Browsing by Author "Connelly, Elizabeth M"

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    An investigation into the understanding of black and white photographs by secondary school pupils in Tanzania with special reference to geography teaching
    (University of Dar es Salaam, 1973) Connelly, Elizabeth M
    The subject of this investigation is the ability of secondary school pupils in Tanzania to interpret the kind of photograph used in geography lessons. In Chapter 1 the importance of photographs in secondary school geography is considered. The work of previous investigations has suggested that school children frequently have difficulty with photograph interpretation skills. In Chapter 2 the tests which were devised to test the hypothesis the sample of school children tested, and the procedures for analyzing test data are described in detail. Pupils were asked to describe three photographs of Tanzanian scenes in their own words, and then asked to answer questions testing specific aspects of their understanding of the photographs. 793 pupils, 453 from Form 1 and 390 from Form 4, were tested. Information about their home backgrounds, frequency of visits to the cinema and fathers' education was also collected. In Chapter 3 and 4 the results of the tests are described. In Chapter 3 photograph interpretation skills are considered, and environmental influences on test scores are the subject of Chapter 4. Deficiencies in photograph interpretation skills were found, particularly among Form 1 pupils. An expected and highly significant difference between boys’ and girls’ test scores was recorded. In Chapter 5 an analysis of this difference is made, and an attempt is made to investigate possible sex differences in the factors apparently influencing test scores. Girls paid less visits to the cinema than boys, and performed less well on average than boys on a geography test. In Chapter 6 the results on the investigation are summarized and discussed, and some tentative conclusions are drawn. It is suggested that while deficiencies in photograph interpretation skills do exist, they are not generally of a fundamental nature, and are found significantly less among Form 4 than Form 1 pupils. More experience with pictures appears to be of considerable importance in providing pupils with the skills they lack. It appears however that their problems are not purely perceptual. They also have difficulties selecting geographically significant material from the photograph and recording what they see in a systematic way. Guidance in this respect improved responses to the photographs in the test, and, it is suggested, is a necessary part of any visual education.