The Impact of Utilizing School Gardens on Students' Academic Achievements and their Perceptions of Agriculture

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the impact of utilizing the school garden on grade 7 students' academic achievements and their perceptions of agriculture. The researchers have adopted a quasi-experimental design to conduct the study. The study sample consists of 52 male students selected from one basic school in Al-Dakhylia Governorate. The sample is divided into two groups: an experimental group of 26 students who are taught by utilizing the school garden, and a control group of 26 students who are taught via the conventional methods. To answer the research questions, the researchers have developed a guide for the teacher who taught the experimental group, and the guide is verified by a group of experts. The research employs two instruments: a science achievement test that is administered and verified by a group of experts (its reliability using test-retest method was =0.84), and a perception of agriculture scale composed of 36 points is applied (its reliability coefficient Alfa Cronbach was =0.76). The findings of the study reveal that there are statistically significant differences in science achievement at α = 0.05 between experimental and control group in favor of the experimental group. In addition, the results show the effectiveness of school garden in correcting some of the wrong perceptions about agriculture. Consequently, the study proposes several recommendations that encourage teaching science using the school garden..