An Enrichment Program in Simplified Science and its Effect on Developing some Elements of Scientific Literacy and Social Skills for the Primary School Pupils

 

Introduction

    The current study aims at constructing an enrichment program of the simplified science to the primary school pupils to join the recent development in the field of science teaching which aims at building the scientifically literate  person who will be able to live in contemporary, technological community.

Purpose of the Study

     The aims of the current study is: constructing an enrichment program of the simplified science to the fifth class in the primary school and investigating its effects on

1-  Developing some elements of the scientific literacy in the fifth’ primary school students at Sohag government .

2- Some social skills in the fifth’ primary school pupils at Sohag government .

Questions of the study

        The study tried to answer the following questions:

1-  What is the effect of applying the enrichment program on developing the scientific literacy of the fifth class in the primary school?.

2-  What is the effect of applying the suggested program on developing some social skills of the fifth class pupils in the primary school?.

3-  What is the effect of the enrichment program on developing some elements of the scientific literacy and the social skills of the fifth class pupils is in the primary school ?.

 

Hypotheses of the study

         The following hypotheses were tested:

1- There are statistically significant differences (0,05) between the scores of the study sample in the pre-post application of the scientific literacy scale favoring the post application.

2-

-2-

There are no statistically significant differences (0,05) between scores of the study sample in the pre-post application of the observation sheet for the social skills.

3- The suggested program shows an effectiveness of( 1.2) measured by Blake’s modified ratio of gain.

 

Significance of the study

This work is in agreement with what is called for by the specialists in the field of the science education. It is desirable to propagate the science and simplify it to build a scientifically  literate person who can recognize how the science and technology affect each other and who can take the right decision in his every-day life. Also, the significance of the study stems from the following considerations:

1- This study may help science teachers to know the importance of the tools and equipments of the national environment and their usefulness in science education. 

2-  This study may be useful in turning the teachers attention to using the simplified ways in teaching science to the primary schools pupils.

3- The study may help acquaint researchers of science education with a relatively new approach of teaching and its applications in other classes.

4- The current study aims at design a scientific literacy measure and an observation sheet which may help science’s teachers  and researchers of science education measuring both the scientific literacy and the social skills of the primary school. 

 

Limitations of the Study

    The study was restricted to the following:

1- Some elements of scientific literacy such as scientific information, science processes (observation, , classification, deduction, prediction, measurement), and relation between science, technology and society.

2- Some social skills (team work, communications, making friends).

3- The sample of the study was chosen from Bahesat Albadia School pupils at Sohag city. This sample has been chosen because

i)  There is a full day system in this school

ii)   There is a developed laboratory of science in this school which helps in carrying out the experiment.

4-

-3-

 The experiment was administered during the first term of the academic year 2003-2004.

5-  The interpretation of research was within the volume of type of the used sample.

 

Materials and Tools of the Study

 

1- The enrichment program designed by the researcher includes:

·       A teacher’s guide

·       A student’s book

2- The scale of scientific literacy includes:

·        Scientific information (science knowledge)

·       Science processes

·       The relation between science, technology and society.

3- The observation sheet of social skills.

 

Procedures of the Study

1- Reviewing previous literature.

2- Preparing the theoretical part of the study.

3-  Constructing the enrichment program. This included:

·       Simplified science

·       Science literacy and science education.

·       Social skills.

4- Building the enrichment program.

5- Constructing the teacher’s guide and presenting it to some referees to be sure from its validity for applying on the students.

6-Preparing the tools of the study including

·       The scale of scientific literacy.

·       The observation sheet of social skills.

7--Piloting the tools of the study for validity-reliability.

8-Selecting the sample of the study

9-The pre-application of the tools of the study

-4-

10-Administering the experiment of the study

11-The post application of the tools of the study

12-writing the  results of the study.

13-Analyzing the results of the study .

12-Recommendations and suggestions for further research

 

Results of the Study

 The results of the study were as follows:

1- There was a statistically significant difference (0,05) between mean scores of the study sample in the pre-post application of the scientific literacy scale favoring the post application.

2- There was a statistically significant difference (0,05) between mean scores of the study sample in the pre-post application of the observation sheet favoring the post application.

3-The suggested program showed an effectiveness of 1.2  in the first demission of the scientific literacy (scientific information); 1.2 in the second demission of the scientific literacy (science process;  1.2 in the observation sheet for social measured by Blake’s modified ration of gain.