1988 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
A Study of Cognitive Skills and Other Related Factors in Science Education.
| Project/Area Number |
61450098
|
|---|
| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for General Scientific Research (B)
|
| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
|---|
| Research Field |
科学教育(含教育工学)
|
|---|
| Research Institution | HIROSHIMA UNIVERSITY |
|---|
Principal Investigator |
TAKEMURA Shigekazu Professor, Faculty of Education, Hiroshima University, 教育学部, 教授 (70112159)
|
|---|
| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
NAKAYAMA Genzo Research Associate, Hiroshima University, 教育学部, 助手 (40211437)
MANZANO Vergilio U. Assistant Professor, Hiroshima University, 教育学部, 講師 (80208719)
HIOKI Mitsuhisa Research Associate, Hiroshima University, 教育学部, 助手 (10181059)
MATSUMOTO Shinji Assistant Professor, Hyogo University of Teacher Education, 学校教育学部, 講師 (70165893)
|
|---|
| Project Period (FY) |
1986 – 1988
|
| Keywords | Reasoning Skills / Science Process Skills / Science Experiences / Affective Characteristics / Science Achievement / Laboratory Skills / Effects of Instractional Strategies / 横断文化的研究 |
|---|
| Research Abstract |
This research report consists of three major parts. The first part includes the theoretical framework and the total plan of the research. The second part includes the previous researches related to the development of instruments that measure thinking skills and other related factors in science education. The third part deals with data analyses and discussions of the four investigations.
The first investigation was a cross-sectional assessment of the cognitive skills, affective char-acteristics, and experiences of secondary students (grades 7-9) in Japan, Republic of Korea, United States, and the Philippines. Although the students in these four countries have entirely different cultures and environmental conditions, a common pattern in the development of their thinking skills hed been observed. Also, their reasoning and process skills had been found to be significantly re-lated to their experiences and affective characteristics.
Similar instruments and procedures were used on some element
… More
ary pupils in Japan in the second study. When their results were compared with those of the secondary students in the first study, similar common pattern had been observed. Hence, whatever country or grade level students belong to, they exhibit commonalities in the development of their cognitive skills, and that these same cogni-tive skills are significantly related to their affective characteristics and experiences.
The third investigation had shown that the laboratory-centered inquiry approach was a relatively better method than the traditional textbook-centered approach in developing students' process skills, laboratory skills, and understanding scientific knowledge. In addition, no significant effect had been observed on the students' cognitive skills with the use of the traditional textbook-centered approach.
In the fourth study, an assessment was done using the achievement test on the appropriateness of the content of the science curriculum in Japan. The results had shown that some contents of the curriculum do not match with the cognitive levels of the students. Some topics had been placed in a grade level where the pupils were not cognitively ready to encounter, hence their low marks in the test. In this regard, the science curriculum needs to be reevaluated. Those topics that had been inappropriately placed need to be transferred to either lower or higher grade level.
The baseline data that were presented in this report could be used by educators to improve the quality of the teaching-learning processes as well as the development of the science curriculum. Less
|
