The Impact of Ethnoscience on the Teaching of Optics: Thinking Relevance, Effectiveness and Student Retention

Physics students’ poor retention culminates in poor achievement owing to teaching methods that are unrelated to their culture. This study determined the effectiveness of the ethnoscience-based teaching method on student retention in Optics by adopting a non-equivalent control group design on 160 students. The experimental class was taught rectilinear propagation of light using the ethnoscience-based teaching method, while the control class was taught the same topic using the lecture method. The collected data were analysed using arithmetic mean and analysis of covariance ( p< .05). The results indicated a higher retention for the use of the ethnoscience-based teaching method than the lecture method, while there was no significant gender-based factor in the students’ performance. The use of the ethnoscience-based teaching method could transform science teaching, enhance students’ construction of new science concepts based on their existing knowledge and bridge the gap between Western science and students’ world views.