Abstract:
The purpose of this study is to investigate Senior High School students‟ conception of the
sickle cell disease (SCD). The study was conducted in two schools from the Adentan
Municipality in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. The total population of sample
consisting of four hundred and twenty (420) was selected from two different Senior High
Schools forms one and two students. The accessible population included ninety-six (96)
from Delcam and Two hundred and thirty-five (235) students from West Africa SHS‟s
respectively. Twenty one instrument questionnaires were used to collect data. The data
obtained from the survey were analysed with frequency counts and simple percentages
using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 17-2014 to validate the
internal consistency with an Alpha Cronbach‟s value of 0.991. The results gathered
showed significant percentages of the population exhibiting misconceptions and alternative
conceptions about the conceptual details of the Disease. The findings suggests that teachers
must precede instruction by identifying students‟ conceptions, misconceptions and
alternative conceptions to help students understand the concept being taught. Finally,
teachers are again encouraged to endeavour to focus on the long-term retention of
knowledge of scientific concepts than what is being tested for.
Description:
A DISSERTATION IN THE DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE EDUCATION,
FACULTY OF SCIENCE EDUCATION SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF
GRADUATE STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION, WINNEBA, IN
PARTIAL
FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF THE
DEGREE OF MASTER OF EDUCATION IN SCIENCE EDUCATION
SEPTEMBER, 2014
