Education and Social Sciences Books, Book Reviews and Book Chapters

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Browsing Education and Social Sciences Books, Book Reviews and Book Chapters by Author "Karuku, Simon"

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    Explanatory reasoning in Junior high Science textbooks
    (SensePublishers, 2012) Pegg, Jerine; Karuku, Simon
    Current reforms in science education emphasize the importance of using inquiry- based teaching strategies that engage students in formulating explanations from evidence (National Research Council [NRC], 2000). Specifically, for example, the National Science Education Standards in the United States state that students in grades 5 to 8 should “develop descriptions, explanations, predictions, and models using evidence” and “think critically and logically to make the relationships between evidence and explanations” (NRC, 1996, p. 145). As an additional example, current science education curriculum documents in Alberta include outcomes that expect students to investigate, explain, interpret, and discuss evidence for scientific concepts. For example, the Planet Earth unit in Grade 7 includes outcomes such as “Investigate and interpret evidence that Earth’s surface undergoes both gradual and sudden change” and “Interpret models that show a layered structure for Earth’s interior; and describe, in general terms, evidence for such models” (Alberta Learning, 2003, p. 27).
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    Issues for quality enhancement and harmonization of education in East Africa.
    (Springer Link, 2016-03) Mohamed, Mussa; Karuku, Simon; Halai, Anjum
    This chapter provides a description of the historical and political development of the current mass education system in East Africa. It goes on to provide a comparative analysis of the structure of the school education system in the East African countries, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. Finally, on the basis of the historical and comparative analysis of the education system the chapter raises questions for harmonization of the education system in the partner states in the East African Community.
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    Towards a Harmonized Curriculum in East Africa: A Comparative Perspective of the Intended Secondary School Mathematics Curriculum in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda
    (Springer, 2016) Karuku, Simon; Tennant, Geoff
    This chapter presents the results and insights gained from a comparative analysis of the national secondary school mathematics syllabuses of Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. Whilst considerable commonalities were found, it was particularly Rwanda, with a different colonial past, which was found to have a more formal curriculum, exemplified in the lack of mention of measurement below the fourth year of primary school and the absence of approximation as a topic. Differences in sequencing topics were found, e.g. Uganda and Rwanda introduce number sequences in year 4 as a means of contextualizing algebra, Tanzania and Kenya introduce them in year 10 somewhat more formally. The continuance of calculations in shillings and cents in Tanzania and Kenya, and the use of logarithms as a calculation tool in Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya can be taken as evidence of a mismatch between what happens in school and the outside world. Differences are acknowledged between the stated curriculum on the one hand, and what gets taught by teachers and indeed learnt by children on the other. Whilst considerable work has been undertaken already to update the curricula in different ways, further work is required to ensure that the syllabus across the region is fit for purpose for the 21st century, not least in engaging all learners in this important subject.