Abstract
Ensuring that Tanzanian secondary school students receive quality science education (SE) experiences is a desire that Tanzania has looked forward to achieving.Despite clear and well-focused intent to provide quality SE experiences in schools, the progress towards achieving a target has not been so clear over decades. This review paper analyses the SE debates and the efforts made towards achieving such a goal. The analysis in this paper is built on an attempt to trace the progress and the success of the aspiration to providequality SE in Tanzanian secondary schools. The paper also articulates how such an expectation has been achieved so far. Eventually the paper identifies some new emphases in an effort to provide quality SE and providesa relevant approach towards achieving the goal to provide excellent SE experiences in schools.
Highlights
The provision of quality science education (SE) around the world has accelerated the pace of “science-driven change” in modern societies, allowing science as an educational subject to become more important than ever before (Lederman, 2008). Lederman (2008) argues that: We have arrived at a point in history where there must be a major increase in the capability of ordinary people to cope with the scientific and technological culture that is shaping their lives and the lives of their children. (p. i)With such an aspiration, improving SE has become of paramount importance in determining a country’s scientific status and its socio-economic power in today’s open economies
Ensuring that Tanzanian secondary school students receive quality science education (SE) experiences is a desire that Tanzania has looked forward to achieving.Despite clear and well-focused intent to provide quality SE experiences in schools, the progress towards achieving a target has not been so clear over decades
This paper considers the perspectives of both international and national debates regarding the appropriate approach toproviding quality SE experiences
Summary
The provision of quality science education (SE) around the world has accelerated the pace of “science-driven change” in modern societies, allowing science as an educational subject to become more important than ever before (Lederman, 2008). Lederman (2008) argues that: We have arrived at a point in history where there must be a major increase in the capability of ordinary people to cope with the scientific and technological culture that is shaping their lives and the lives of their children. (p. i). There have been a number of important reports related to SE in Tanzania over the past two decades, including those of Chonjo, Osaki, Possi, & Mrutu(1996) and Osaki et al (2004), that have strongly identified the need to improve SE in schools. Their contributions to Tanzanian science literature and their recommendations have made a major contribution towards better understanding the status of SE in the country. The paper seeks to identify the progress towards providing quality SE, the challenges ahead, and the implication for appropriate SE practices. some studies in this paper do not necessarily come from the field of science education, they are included in this review as they explicitly explain the status of quality SE in schools, identify the gaps in provision of quality SE, and provide the appropriate direction for the provision of quality SE in schools
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