scholarly journals Exploring the development of biological literacy in Tanzanian junior secondary school students

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Zawadi Richard Juma

<p>Internationally, scientific literacy is a major goal of science education in the twenty first century. In Tanzania, where there is a widespread lack of public understanding about major health issues, biological literacy is needed so that people can make decisions about the socio-scientific issues that confront them. To that end, the Tanzanian school curriculum aims to connect students’ understandings of Biology to their everyday lives but few studies have been conducted that show whether these aims have been achieved, especially in junior secondary school. This ethnographic case study investigates the ways in which the junior secondary school Biology curriculum in Tanzania supports or constrains the development of biological literacy and how institutional context, particularly as it relates to urban and rural schools, influences the delivery of the Biology curriculum. Teachers’ and Year Four students’ of secondary schools views about school Biology were sought in the course of this study and the issues that emerged were analysed using social constructivist and social constructionist theoretical frameworks. Data were collected through student questionnaires, student focus group interviews, teacher interviews, and classroom observations. The research sites included rural and urban schools, and government and private schools. The findings suggest that the Biology curriculum and the ways it is delivered do not adequately address the students’ needs and therefore is unlikely to enable them to become biologically literate. Rural schools are less well equipped than urban schools to deliver the curriculum and teachers and students face bigger challenges. A key finding was that Tanzanian young people have a strong desire to learn more about reproductive Biology and health issues but these are not prioritised in the current curriculum. In light of these findings, curriculum changes are recommended to provide learning opportunities for students to gain biological knowledge and skills that are relevant to their daily lives.</p>

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Zawadi Richard Juma

<p>Internationally, scientific literacy is a major goal of science education in the twenty first century. In Tanzania, where there is a widespread lack of public understanding about major health issues, biological literacy is needed so that people can make decisions about the socio-scientific issues that confront them. To that end, the Tanzanian school curriculum aims to connect students’ understandings of Biology to their everyday lives but few studies have been conducted that show whether these aims have been achieved, especially in junior secondary school. This ethnographic case study investigates the ways in which the junior secondary school Biology curriculum in Tanzania supports or constrains the development of biological literacy and how institutional context, particularly as it relates to urban and rural schools, influences the delivery of the Biology curriculum. Teachers’ and Year Four students’ of secondary schools views about school Biology were sought in the course of this study and the issues that emerged were analysed using social constructivist and social constructionist theoretical frameworks. Data were collected through student questionnaires, student focus group interviews, teacher interviews, and classroom observations. The research sites included rural and urban schools, and government and private schools. The findings suggest that the Biology curriculum and the ways it is delivered do not adequately address the students’ needs and therefore is unlikely to enable them to become biologically literate. Rural schools are less well equipped than urban schools to deliver the curriculum and teachers and students face bigger challenges. A key finding was that Tanzanian young people have a strong desire to learn more about reproductive Biology and health issues but these are not prioritised in the current curriculum. In light of these findings, curriculum changes are recommended to provide learning opportunities for students to gain biological knowledge and skills that are relevant to their daily lives.</p>


2021 ◽  
pp. 49-64
Author(s):  
Graeme Miller

This paper reports on a 2016-2019 study of 123 students in the most academic Year 9 class in a large, high-achieving New Zealand state boys’ secondary school. The study asked the question: “What aspects of society, schools and teachers, home environment and your own intrapersonal qualities helped or hindered your achievement in at least one academic subject?” Data were gathered through the completion of questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, either in focus groups, or individually. Arguably, the most important findings related to participant perceptions of the greatest influence supporting achievement and the single most common factor identified as hindering achievement. The greatest help was identified to be students’ own intrapersonal characteristics, and the greatest hindrance was identified to be schools and teachers. This paper reports on the main findings of the research with particular emphasis on those with relevance to educators. It also considers what the major implications are for educational practice in New Zealand schools.


2002 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karl Peltzer

The purpose of this study was to identify factors affecting HIV risk reduction among junior secondary school pupils in South Africa. Opsomming Die doel van hierdie studie was om HIV risiko reduksie faktore onder junior sekondêre skool leerlinge in Suid-Afrika te identifiseer. *Please note: This is a reduced version of the abstract. Please refer to PDF for full text.


2013 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kadir, Jl ◽  
Mayjen S. Parman

Mathematical communication skills of junior secondary school students in coastal area are still considered low due to the lack of contextual problem technique in the teaching of mathematics. The various potencies of the coastal area have been damaged without any concern. It is interesting to investigate the contextual problem in mathematics teaching because it can be identified, required, and related to everyday life. The objective of this study is to enhance mathematical communication skills of junior secondary school students in the coastal area. Using coastal-based contextual teaching and learning (CCTL) can enhance: (1) students’ mathematical communication skills better than conventional teaching and learning (CVTL); and (2) the students’ learning activity, fluency of argument in problem solving process, advanced question skills, and knowledge of coastal area potencies and problems.


Author(s):  
Latifah Mutiara Sari ◽  
Sarwaji Surwandi ◽  
Sahid Teguh Widodo

This study aims to interpret ekokritik literary theory by expressing the value of environmental wisdom focused on respect for nature of fo Alas Kobong Folklore in Pacitan Regency. Ekokritik literature to examine the application of this folklore is through data classification based on the moral principles of environmental wisdom focused on respect for nature. The shape of this research is descriptive qualitative with an interactive approach to data sources transcript of interviews about Alas Kobong folklore of participants in Pacitan Regency. Data were collected through interviews, observation, documentation, field notes and transcriptions. There are three aspects of data analysis techniques, namely the description, analysis, and interpretation. The results of this study found five data contained in a respectful attitude towards nature which is included in the value of environmental wisdom of  Alas Kobong folklore in Pacitan Regency. In addition, the folklore of Alas Kobong can also implies learning literature junior secondary school Adiwiyata curriculum.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-48
Author(s):  
Hari Pratikno ◽  
Endah Retnowati

General problem-solving steps consist of understanding the problem, developing a plan, implementing the plan and checking the result. The purpose of this study is to explore how well Indonesia junior secondary school students apply these four steps in solving mathematical problems, especially on plane geometry topics. Using a qualitative approach, with a sample of nine students, of which three students were from the low mathematics achievement category, three from the medium and three from the high category, were given a test and instructed to write the answers to each question step by step. The results were described and categorized into four groups. The first group consisted of students who used all of the four steps. The second and the third were for students who used the first three steps or the first two steps respectively. The fourth group was for those who could only show the first step. The study indicated that for this sample the level of mathematic ability corresponded to how the students applied their problem-solving steps. It was found that students with high ability were included in the first group, while those with moderate ability were in the second group. Low ability students were categorized into group four. Nevertheless, there was one student with high ability who did not to do the checking step and there was one student with low ability who was able to develop a plan.


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