbes in
Industrial

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Postnatal
Development
Production, Role of
Bacteria in the
Sewage Treatment
Process
4.
Collaboration
Non-Orientation
Behavior,
Learning
Major events of
organogenesis,
structure of
placenta
-
Home Gardening,
Role of Microbes in
Industrial
Production
5.
Information
Literacy
-
Genetic
Abnormalities
and
Spontaneous
Abortion
-
-
6.
Media Literacy
-
-
-
-
7.
Information and
Communication
Technology (ICT)
Literacy
-
-
-
-
8.
Flexibility &
Adaptability
-
Lactation/Nursing
-
-
9.
Social & Cross-
Cultural Skills
Social Behavior
-
-
-
10.
Productivity &
Accountability
-
-
-
-
11.
Leadership &
Responsibility
-
-
-
-
12.
Global
Awareness
-
-
Principles of
Demography,
Human Impacts
on Environment
Role of Bacteria in
the Sewage
Treatment
Process,
Integrated Disease
Management
13.
Financial,
Economic,
Business and
Entrepreneurial
Literacy
-
-
Environmental
Resources and
Their Depletion
Animal Husbandry
14.
Civic Literacy
-
-
Environmental
Resources and
Their Depletion,
Xerarch
Succession,
Principles of
Demography
Role of Microbes in
Energy Production
15.
Health Literacy
-
Human
Embryonic
Development,
Birth and
Nursing,
Disorders during
Embryonic
Development,
Postnatal
Development,
Aging
Nuclear Power,
Acid Rain, Ozone
Depletion,
Principles of
Demography
Role of Microbes in
Human Welfare,
Role of Vaccines in
Preventing
Diseases

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The analysis of selected chapters of Biology pat-II revealed that the content did
not address the creativity and innovation skill. Few topics from the four chapter
encouraged the very initial form of critical thinking among students with no
questions or activities asking for the use of problem-solving ability. Majority of
the content of the selected chapters followed an organized structure and
sequence. The explanation of the concepts had a sequence of description of
concept, example, uses and disadvantages. The language and words used were
apprehensible. However, most of the pictures and diagrams used were not of
high quality and clear. A well-organized written explanation can promote the
ability to explain something clearly. But the variety of skills needed for verbal
and nonverbal communication were not urged as any group activity or
classroom activity for collaborative work was not suggested in the chapters.
Moreover, opportunities to work with teams to accomplish a goal were not
proposed in the content. Only one topic out of four chapters advocated the
development of information literacy skill. Even the questions provided in the
exercise can be answered just by looking at the information provided in the
chapters.The information and literacy skills are demanded from students in the
contemporary world to search and evaluate material from multiple sources to
resolve a problem. But the development of media literacy, Information and
Communication Technology (ICT) literacy, productivity and accountability,
leadership and responsibility skills were not promoted through any of the
content of the selected chapters. Only one topic addressed the promotion of
skill of flexibility and adaptability. The advancement of social and cross-cultural
skills were observed to be addressed by only one topic containing basic
information about how an animal society is formed. There was no
activity/project found in the chapters to encourage the development/exercise of
the soft skills.As far as, the interdisciplinary skills are concerned, four topics
addressed the need of students of global awareness. Only two topics of two
chapters focused on the need of students about financial, economic, business
and entrepreneurial literacy by suggesting careers in environmental study and
animal husbandry. Four topics from two chapters focused on the need of
students of awareness about civic literacy. A number of topics promoted the
health literacy among students. However, it was noticed that the chapters were
too much focused on the provision of large amount of information rather than
developing and making use of information processing skill of students.
Conclusion & Discussion
The content analysis of selected chapters of textbook of Biology part-II revealed
that it promoted the development of written communication and collaboration
skills, global awareness, civic and health literacy among students of secondary
school level. However, a gap was found in the textbook for providing any

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activity for the development ofsome of important skills of 21st centurylike
critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity and innovation, productivity and
accountability, leadership and responsibility, media literacy and, information and
communication technology (ICT) literacy skillsin secondary school students.
It was noticed after content analysis that the textbook were developed by giving
more preference to breadth of topics rather than depth of the concepts. As a
result, a large amount of information is provided within the textbook without
providing the opportunities to students to search for information from multiple
perspectives and to work collaboratively to solve real-world problems. The
transmission of knowledge and content does not promote the development of
problem solving skill (Bergevin, 2010).
The clear well-structureddescription of topics were given in each chapter. The
description of a topic followed an organized pattern of definition/introduction to
the topic, history of the topic (if any), structure, functioning or use of the
particular technique/process/instrument. This pattern of objective description
can be helpful to clearly communicate the ideas to students. Additionally, it can
be helpful to inculcate in students the ability tocommunicate clearly and
objectively.However, it was surprising to notice that there was no interactive
activities for collaborative/cooperative learning suggested in the textbooks. It
was the indication that the textbook was not targeted at the development of
social and cross-cultural skills, verbal and nonverbal communication skills i.e.,
the essential part of communication.
It was observed that the textbook was aimed at developing the holistic
understanding of concepts and inter-connection between them. Interesting
information was provided in the form of boxes named “Science Tidbits” and
“Science Technology and Society Connections” containing real-life example and
application of the concepts being studied; however, any activity, experiment or
assignment was not recommended to ask students to apply those concepts in
real-life. The provision of ready-made information will not encourage the
development of 21st century skills in students. The students must be provided
short assignments/tasks so that they must learn to apply the concept in real-life
under the guidance of classroom teacher. In this way, the students can develop
the critical thinking, problem-solving, leadership and responsibility skills.
In order to develop critical thinking skill in students, the questions in a special
box were given at the end of a number of topics in textbooks. However, it was
observed that the students were not required toprocess the information and
think critically to find the answer for the questions. Most of the ‘critical thinking’
questions were focused to ask information from students already stated in the
chapter. Such practices are not conducive for developing critical thinking.
Additionally, the questions and exercises for developing the problem-solving
ability were not given in the textbook. A large no. of questions and tasks (Millar,

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2011) must be provided to develop the critical thinking and problem-solving
skills in students. The typically open-ended questions which do not have clear
well-defined answers provide students opportunities to develop critical-thinking
skills (Bergevin, 2010). The question-answer session between students and
teachers, discussion, quizzes, activities, assignments and virtual experiments can
be helpful to develop critical thinking, problem-solving, information literacy,
productivity and accountability, and social skills (Turiman, Omar, Daud& Osman,
2012).
For further reading of concepts, the references of books and websites at the
end of textbook of Biology Part-II were provided. However, it was observed
that most of the books in “Further Reading” section were 10 to 12 years old.
Additionally, the use of providing links of books and websites was not clear. As
all the information asked from students in the form of questions can be
answered by just looking at the description of relevant topic in the textbook.
Mere providing the references for further reading did not encourage the
development of information, media and, information and Communication
Technology (ICT) literacy skills among students. The information and
communication (ICT) literacy skill is very important skill among competencies
required for living successfully in 21st century (Osman &Marimuthu, 2010).
Through integration of Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
literacy, the information can be accessed, created, shared and reflected upon
(Pheeraphan, 2013). The use of modern Information and Communication (ICT)
technology has widened the educational opportunities for students. The blogs,
wikis, books, email and web-forum can aid in the development of
communication skill of students (Sysoyev, Evstigneeva&Evstigneev, 2015),
besides providing access to a large amount of information and assistance in
learning. The need of the hour is to include such activities and questions which
can be accomplished by reading the other books/resources besides the
textbook.
The textbook did not address the development of flexibility and adaptability,
creativity and innovation, and leadership and responsibility skills. Student-
centered teaching-learning activities might be used (Sayre, 2013) for the
promotion of critical thinking and problem-solving skills, flexibility and
adaptability, leadership and responsibility. Inquiry, problem-based hands-on
activities, laboratories and field work promote the development of scientific
attitude and inquiry skills (Sorgo &Spernjak, 2012).
The interdisciplinary themes of global awareness, civic literacy, health literacy,
and financial, economic, business and entrepreneurial literacy were not
integrated into the majority of the content. Rather separate chapters were
introduced to address this need. The need of the hour is to integrate and teach
all the concepts keeping in view the interdisciplinary themes of 21st century.

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Conclusion & Recommendations
Keeping in view the findings and discussion, it was concluded that the textbook
of Biology for higher secondary school level does not meet the criteria
necessary for the development of 21st century skills among higher secondary
school students.On the basis of discussion, it is recommended that:
1. The textbook of Biology for higher secondary school level may be
revised to include such content and exercises that encourage the
development of 21st century skills i.e., creativity, innovation,
leadership, responsibility, productivity, media and, information and
communication technology literacy skills among students of higher
secondary school level.
2. Problem-based activities, projects and fieldwork may be included in
the textbook of Biology for higher secondary school level so that
students can be able to assess information from multiple sources
and apply knowledge to real-life situations.
3. There is a need to include in the textbook of Biology for higher
secondary school level the cooperative learning activities for
students.
4. There is a need to reformulate the questions in the Biology
textbook for higher secondary level in a way to require critical
thinking and problem solving skills from students.
5. The content of the textbook of Biology for higher secondary school
level may be connected with the interdisciplinary themes of global
awareness, civic literacy and, financial, economic, business and
entrepreneurial literacy.
6. The textbooks for science subjects for secondary and higher
secondary school level may be assessed for assessing their
correspondence with 21st century requirements.

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References
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