EVALUATION OF STUDY SKILLS INTEGRATION INTO OMANI SECONDARY SCHOOL CURRICULUM

Abstract

Study skills are considered critical in both the academic and professional life of a student. This study focusses on the extent to which secondary school students in Omani public schools possess study skills and how these are integrated into their English language textbook. The study explored i) the study skills profile of students in terms of college readiness, ii) the correlation between students' academic performance and study skills, and iii) the types of study skills embedded in the ‘Engage with English’ coursebook and workbook used in Grade 12. For this purpose, an adapted version of the pre-tested Study Skills Inventory developed by Dennis Congo was administered to 162 secondary school students. The results revealed that the students are relatively strong in the skills of memorising, test preparation, and concentration; however, most students lack fundamental study skills such as reading, critical and creative thinking, and time management skills. With respect to the correlation between study skills and academic performance, a bivariate correlation between the individual high school percentage and skills was performed using SPSS. The results showed a weak correlation between study skills and student performance for most of the skills except concentration which revealed a strong positive correlation with a Pearson value of 0.72. The document analysis of the textbook was conducted in alignment with the same inventory. The analysis revealed that although the textbook covers reading and memorising skills, other important skills including note-taking, test preparation, time management, and critical thinking skills are not targeted adequately. Although the student sample size is not large enough to generalise the findings of the study and only one textbook used by Grade 12 students was analysed, the authors conclude that there is an urgent need for the inclusion of study skills in the Omani public school curriculum to enhance students’ transition to higher education and subsequently, their professional success. The curriculum designers and decision-makers should consider embedding study skills more extensively in the curriculum during the next review cycle.