The Effect of Schooling on Conservation Skills

Abstract

Previous studies have tried to explain or predict conservation skills in terms of "schooled" or "unschooled." In this study, an intervention in some schools in the Ciskei, South Africa, is described and its effect on conservation skills is investigated. The results suggest that the acquisition of conservation skills may depend more on factors such as physical and mental interaction with the environment, and the type of reasoning to which a child is exposed, than on schooled and unschooled categories.

Innovation in South African science education (Part I): Science teaching observed

“…Using the results obtained from a Science Reasoning Task (Adey, 1976) applied to 602 Ciskei pupils (Macdonald, 1980a), it was found that many of the topics in the syllabus were beyond the reasoning ability of pupils. Rogan and Macdonald (1983) showed that the intervention of SEP into school science in the Ciskei improved the conservation skills of pupils.…”

Conservation of Distance in African Children—The Sex Dimension

“…In a study of conservation of continuous quantity and number among Yoruba and Oje children in Nigeria, Lloyd (1971) reported that Oje girls' performance was significantly inferior to that of Oje boys, irrespective of the familiarity of the test material. Rogan and Macdonald (1983), working with Xhosa children of Ciskei, South Africa, attempted to address the question of whether differences in teaching patterns and learning experiences could affect specific conservation skills. Using the Science Education Project (SEP), the selection was taken from nine classrooms in six 'project schools and nine classrooms in five control schools.…”