Aboriginal Students' Achievement in Science Education: The Effect of Teaching Methods

Some authors assume that the academic difficulties encountered by Aboriginal students can be partly explained by the discrepancy between teaching methods and Aboriginal learning styles. However, this hypothesis lacks empirical foundations. Using pan-Canadian data, we tried to identify the most effic...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAlberta journal of educational research Vol. 56; no. 1; pp. 57 - 71
Main Authors Bourque, Jimmy, Bouchamma, Yamina, Larose, Francois
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Edmonton University of Alberta, Faculty of Education 20.05.2010
Subjects
Academic Achievement
Achievement tests
Beliefs
Canada
Canada Natives
Cognitive Style
Comparative Analysis
Education policy
Educational evaluation
Evaluation Methods
Foreign Countries
Immigrants
Learning
Learning Processes
Native students
Science Achievement
Science Education
Teachers
Teaching
Teaching Methods
Canada
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Summary:Some authors assume that the academic difficulties encountered by Aboriginal students can be partly explained by the discrepancy between teaching methods and Aboriginal learning styles. However, this hypothesis lacks empirical foundations. Using pan-Canadian data, we tried to identify the most efficient teaching methods for Aboriginal students and assessed whether these methods were associated with performance differences between Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals in science education. Results revealed that judicious dosage and a proper balance among teaching methods seem to be required for students' optimal achievement. In addition, only marginal differences were observed between Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals. However, standard assessment methods might partly explain these unexpected results.
ISSN:0002-4805
1923-1857
DOI:10.55016/ojs/ajer.v56i1.55383