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Effect of Ethnoscience Instructional Method on Students’ Cognitive Achievement in Science

4.3 Discussion

4.3.4 Effect of Ethnoscience Instructional Method on Students’ Cognitive Achievement in Science

This study

as shown in

Table 4.1 reveals that there is a significant main effect of Ethnoscience Instructional Method on cognitive achievement in science. The effect size is moderate. A practical significance is thus indicated The Estimated Marginal Mean of Achievement Scores as shown in Table 4.4 are 24.72 and 17.85 for Ethnoscience Instructional Method (EIM) and Modified Lecture Method groups respectively.. This means that Ethnoscience Instructional Method (EIM) is a more effective method in improving learners‟ cognitive achievement in science than the Modified Lecture Method which served for control. This finding shows that EIM assisted science learners in making sense of extant knowledge. It facilitated negotiation of meanings of science concepts since the method provides an opportunity for comparing what was known to new experiences and resolving discrepancies between what was known and what seemed to be implied by new experiences.

These discrepancies have been very prominent in areas where science education has been influenced by common Yorùbá sayings. The result could also be explained by the link EIM establishes between day-to-day experiences of the science learner and the world of modern

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science. The method derives strength from accessing prior common sayings of learners that are related to science which give them the opportunity to re-examine the cultural meanings attached to the beliefs in terms of how realistic or logical they are. They have the opportunity to either hold on to the cultural meanings of the sayings, modify or reject them outright. Whichever is the case, it brings about improvement in the cognitive achievement of the learner.

It accentuates the need to integrate indigenous knowledge into school science in order to prevent cultural clashes whenever students attempt to learn meaningful school science. This will likely enable sustainable development and cultural survival. EIM clearly facilitates the easiness with which students across cultural borders into school (western) science, thus encouraging meaningful learning of science. This result should whet the appetite of an increasing number of science educators who want to understand the influence of culture on school science achievement of students whose cultures and languages differ from the predominant Eurocentric culture and language of science whether such students live in non-Western countries like Nigeria, Egypt, Malawi or in Western countries like Britain, America, Canada etc. but are not at home with the culture of Eurocentric science which permeates their school science classes.EIM is equally an answer to scholars who wonder what role the integration of these knowledge systems will play in human life that the well-established three-century old science could not independently achieve (Sithole, 2005). Since science education does not occur in a vacuum, teaching and learning in science must be socially situated and this will impact positively on learning outcomes.

This finding is in consonant with the thoughts of Aikenhead and Ogawa (2007) in their writing on indigenous knowledge and science revisited. The finding is also supported by Igbokwe (2010) who concludes that students who are taught using ethnoscience cultural learning model performed better than those taught using the conventional method in cognitive achievement in science. It therefore concludes that since the cultural activities of each child as

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experienced from his cultural environment guide or influence his future observation and also determine what is learnt, for effective learning of science concepts to occur, the model should be adopted.

It also confirms the assertion that it is not only what we teach but also how we teach it that are important considerations in how to improve student success (Moore 1989). The finding is also supported by Hiwatig (2008) whose study reveals that a comparison of ethnoscience class and the conventional class performance per item indicates that the ethnoscience class and the conventional class significantly differ in terms of their proficiency in science posttest in four out of six items. The ethnoscience class had a higher mean score than the conventional class. The finding also provides empirical support for the four conditions listed by Posner, Strike, Hewson, and Gertzog (1982) which foster accommodation in students‟ thinking. These are:

a) There must be dissatisfaction with existing conceptions.

b) A new conception must be intelligible.

c) A new conception must appear initially plausible.

d) A new concept should suggest the possibility of a fruitful research program.

EIM makes it possible for learners to engage in critical comparison between the two knowledge systems. Such exercise develops the cognitive structure and understanding of the learner. It is a better approach that clearly removes the assumption or pretence that indigenous knowledge has nothing to offer in the teaching and learning of science. There is no doubt that psychological and sociological approaches are useful in education but the inclusion of elements of indigenous knowledge in classroom activities as brought about by Ethnoscience Instructional Method provides fresh insight into and solutions to problems associated with students learning science. This confirms earlier assertion of Cobern and Aikenhead (1998) on the issue of cultural aspect of learning science.

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Since students also have the opportunity of interacting with related cultural materials as instructional materials, their understanding of science concepts improves. The impression of science being „foreign‟ or “oyinbo‟ (whiteman) knowledge as usually said locally is erased from their minds. They probably see the science concept as now being their own.

The method also promote discourse in science among learners since it gives them the opportunity to be actively involved in discussing both the science concept being learnt and the related common Yorùbá sayings. They trek a familiar path in the discussion rather than the teacher pouring down all the „facts‟. Finally Niaz, Aguilera, Maza, and Liendo (2002) also conclude that if students are given the opportunity to argue and discuss their ideas, their

"understanding can go beyond the simple regurgitation of experimental detail."

This finding also establishes the theory of social constructivism which, according to Linn and Burbules (1993), characterises the nature of knowledge to include the following:

(1) knowledge is not a passive commodity to be transferred from a teacher to learners, (2) pupils cannot and should not be made to absorb knowledge in a spongy fashion, (3) knowledge cannot exist separate from the knower,

(4) learning is a social process mediated by the learner‟s environment, and

(5) the prior or indigenous knowledge of the learner is of significance in accomplishing the construction of meaning in a new situation.

Linn and Burbules (1993) also state that all learning is mediated by culture and takes place in a social context. The role of the social context is to scaffold the learner, and provide hints and help that foster co-construction of knowledge while interacting with other members of the society. Jegede and Aikenhead (2005), while summarising some previous works, also conclude that contemporary literature has shown that recognising the social context of learning, as well as the effect of the learner‟s socio-cultural background in the teaching and learning of science, is of

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primary importance if a strong basic foundation is to be established for successful pupil achievement and affect outcomes.

The study equally affirms the postulations of collateral learning theory which states that learning generally involves two or more conflicting schemata held simultaneously in long-term memory (Jegede 1997). It recognises variations in the degree to which the conflicting ideas interact with each other and the degree to which conflicts are resolved. At the opposite extremes of collateral learning (parallel and secured), conflicting schemata do not interact at all (as is the case of parallel collateral learning) or consciously interact (as is the case of secured collateral learning) and the conflict is resolved in some manner. The person will have developed a satisfactory reason for holding on to both schemata even though the schemata may appear to conflict, or else the person will have achieved a convergence toward commonality by one schema reinforcing the other, resulting in a new conception in long-term memory. It is also possible that for the learner to have a reason to drop one schema.

4.3.5 Effect of Ethnoscience Instructional Method on Students’ Attitude Towards Science