Assessment of Conceptual Demands of Basic Science Curriculum and Students’ Cognitive Development in Plateau State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study assessed the conceptual demands of the basic science curriculum and students’ cognitive development in Plateau State, Nigeria. A sample of 622 junior secondary three students, selected from 5763 students in three senatorial districts of Plateau State was used for the study. The descriptive design was adopted in the study. The sample was selected with proportionate stratified sampling technique. A curriculum Analysis Taxonomy (CAT) and Science Reasoning Tasks (SRTs)11 were used for data collection. The independent ratings of the CAT showed a consensus of 87.00% while the reliability index of the SRTs 11s was 0.72. Two research questions and one hypothesis guided the study. The research questions were answered with frequencies and percentages while the hypothesis was tested with Chi square statistic. The results of the study showed that 64.00% of the concepts in the basic science curriculum were not understood by the students. Furthermore, a significant relationship was found to exist between the conceptual demands of the integrated science curriculum and students’ cognitive development. The contribution of the study to education is for relevant stake holders to devise ways of enhancing students’ cognitive development, to enable them understand the concepts in their basic science curriculum.