Appropriateness and relevance of the Nigerian Basic Science Curriculum Contents: Teachers and students’ perceptions

• Κύριοι συγγραφείς: OKANLAWON, EJIWALE AYOADE, YUSUF, FLORENCE ADEOTI
• Μορφή: Online
• Γλώσσα: English
• Έκδοση: Urray 2018
• Θέματα: Conceptual knowledge, procedural knowledge, fractions, rational numbers, secondary students; Genetic screening, arguments, Bioethics and Biotechnology students; Physics Education, modern physics teaching, quantum concepts; ICT, video, counselling, professional orientation, business administration; Problem solving, practice, difficulties, help, performance; Special needs, autism spectrum disorder, science education, alternative conceptions on mechanics; Narration, digital storytelling, Blendspace, Web 2.0 tools; Textbooks, evaluation, teacher, student, educational policy; Digital instruction, augmented reality, devolution, teaching-learning, applications, activity, informatics; Professionalism, in-service teachers, pre-primary, primary education, perceptions; Socio-cultural, historical approach, preschoolers’ interactions, explanatory schemes, conversational approach, science thinking and learning in early childhood; Teaching goals, science teachers, ideal teacher, philosophy of education; Teachers’ questions, classroom, analysis grid, TP of geology; Digital signal Processing, Simulation Block, pedagogical sequence, conceptual model; Expert teacher, prediction, time, technical drawing; Learning games, epistemic games, contract, setting, simulation, mechanical waves, inquiry process; Plants, scientist students, learning process, epistemological obstacle, quantitative study; Intercultural sensitivity, interaction engagement, enjoyment, attentiveness, confidence, cultural differences, respect, Greek teachers; Cultural capital, educational expectations, occupational expectations, primary school, natives, immigrants; Earth sciences concepts, nursery school, primary school, sedimentary rock, geological time; Artefact, technical object, categorization, learning, technological education; Education for sustainable development, preschool children’s environmental reasoning, attitudes about environmental issues; Concept formation, philosophical theories, biology education, vertebrate classes; Primary school pupils, sustainability, behavioural theories, sustainability behaviour, pro-social behaviours, sustainability knowledge; Entrepreneurship, education, didactic approach, teaching method; 3D printer, creative design, rapid prototyping, additive manufacturing, activity; Administrative leadership style, democratic leadership style, autocratic leadership style, transactional leadership style and teacher effectiveness; DREEM, validation, educational department, educational environment, undergraduate students; Teaching practice, higher education, TACD, determinant of action, organic chemistry; Didactic of physics, mechanical work, diagrams, semiotic actions; Mathematical training, probabilities, perceived self-efficacy beliefs, preschool teachers, inquiry-based approach; Approach skills, program, investigation, enforcement; Curriculum contents, curriculum analyses, curriculum content appropriateness and relevance, indigenous scientific knowledge, basic science curriculum; Educational design, Massive Open Online Course, motivation, interaction; Early childhood education, artmaking, visual languages, communication, documentation; Physics education, investigation, problematization, buoyancy, video analysis, comparison of teaching; Environmental Education, teachers’ conceptions, Togo, anthropocentric attitudes, ecocentric attitudes, multivariate analyses; Biotic system, energy chain, task condition, student’s action, experimental protocol; Ideology, education, Ideological State Apparatus, materialism, consciousness; Electrical risks, domestic electricity, scientific education, prevention, conceptions, teachers; Documentational genesis, mathematics, professional knowledge, resources, software; Teaching practice, teachers, undergraduate students, exploratory study; Critical reflection, teacher’s education, practicum, teacher’s preparation, reflective skills; Autism spectrum disorder, science education, folk physics test; Precursor model, socio cognitive approach, primary education, light, shadow; Online communities of practice, virtual communities of practice, systematic review; Effects, systematic approach, students’ understanding, tonal values, tertiary institutions; Proximal function of language, thematic segmentation, representation scenic, cognitive conflict, TIC; Educational engineering, motivation, commitment, evaluation; Anthropology, teaching, heuristic research; Teaching practices, trigonometric formulas, ICT; Didactics, assessment, curriculum, training, performances; Didactic transposition, science education, manual analysis, atom; Conceptions, students 5 to 7 years, time, speed, methodology, qualitative analysis; Intercultural activities, reflection, narratives, transformative learning; Art education, artistic creation, education, subjective teaching, creation; Teaching practice, JATD, automatic, game descriptors; Comparatism, dietitian school, epistemic games, social practice of reference, didactic transposition; Professional communication skills, situational teaching, teaching professional; Web simulation, experimental design, adaptive scaffolds, biology, high school; Digital educational scenarios, AESOP, mechanical engineering, constructivism; Inquiry, learning tool, social media and university students; Teacher practices, joint action, interactive decision, technical object; Bac-3 and Bac + 3 project, chemistry, semiotic register, modelling process; Teaching practices, JATD, didactic action, didactic game, practical epistemology; Analyse lexicométrique, analyse thématique, triangulation méthodologique, biodiversité, curriculum; Aspects of adulthood, emerging adulthood, higher education students, roles of adults; Science teacher, teacher training, ground realities; Complex technological system, car, energy, environment, secondary education; Expert teacher, task, difficulty, prediction, technical drawing; Erasmus, student mobility, emerging adulthood, higher education, student development; Greek ethnic schools, spatiality, heterotopia, third space, intercultural and language learning, diaspora; Ecological reasoning, nature’s predictability, two-tier questionnaire, nature views; Schooling of disabled pupils, school ancillaries, science education, partnership; Initial training, pedagogical knowledge learning, identification methodology, activity control feedback loop, aware and unaware learning; Force on the tooth, three dimensional perception, graphic representation, digital models; Teaching practices, TACD, practical epistemology, transactions, transistor; Critical Reflection, art in education, teachers’ education, university pedagogy, transformative learning; Immigrants, socio-economic status, habitus, educational aspirations and expectations, young people’s educational choices; Large-scale electricity generation systems, energy chain model, elementary education; Sentiment analysis, opinion mining, education, commercial systems, benchmark

This article examined the Nigerian Basic Science Curriculum by focusing on the appropriateness and relevance of the curriculum contents as perceived by the science teachers and students. To achieve this objective, two research questions were formulated in this descriptive study. The study sample consisted of 435 students who were randomly selected and 57 Basic Science teachers who voluntarily participated in the study. Two researcher-developed instruments: Relevance of Basic Science Curriculum Scale (RBSCS) and Appropriateness of Basic Science Scale (ABSCS) were used to elicit information from students and teachers respectively. Each of the questionnaires consisted of 56 sub-topics (attached to a five-point Likert Scale) as spelt out in the curriculum guide prepared by the State Ministry of Education. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics in form of mean. The findings of the study included the fact that: (1) genetics, the nervous system and sense organs were considered moderately appropriate and highly relevant as rated by science teachers and students respectively, (2) all physical science contents were considered highly irrelevant by the students while these contents were rated by the teachers as moderately appropriate for the third year junior secondary school, (3) topics such as environmental hazards, drug abuse, reproductive health and resources from living and non-living things were rated as highly relevant and highly appropriate. Based on the findings, it was recommended that science education researchers, curriculum development agencies, science educators and professional associations should collaborate in designing (1) socially relevant  curriculum through infusion of more indigenous scientific knowledge into Basic Science Curriculum, (2) developmentally appropriate curriculum through application of relevant theories of developmental psychology.