Altering socio-cultural beliefs hindering the learning of science |
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| Authors: | Olugbemiro J Jegede Barry J Fraser Peter Akinsola Okebukola |
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| Institution: | (1) Distance Education Centre, University of Southern Queensland, 4350 Toowoomba, QLD, Australia;(2) Science and Mathemtics Education Centre, Curtin University of Technology, 6001 Perth, WA, Australia;(3) Faculty of Education, Lagos State University, PMB 1087 Apapa, Lagos, Nigeria |
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| Abstract: | Recent studies in educational productivity and effectiveness of schooling have shown that certain factors could be altered within the classroom to result in enhanced achievement and positive attitude towards the study of science. A learner who is not positively disposed to, or has a socio-cultural background that is indifferent to the learning of science would find it hard to learn science effectively. If, as suggested by recent research, the socio-cultural characteristics which children in non-western society bring into the classroom from their environment create a wedge between what they are taught and what they learn, it is plausible to hypothesise that school based alterations of the socio-cultural prior knowledge of the learner could result in school effectiveness. This study attempted to determine whether or not instruction based on a socio-cultural model could significantly alter students' attitudes towards the learning of and achievement in science. The sample consisted of 600 senior secondary year one students (442 boys, 156 girls) from 15 secondary schools in Nigeria. The Socio-Cultural Environment Scale (SCES) and the Biology Achievement Test (BAT) were used to measure the change in attitude and achievement of subjects respectively in a pretest — posttest situation after a six-week treatment. Evidence was found from the study to support the hypothesis that science instruction which deliberately involved the discussion of socio-cultural views about science concepts altered students' attitudes toward the study of science. The finding also indicated that some socio-cultural factors were amenable to alterations in such a way as to promote the subjects' positive attitudes towards the study of science. |
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