The effectiveness of teaching using an educational interactive website in the acquisition of astronomical concepts and development of attitudes towards astronomy among female students of grade five in the Sultanate of Oman

Abstract

This study aimed at investigating the effect of interactive instructional Web Site in acquisition of astronomical conceptions and attitudes toward astronomy among grade five female students. The sample of the study consisted of (52) female students enrolled in grade five in one Basic Education school in Al- Batina South Governed. The sample was assigned into two groups: control group (N=26) and was taught by the conventional method and the experimental group (N=26) and was taught using the educational web site. To answer the research questions, the researcher designed an interactive instructional web site and constructed an astronomical conceptual test and the attitude towards astronomy scale. The validity of the test and the scale were checked out by a panel of judges whereas, the reliabilities were carried out by consistency type of reliability using Alfa Cronbach method, giving value of (0,75) and (0,72) respectively. Such reliability values are consented for purpose of the study. The results revealed that there were statistically significant differences at (α=0,05) between the experimental and the control group in acquisition of the astronomical conceptual test and the attitude towards astronomy in favor of the experimental group. Eventually, the researcher proposed several recommendations for science educators.