DEVELOPMENT AND EFFECTIVENESS OF TPACK-BASED TEACHING TOOLS FOR FUNGAL BIOECOLOGY LEARNING

Fungal biology is often perceived as a challenging topic because many of its concepts are abstract, microscopic, and difficult to relate to ecological processes and real-world environmental issues. This study aimed to develop and evaluate TPACK-based teaching tools integrated with fungal bioecology to support students’ higher-order learning outcomes. The teaching tools were developed using the 4-D model, consisting of define, design, develop, and disseminate stages. The evaluation employed a quasi-experimental design involving 90 Grade XI students from three secondary schools in Ambon, Indonesia. Students’ learning outcomes were assessed in terms of critical thinking, creative thinking, conceptual understanding, and environmental literacy. Data were analyzed using appropriate inferential statistical procedures to examine differences between students learning through TPACK-based and conventional teaching tools. The findings indicated significant differences in the selected learning outcomes between the two instructional conditions, demonstrating the potential contribution of the TPACK-based teaching tools to fungal biology learning. The integration of technological representations, pedagogical activities, fungal biology content, and bioecological contexts provided students with opportunities to visualize abstract concepts, investigate ecological relationships, analyze biological phenomena, and engage in problem solving. These findings suggest that TPACK-based instructional design can provide a meaningful framework for connecting fungal biology concepts with ecological and environmental contexts. The study contributes an integrated TPACK fungal bioecology 4-D framework that extends the application of TPACK beyond technology-supported visualization by emphasizing the alignment of technology, pedagogy, content, and ecological context. Further research involving larger and more diverse samples and more rigorous experimental designs is recommended to establish the generalizability and causal effects of the developed teaching tools.