Date of Graduation
2001
Document Type
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to describe the present status of geography education in boys' intermediate schools in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia as perceived by geography teachers and supervisors; that is, to investigate the objectives, content, methods of teaching, tools and resources that are available and used in classrooms, evaluation techniques, and problems encountered in the teaching of geography. To collect data from this representative sample population, a questionnaire was developed by the researcher specifically for this study. Questionnaire data was collected from 19 social studies supervisors and 213 geography teachers. Percentages, frequencies, means, and standard deviations were computed for each questionnaire item. Chi Square tests were applied to determine if any significant differences could be identified between the observed and expected responses of supervisors and teachers. Major findings of the study indicated that both supervisors and teachers tend to strongly support the identified geography objectives. Most teachers and supervisors also indicated that the current geography curriculum contains enough information about Saudi Arabia, the Arabic world, and the Islamic world. In addition, the also indicated that geography content promotes a sense of patriotism and cultural pride. Responses indicated that educators see deficiencies in the content: it does not focus sufficiently on current events nor on developing student skills such as research and technical skills like drawing maps. Lecture and discussion are the most commonly used strategies in the teaching of geography. Field trips, role-playing, scientific competitions, scientific games, solving problems, and individual learning are less commonly used. Teaching tools most commonly used are wall maps and earth globes, whereas the use of geographical transparencies, models, and instruments is not common. Most of the teachers do lot use computers in their teaching. Evaluation techniques depend completely on traditional examinations to evaluate the performance of the students. Chi-square test shows that there are significant differences in observed and expected frequencies between teachers and supervisors with respect to geography learning objectives, geography content, methods of teaching, tools and resources, and the problems that geography teachers encounter in their teaching.
Recommended Citation
Al-Gahtany, Abdulrahman Mohammed, "The present status of geography education in boys' intermediate schools of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia." (2001). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 8375.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/8375