Tamás Nagy: The Stratification of Information - and Computer-Science Knowledge

The study presents the results of an investigation into the information- and computer-science knowledge of adolescents in a county of Western Hungary. The aim of the investigation was to describe the actual situation in the county at a given time (1993). The stratified sample (903 students) of the study was chosen from the population of 14-year-old elementary school pupils and 17-year-old secondary school pupils. The subjects had to fill in a questionnaire that was constructed to elicit information about social background, attitudes and self-awareness as well as about information- and computer-science knowledge. The results show that the development of information-science knowledge was influenced by social background, sex, geographical location of the home and the school, equipment of the school and the type of foreign language (English) learnt. The instruction method that was based on then valid documents and focused on developing programming skills has proved to be inefficient. The results of the study underline the positive effects of content integration. The need has emerged for a unified curriculum that would define the guidelines of teaching and would create a healthy balance in the proportion of information- and computer-science contents. The level of social and technical development of our age requires that the appropriate level of new techniques and technologies be available to all pupils at school. Otherwise differences in student knowledge that can hardly be levelled later can develop early.

MAGYAR PEDAGÓGIA 95. Number 3-4. 251-277. (1995)

Address for correspondence: Nagy Tamás, Széchenyi István Főiskola Műszaki Tanárképző Tanszék, H – 9026 Győr, Hédervári út 3.

 
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