Secondary School Students Understanding Of Energy Flow In Ecosystems
View/ Open
Date
2014Author
Chimoita, Evans
Babu, Mary
Gweyi - Onyango, Joseph
Machacha, Kennedy
Omufwoko, J
Language
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Understand
ing of energy flow
concepts
in ecosystems
is one prerequisite
area among students for good
performance in
biology
education
. The pattern and trends in biology subject performance in
Kenyan
national examination
s,
has revealed apparent compl
exity in understanding
such
concepts in ecology
. The
study therefore assessed
secondary school
students‟ understanding of energy flow
concepts
in the
ecosystems at
Kenyan ordinary
level
curriculum
.
T
he study focused on
ecology,
a subject area taught at
for
m three
study level
under the current
Kenyan
8
-
4
-
4 education system. The target po
pulation was
form
three students
drawn
from
western Kenya
secondary schools.
The sample frame
was
selected from form
three
student
s across secondary schools that had enrolled
for examinable biology subject
.
A descriptive
analysis was employed
to characterize and determine student
s understanding of energy flow
and loss in
the ecosystem
s
. Findings from the study revea
led
result
ant generation of alternative outcomes in
learning
a
nd understanding energy flow
concepts
in ecosystems. Further,
it revealed that
student‟s conceptualize
living organisms as separate individuals which exist in ecosystems
. In addition, students could not relate
interdependence of several components of an ec
osystem such as animals, plants, gases, food and minerals
and the amount of energy transferred across trophics.
Citation
Chimoita, Evans.,Babu, Mary., Gweyi - Onyango, Joseph., Machacha, K.,Omufwoko, J.(2014). Secondary School Students Understanding Of Energy Flow In Ecosystems. Asian Academic Research Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities, AARJSH 1(2); pp.231-244Publisher
University of Nairobi