Awareness and Perceptions towards Practices of Twenty-First Century Skills in Chemistry Education in the Secondary Schools

Authors

  • Tolemariam Boka Candidate, and Professor of Physical Chemistry, at Hawassa University College of Natural and Computational science, Department of Chemistry, Hawassa University, Ethiopia
  • Ashebir Bezabih Associate Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies
  • Sisay Tadesse Candidate, and Professor of Physical Chemistry, at Hawassa University College of Natural and Computational science, Department of Chemistry, Hawassa University, Ethiopia
  • Anteneh Wasyhun Associate Professor of Educational Leadership and Management, at Hawassa University College of Education, Department of Educational Planning and Management, Hawassa University, Ethiopia

Keywords:

Attitude, Awareness, Chemistry education, Mixed methods, Perception, Secondary school, 21st-century skills

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine chemistry teachers’ and students’ level of awareness, perceptions, attitudes, and practices of twenty-first century skills (21st-CS) in chemistry education in the government secondary schools (grades 9 & 10) of Addis Ababa City Administration. The high school students of developing countries were not being taught as 21st learning required. Students learn the abstract concepts of chemistry with pure lecture and teachers struggle with pen and pencil, chalk and backboard to teach the theoretical concepts of chemistry. The mixed methods embedded design was employed in data collection and analysis. The chemistry teachers and students had moderate awareness, high perceptions, high and positive attitudes towards practices of 21st-CS. Despite practices of 21st-CS were only moderate among participants. However, the descriptive statistics results not substantiated by the qualitative results. These imply that the implementation of 21st-CS had not get equal emphasis as content knowledge. This research  findings inform all levels of education actors from school to Ministry of Education about implementation of 21st-CS in secondary schools to give equal emphasis for both content knowledge and soft skills.

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Published

2024-10-07

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Vol. 73 No. 1 (2024)

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How to Cite

Tolemariam Boka, Ashebir Bezabih, Sisay Tadesse, & Anteneh Wasyhun. (2024). Awareness and Perceptions towards Practices of Twenty-First Century Skills in Chemistry Education in the Secondary Schools. International Journal of Sciences: Basic and Applied Research (IJSBAR), 73(1), 548-578. https://www.gssrr.org/JournalOfBasicAndApplied/article/view/17097