Masters Theses

Date of Award

8-1983

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major Professor

A. Paul Wishart

Committee Members

Patricia Wiley, C. Edward Roeske

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify, collect, and evaluate information for a comparative study of high school science education in a selected area of the United States, specifically East Tennessee, and West Germany (North German area). The structure of the school systems, curriculum design and control, teacher training, as well as student attitudes, were examined.

The review of related literature revealed that the vertical organization of schools as well as length of schooling were the most significant differences in the school systems.

The major conclusion of differences in curriculum design was that there is only one major institution, IPN in Kiel, West Germany, designing science curricula, whereas 42 institutions in the United States under the umbrella of the National Science Foundation are involved in curriculum study and design. Curriculum control in Germany was found to be centralized by the federal government, whereas the United States featured a decentralized system of curriculum governance, allowing the state to control curricula.

Teacher training, examined in both countries, appeared to be longer and more intense in Germany than in the United States.

Student attitudes were examined for this study with the help of a questionnaire containing 20 questions. Thirty questionnaires each were sent to an urban and to a rural school in North Germany as well as to an urban and to a rural school in East Tennessee. German and East Tennessee schools had identical response rates of 83%. Evaluation of the responses indicated that biology was thought of in both countries as the most interesting as well as the easiest field of the sciences. Chemistry was identified as the most difficult field by German students whereas East Tennessee students rated physics as the most difficult field. Most Tennessee and German students agreed that homework assignments were done without parental help. Average homework time for science classes was given as 30 minutes for German students and 40 minutes for Tennessee students. Computer knowledge of students appeared to be slightly higher in East Tennessee than in Germany, where more than half the students reported not having any computer knowledge at all.

Years of science education were reported to be three times as great for German as for East Tennessee students; however, German students felt less certain about choosing a career in a science-related field. Disagreement also was evident in judging energy education and laboratory content of instruction. German students expressed a greater need than the Tennessee students for offering better energy education as well as desiring more laboratory content in their curriculum.

Basic agreement, though, was indicated by students from both countries that teachers make science instruction interesting and meaningful to them.

Download
Files over 3MB may be slow to open. For best results, right-click and select "save as..."

Share

COinS