SIMULTANEOUS IMPROVEMENT OF GIFTED YOUTHS IN BIOLOGY AND PHYSICAL FITNESS FACTORS FOLLOWING TRADITIONAL AND INTEGRATIVE TEACHING
The major aim of this study was to compare the effects of two different teaching methods (traditional and integrative) on learning biology, as well as development of selected factors of physical fitness (agility, flexibility, speed and balance). Participants were gifted students who finished first grade of junior high schools at the end of academic year 2014-2015. From 1190 students who took the IQ test, 52 persons who had highest IQ scores were chosen and assigned randomly to two groups of traditional (26) and integrated (26) classes. The traditional group was taught biology three sessions and physical education one session per week for twelve weeks. The integrated group were taught biology composed with physical education activities four sessions per week (each session lasted 75 minutes). The results revealed that the mean scores of four physical fitness factors in both groups differed significantly from baseline to post teaching examinations (p<0.01). We found that integrated teaching of physical education with other fields (such as biology) in comparison with traditional method, not only leads to better learning, but also encourages students to be more active in learning process. Article visualizations: