Conservatism on the up in schools
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Milliyet
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mayıs 11, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - A study reveals that conservatism is particularly on the rise in vocational schools. A similarity of views exist invocational schools training teachers and religious leaders. Almost 40 out of 100 students do not believe in the theory of evolution, says a professor who was involved
A study on education, titled "High school students’ approaches to science and mathematics education," showed high school students have a conservative approach to science.
The research was led by Professor İsa Eşme, a faculty member at Maltepe University and a former deputy president of the Higher Education Board, or YÖK.
"Almost 40 out of every 100 students do not accept the theory of evolution. In terms of worldview, vocational schools for teachers, known as Anatolian teacher high schools, are the closest to vocational religious high schools. The rate of students who do not agree with the idea ’Religious knowledge is more necessary to understand the world and the universe than sciences’ is only 43 percent," said Eşme.
The students who agree with the sentence, "Humanity has reached its current level as a result of millions of years of evolution" is 66 percent. Eşme said students who accept the theory of evolution have higher income and education levels than the national average and pointed out that this rate increases when it comes to those who have not proceeded with their educations after prep school.
Eşme said this might be related to the worldview of the mentioned schools’ instructors or them being boarding schools. "When the world views of students of different high school types are compared, the students of science-leaning high schools are distinguishable," he said.
’Religion is necessary’
The results of the research are briefly:
w The statement, "Humanity has reached its current level as a result of millions of years of evolution" was agreed to by 66 percent while 19 percent disagreed and 15 percent did not know. Those that disagreed were mostly from vocational religious high schools and the Anatolian teacher high schools’ students came second.
w "Religious knowledge is more necessary to understand the world and the universe than sciences" was disagreed to by 43 percent while 30 percent agreed and 27 percent were not sure. Again, vocational religious high schools students come first on agreeing to religious knowledge being more important followed by students of vocational high schools and Anatolian teacher high schools.
w "Having basic science education prevents superstitious tendencies" was agreed to by 60 percent while 17 percent disagreed and 23 percent were not sure.
w "The Western countries’ being ahead of Middle Eastern countries is a result of them paying more importance to science and mathematics" was agreed to by 49 percent while 31 percent disagreed and 21 percent did not have an opinion on the subject.
Instructors of mathematics and Turkish have the most positive effects on students; on the other hand, in the students’ opinions, mathematics instructors also held the top place for having the most negative effect.
Three out of every four students found the science and mathematics education they receive and the education system in general to be insufficient.
Three out of every four students try to learn during science lectures by listening to the teacher and taking notes.
Four out of every five students either never conduct an experiment or rarely do and only one out of three students say they conduct experiments in class.
Only 16 percent of students receive education with the help of computers and only 15 percent watch documentaries in class. The students listed the causes of failure in science and mathematics as follows:
The procedures teachers follow, lectures featuring knowledge that is worthless in real life, what’s being thought not being associated with life, no place for learning by experiencing, lectures being taught with exams as the primary focus, the topics being taught through questions and without comprehension, employing the listen-memorize method only, no place for technology, no place for projects or laboratory work and students themselves having their shares in failure.
Students’ preferences in newspapers are as follows: daily Posta is first, daily Hürriyet second and daily Milliyet third. For television channels, the students chose Kanal D, then Show TV and ATV.
The research showed 38 percent of students spared no time for computers in their daily routine. The study showed computers are mostly employed for listening to music or sending e-mails and chatting. The students who spare no time for sports and social activities are 37.8 percent. Results showed 18.4 percent never listen to music and 16.5 percent never watch television.
The research was led by Professor İsa Eşme, a faculty member at Maltepe University and a former deputy president of the Higher Education Board, or YÖK.
"Almost 40 out of every 100 students do not accept the theory of evolution. In terms of worldview, vocational schools for teachers, known as Anatolian teacher high schools, are the closest to vocational religious high schools. The rate of students who do not agree with the idea ’Religious knowledge is more necessary to understand the world and the universe than sciences’ is only 43 percent," said Eşme.
The students who agree with the sentence, "Humanity has reached its current level as a result of millions of years of evolution" is 66 percent. Eşme said students who accept the theory of evolution have higher income and education levels than the national average and pointed out that this rate increases when it comes to those who have not proceeded with their educations after prep school.
Eşme said this might be related to the worldview of the mentioned schools’ instructors or them being boarding schools. "When the world views of students of different high school types are compared, the students of science-leaning high schools are distinguishable," he said.
’Religion is necessary’
The results of the research are briefly:
w The statement, "Humanity has reached its current level as a result of millions of years of evolution" was agreed to by 66 percent while 19 percent disagreed and 15 percent did not know. Those that disagreed were mostly from vocational religious high schools and the Anatolian teacher high schools’ students came second.
w "Religious knowledge is more necessary to understand the world and the universe than sciences" was disagreed to by 43 percent while 30 percent agreed and 27 percent were not sure. Again, vocational religious high schools students come first on agreeing to religious knowledge being more important followed by students of vocational high schools and Anatolian teacher high schools.
w "Having basic science education prevents superstitious tendencies" was agreed to by 60 percent while 17 percent disagreed and 23 percent were not sure.
w "The Western countries’ being ahead of Middle Eastern countries is a result of them paying more importance to science and mathematics" was agreed to by 49 percent while 31 percent disagreed and 21 percent did not have an opinion on the subject.
Instructors of mathematics and Turkish have the most positive effects on students; on the other hand, in the students’ opinions, mathematics instructors also held the top place for having the most negative effect.
Three out of every four students found the science and mathematics education they receive and the education system in general to be insufficient.
Three out of every four students try to learn during science lectures by listening to the teacher and taking notes.
Four out of every five students either never conduct an experiment or rarely do and only one out of three students say they conduct experiments in class.
Only 16 percent of students receive education with the help of computers and only 15 percent watch documentaries in class. The students listed the causes of failure in science and mathematics as follows:
The procedures teachers follow, lectures featuring knowledge that is worthless in real life, what’s being thought not being associated with life, no place for learning by experiencing, lectures being taught with exams as the primary focus, the topics being taught through questions and without comprehension, employing the listen-memorize method only, no place for technology, no place for projects or laboratory work and students themselves having their shares in failure.
Students’ preferences in newspapers are as follows: daily Posta is first, daily Hürriyet second and daily Milliyet third. For television channels, the students chose Kanal D, then Show TV and ATV.
The research showed 38 percent of students spared no time for computers in their daily routine. The study showed computers are mostly employed for listening to music or sending e-mails and chatting. The students who spare no time for sports and social activities are 37.8 percent. Results showed 18.4 percent never listen to music and 16.5 percent never watch television.