Understanding And Uses Of Concept Mapping In Teaching Natural Science: Cases Of Two Primary Schools In Windhoek, Khomas Region

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the study was to investigate the Grade six Natural Science teachers’

understanding of concept mapping. The study also investigated learners’ understanding

of science concepts on “matter and its properties” taught through the use of concept

mapping as compared to traditional lecture method. The study was conducted with two

science teachers who taught Natural Science to Grade six, thirty-three learners at Alpha

Primary School and thirty-seven learners at Omega Primary School in the Khomas

Educational Region, Namibia. Mixed research methods were used.

A semi-structured interview schedule and a video recorder were used to collect data

from teachers. The researcher was an active participant in the collection of data and a

video recorder was also used to capture his own instructions. A pre- and post-tests were

conducted in order to find out the difference in learners’ understanding of “matter and

its properties” when taught through concept mapping as compared to traditional lecture

method. Each test had 22 items. All learners were given the same pre-test, followed by

an intervention (treatment) and then a post-test was administered.

Learners at Alpha Primary School were taught through the traditional lecture method

while those at Omega Primary School were taught through the concept mapping

method. The scores on both tests were analysed to see if there are statistically

significant difference between learners’ understanding of “matter and its properties”

taught through the concept mapping and those taught through the traditional lecture

methods. It was found that learners taught through concept mapping out-performed

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those who were taught through the traditional lecture at statistically significant

difference of alpha 0.05. That means that the overall critical value of 1.998 is

significant (t-tests = -4.574 and -2.830, at p < 0.05). As the critical value of 1.998

obtained for the degree of freedom (df) = 63, p = .000. The calculated t-value is higher

than the critical value, therefore, the Null hypothesis is rejected and the results are

significant at p = 0.05. The study also found that both science teachers have vague

ideas about what the concept mapping strategy was hence they did not even use the

strategy in their instructions.