THE IMPACT OF REDUCED EDUCATIONAL TIME ON PERFORMANCE, CONFIDENCE, AND METACOGNITIVE ACCURACY IN LOWER SECONDARY GENETICS LEARNING

초록

Curriculum reforms in the Philippines, including the MATATAG curriculum, have reduced scheduled educational time in lowersecondaryscience, raising questions about their impact on learning and metacognition. This study examined the impact of reduced educational time, specifically the shift from 60 minutes to 45 minutes per genetic lesson, on students' performance, confidence, and metacognitive accuracy in a lower secondary science context. Using a cohort-comparison design, data were collected from Grade 9 students across two school years. Student performance was assessed through a genetics test, while confidence ratings captured metacognitive accuracy. Pearson correlations examined confidence-performance alignment, and Welchs't-tests compared cohort and gender differences. Teacher perceptions were gathered through open-ended surveys. Results showed that the students who received longer lessons achieved higher performance and demonstrated stronger confidence-performance calibration, whereas students who experienced shorter lessons achieved lower performance and exhibited overconfidence. Gender differences appeared only in the 2023 cohort, with females outperforming males. Teacher accounts confirmed that shortened lessons reduced opportunities for interaction, feedback, and reflection. The findings highlight that educational time is both an academic and metacognitive resource. Safeguarding opportunities for reflection and feedback is essential to support accurate self-monitoring and sustainable learning in science education.

키워드