School Size and Diversity in the Senior Secondary Curriculum: A Generalisable Relationship?

1998 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald R. Elsworth
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Schools ◽  
School Size ◽  
Positive Relationship ◽  
Small Schools ◽  
Educational Opportunity ◽  
Secondary Curriculum ◽  
Curriculum Provision ◽  
Senior Secondary ◽  
Equality Of Educational Opportunity

UNDERPINNING the debate on the desirable size of secondary schools is the assumption that larger schools are able to offer a more diverse curriculum and thereby provide greater equality of educational opportunity and outcomes. A detailed study of curriculum provision at Year 12 in Victoria showed that the positive relationship between school size and the number of distinct subjects offered was generalisable across ‘mainstream’ schools and all curriculum fields. But many small schools were able to offer a broad range of subjects, and the increase in diversity with school size was uneven across fields. Furthermore, evidence that students actually enrolled in the additional subjects offered in the larger schools was equivocal. It remains problematic whether the apparent diversity in Year 12 subject offerings achieved in the new, larger, secondary colleges in Victoria has led to a more equitable curriculum.

Scale Economies in Australian Secondary Schools

1995 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phillip McKenzie
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Production Function ◽  
Educational Outcomes ◽  
School Size ◽  
Scale Economies ◽  
Limited Data ◽  
Curriculum Provision

The estimation of scale economies has been hampered by inadequate conceptualisation of a production function for schooling and limited data on educational outcomes. Therefore most studies, especially in Australia, have approached the question indirectly through analyses of per student expenditure and patterns of curriculum provision in schools of different sizes. In these terms, the evidence suggests that the gains from increasing school size are relatively limited.

Enhancing Biology Students' Academic Achievement and Attitude Through Self-Regulated Learning Strategy in Senior Secondary Schools in Delta Central Senatorial District

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 149-156
Author(s):  
Oyovwi Edarho Oghenevwede
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Learning Strategy ◽  
Attitude Score ◽  
Biology Teachers ◽  
Biology Students ◽  
Self Regulated Learning ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Regulated Learning ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Senior Secondary

Abstract This study focused on enhancing biology students' achievement and attitude through Self-Regulated Learning Strategy in secondary schools in Delta Central Senatorial District. The study adopted the quasi-experimental pre-test, post-test control group design. Four research questions and four research hypotheses were formulated and raised to guide the study. The population of the study was all the biology students in senior secondary school II (SS II) in all the government-owned public secondary schools in Delta Central Senatorial District with an estimation of six thousand, four hundred and twenty-one students (6,421). A sample of two hundred and forty-five (245) senior secondary schools II students randomly selected from four (4) public mixed secondary schools was used for the study. The Simple Random Sampling Technique was adopted to draw the sample. The instruments used for data collection were the Biology Achievement Test (BAT) and Biology Attitude Questionnaire (BAQ). BAT and BAQ were validated by I Measurement and Evaluation and Biology teachers that have taught biology for more than ten (10) years. The reliability of BAT and BAQ were established using Kuder-Richardson formula 21 and Cronbach Alpha which yielded a coefficient of internal consistencies of 0.75 for BAT and 0.80 for BAQ respectively. Data were collected by administering the biology achievement test (BAT) and biology attitude questionnaire (BAQ) as pre-test and post-test. The data obtained were analysed using mean, standard deviation Analysis of Variation (ANOVA) and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). The result shows that self-regulated regulated learning strategy significantly enhanced students' achievement in biology compared to the lecture method; there was no significant difference between the mean achievement score of male and female students taught biology using self-regulated learning strategy; there was a significant difference between the mean attitude score of students taught using self-regulated learning strategy compared with those taught with lecture method in favour of students taught using the self-regulated learning strategy and there was no significant difference between the mean attitude score of male and female students taught biology using self-regulated learning strategy. Based on the findings it was concluded that self-regulated learning strategy significantly enhances students' achievements and attitudes in biology. It was therefore recommended that biology teachers should adopt the strategy in teaching biology at the secondary school level and that biology teachers should be trained on how to use the skills of self-regulated learning strategy effectively.

Reform at the Intersection of Loose Coupling and Pedagogic Modalities: The Case of Hong Kong

2021 ◽  
pp. 001312452110019
Author(s):  
Trevor Tsz-lok Lee
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Education Reform ◽  
Global City ◽  
Coupling Agents ◽  
Loose Coupling ◽  
Secondary Curriculum ◽  
Reform Policy ◽  
Local Actors ◽  
Senior Secondary

This paper contributes to our understanding of the micro-policy experience of an implemented curriculum from the perspective of students, in addition to teachers, as the key coupling agents in the schools of a Chinese global city. Although the phenomenon of decoupling in educational policy is widely recognized, much less attention has been paid to the micro-dynamics involved in implementing education reform policy from the perspective of students and teachers. It is argued that these local actors’ experiences are best captured by the bi-dimensional framework of loose coupling and pedagogic modalities. This argument is illustrated through a case study of the implementation of the Liberal Studies reform under Senior Secondary Curriculum in Hong Kong since 2009. The study demonstrates how students and teachers interpret and make sense of policy, strategic, and practical needs manifested in the microprocesses of policy coupling and decoupling.

Effects of Out-door Activities on Students’ Attitude towards Physics in Secondary Schools

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
pp. 126-131
Author(s):  
AWODUN ADEBISI OMOTADE ◽  
JEGEDE S.A
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Teaching Method ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Analysis Of Covariance ◽  
Teaching Approaches ◽  
Control Groups ◽  
Conventional Teaching ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
And Control ◽  
Senior Secondary

The study investigated the effects of out-door activities on students’ attitude towards learning of Physics in Senior Secondary School Physics in Ekiti State, Nigeria. The research design adopted in the study was Pretest-Posttest Quasi-experimental. The sample for the study was 150 Senior Secondary One (SSI) Physics students (this sample was divided into the experimental and control groups in ratio 1: 1 i.e. 75 in each group), selected through the multistage sampling technique from a total population of 7,852 SS I students offering Physics in all the 184 public Senior Secondary Schools in Ekiti State. The instrument used to collect relevant data from the subjects was Physics Attitudinal Scale (PAS). The reliability of the instrument was determined through the split-half method with the reliability coefficient of 0.83. Two null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The data collected were analysed using inferential statistics of t-test and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). The results of the analyses showed that there was significant difference in the attitude of students to Physics in the experimental and control groups in favour of experimental group. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that non-conventional teaching approaches such as using out-door activities, should be introduced into the teaching of Physics in the nation’s secondary schools to reinforce the hitherto adopted conventional teaching method and Physics teachers should be encouraged to make use of these new teaching approaches.

Instructional Resources and Effective Pedagogy of Financial Accounting in Secondary Schools, Lagos, Nigeria

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 94-108
Author(s):  
Olusegun Ezekiel Alao ◽  
Mary John Ukpong
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Financial Accounting ◽  
Instructional Materials ◽  
Instructional Resources ◽  
Effective Pedagogy ◽  
Lagos State ◽  
Senior Secondary Schools ◽  
Senior Secondary

Students’ poor Financial Accounting performance in senior secondary schools is worrisome and induces youths to engage in several social vices. An attempt to curb the menace and improve students’ performance led this study to assess the instructional resources and effective pedagogy of Financial Accounting in secondary schools in Lagos State, Nigeria. Adopting the descriptive survey research design, the population of the study comprised 2,492 senior secondary schools 1 and 2 students and 10 teachers of Financial Accounting under Education District IV in Lagos State, Nigeria. 300 students and all the 10 teachers eventually emerged as samples using Checkmarket Sample Size Calculator at 5% margin and 95% confidence level. The data were collected using a structured questionnaire that obtained Cronbach’s Alpha=0.90, and analysed using descriptive analysis and t-test at α=0.05 level of significance. The results showed that the teachers of Financial Accounting were not using activity-based pedagogical strategies. Most of the instructional materials necessary for the effective pedagogy of Financial Accounting were inadequate and malfunctioning. Therefore, Financial Accounting teachers are strongly encouraged to apply innovative and experiential learning strategies in teaching and learning. Furthermore, adequate infrastructure and modern equipment in the schools will create better learning opportunities for students.

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