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The effect of a girl-friendly science curriculum unit on the attitude of girls towards science

Dissertation (MEd (Science and Technology Education))--University of Pretoria, 2006.

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Other Authors: smit@mweb.co.za
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2013
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access_status_str Open Access
author2 smit@mweb.co.za
author_browse smit@mweb.co.za
author_facet smit@mweb.co.za
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dc_rights_str_mv © University of Pretor
description Dissertation (MEd (Science and Technology Education))--University of Pretoria, 2006.
format Thesis
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institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:39:25.358Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2013
publishDateRange 2013
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publisher University of Pretoria
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spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/31310 The effect of a girl-friendly science curriculum unit on the attitude of girls towards science smit@mweb.co.za Dr A Hattingh Smit, Francina Albertina UCTD Inquiry approach Social value orientation Pragmatic perspectives Maslow's humanistic Constructivist theory Attitute Social values Girl friendly science Curriculum Classroom practice Cognitive development orientation Dissertation (MEd (Science and Technology Education))--University of Pretoria, 2006. This study was undertaken to determine whether the implementation of a girl-friendly science unit had an effect on the attitude of girls towards science. In order to determine the above, the researcher developed a complete girl-friendly science unit. A checklist, which consisted of girl-friendly criteria, as defined in the study, was utilised to develop the unit. The complete unit was then implemented by three different teachers, as part of the daily curricular activities of the Grade 5 girls at an Afrikaans Primary school in Gauteng, over a period of six weeks. The boys were only involved for the purpose of behavioural comparisons. All three of the teachers attended a workshop, prior to the implementation, to establish consensus on ‘girl-friendly’ classroom practice and teaching strategies. Several instruments and techniques, such as interviews, questionnaires and observation sheets were used to gather data. The results of the data were analysed to answer the research questions. An interesting finding that emerged from the data was that the girl friendly unit did have a positive effect on the attitude of girls towards practical work. However, the learning material was not the only factor that had an influence on their attitude towards science. According to the girls, the teachers’ behaviour, classroom practice and other school factors had an even greater influence on their attitude towards science. Two of the three teachers were still discriminating against girls in a very subtle manner and one of the teachers even felt that the girl-friendly unit were a form of reverse discrimination, which in turn filtered through to the learners. Finally, it can be concluded that the challenge to influence the attitude of girls positively towards science, appear to be more than merely implementing a girl-friendly unit. Teachers, administrators, and school communities should all work together to promote the development of girl-friendly science in order to encourage girls to take science subjects. Curriculum Studies MEd (Science and Technology Education) restricted 2013-09-09T12:10:52Z 2007-10-01 2013-09-09T12:10:52Z 2007-04-17 2006-10-01 2007-09-28 Dissertation Pretoria http://hdl.handle.net/2263/31310 http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-09282007-153256/ en © University of Pretor application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle UCTD
Inquiry approach
Social value orientation
Pragmatic perspectives
Maslow's humanistic
Constructivist theory
Attitute
Social values
Girl friendly science
Curriculum
Classroom practice
Cognitive development orientation
The effect of a girl-friendly science curriculum unit on the attitude of girls towards science
title The effect of a girl-friendly science curriculum unit on the attitude of girls towards science
title_full The effect of a girl-friendly science curriculum unit on the attitude of girls towards science
title_fullStr The effect of a girl-friendly science curriculum unit on the attitude of girls towards science
title_full_unstemmed The effect of a girl-friendly science curriculum unit on the attitude of girls towards science
title_short The effect of a girl-friendly science curriculum unit on the attitude of girls towards science
title_sort effect of a girl friendly science curriculum unit on the attitude of girls towards science
topic UCTD
Inquiry approach
Social value orientation
Pragmatic perspectives
Maslow's humanistic
Constructivist theory
Attitute
Social values
Girl friendly science
Curriculum
Classroom practice
Cognitive development orientation
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/31310
http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-09282007-153256/