TITLE:
Developing Thinking Skills among Third Grade (Class 4) Pupils in Some Elementary Practising Schools in Edéa, Cameroon Using Lessons on the Human Skeleton
AUTHORS:
Jeannette Mothia, Emmanuel Noumi, George Nditafon
KEYWORDS:
Educational Resources, Didactics of Life and Earth Sciences, Learning Thinking Skills, Human Skeleton
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.2 No.11,
November
16,
2015
ABSTRACT: The objective of this study was to introduce an educational tool in primary school that could facilitate the development of thinking skills in learners. Klopfer’s taxonomy of educational objectives was used to introduce the fundamental notion of the hypothetico-deductive theory aimed at immersing the class into task situations of identifying the educational aspects in a lesson. A total of 270 Class 4 (third graders) participated in the study. Result revealed that at the pretest, the mean performance of those in the control group was 9.53/20 and for those in the experimental group it was 9.09/20. Up to one month following experimentation, pupils in the experimental group registered an improved mean performance (11.33/20) in the posttest, while the control group registered a drop (8.84/20) compared to their mean pretest performances. Those in the experimental group further showed greater interest and involvement in the construction of their knowledge and thinking skill compared to those in the control group. The approach appeared to be beneficial to both pupils and teachers. It places learners in a teaching/learning situation that motivates the development of thinking and problem-solving skills.