Date of Award

2024

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Education (MEd)

First Advisor

Dr. Fortidaz Bakuza

Second Advisor

Dr. Esther Kibga

Department

Institute for Educational Development, East Africa

Abstract

Teachers in Uganda still make use of the traditional teacher-centred pedagogies that do not factor in the learners’ past experiences, interactions, and engagement in the learning process. This reduces the learners’ abilities to acquire some Science Process Skills which are vital for further acquisition of scientific knowledge and skills for future learning and practice of science. Science teaching and learning require practical pedagogies that make the learning meaningful. Using lesson observation, interviews, focus group discussion, and document analysis, this Action Research, sought to find out whether the current pedagogies that teachers used, integrated Experiential Learning Strategies as an intervention to develop Science Process Skills in learners as the main aim of this study. The study sought to add Experiential Learning strategies to the teaching pedagogies to improve the acquisition of science process skills that they can use in later years to acquire more scientific knowledge. The participants were eight in-service teacher trainees who were selected by purposive sampling because they studied science subject combinations and could provide the required data. Purposive sampling was also used to select one science tutor and the director of studies at the teacher training institution. The findings from the study pointed out that six out of eight teachers used traditional teacher centred methods to teach science which encouraged learning by rote. Later, after the intervention, the integration of Experiential Learning strategies and use of child centred methods accompanied with resources, improved the interaction and engagement of learners as they got involved in experimentation, observations, making inferences and drawing conclusions hence, the development of Science Process Skills. The engagement of learners using learner centred methodologies and interactive resources, made learning more interesting and meaningful. Acquisition of science process skills became easier as the use of resources facilitated their development. The challenges teachers faced while implementing the intervention were a lack of support from administration and colleagues, inadequate funding for resources, inadequate resources, large class enrolment, and inadequate knowledge of the teachers about material making. They were minimised by using locally available resources and engaging the various stakeholders to support the teachers while implementing Experiential Learning strategies. The study recommended regular continuous professional development for teachers on the use of Experiential Learning strategies and integration of Experiential Learning strategies in the science curriculum.

First Page

1

Last Page

88

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