Geoscience Awareness in Nigeria--A Preliminary Study

Autor/in	Okunlola, Olugbenga A.
Titel	Geoscience Awareness in Nigeria--A Preliminary Study
Quelle	In: Journal of Geoscience Education, 60 (2012) 3, S.220-227 (8 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1089-9995
Schlagwörter	Foreign Countries; Earth Science; Geology; Mineralogy; Knowledge Level; Fuels; Agricultural Production; Water; Questionnaires; Interviews; Teacher Attitudes; Student Attitudes; Professional Personnel; Geographic Regions; Correlation; Elementary Secondary Education; Postsecondary Education; Mining; Literacy; Employees; Nigeria + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Ausland; Earth sciences; Geowissenschaften; Historische Geologie; Mineralogie; Wissensbasis; Treibstoff; Agriculture; Production; Landwirtschaft; Produktion; Agrarproduktion; Landwirtschaftliche Produktion; Wasser; Fragebogen; Interviewing; Interviewtechnik; Lehrerverhalten; Schülerverhalten; Personalbestand; Korrelation; Post-secondary education; Tertiäre Bildung; Abbau; Alphabetisierung; Schreib- und Lesefähigkeit; Employee; Arbeitnehmer; Beschäftigter
Abstract	Nigeria (total land area of 923,768 km2 ) is underlain by a crystalline Precambrian basement, Jurassic granites, and Cretaceous to Recent sedimentary rocks, and is prone in places to environmental degradation and geohazards. The country hosts approximately 34 different mineral types in about 855 locations with considerable oil and gas reserves. Given this background and with less than 0.004% of the country's population being professional geoscientists, this study sets out to ascertain, across a broad spectrum of the population, the levels of awareness of the geosciences in relation to: mineral endowments including oil and gas, geohazards, agriculture and food production, water supply, and national development. The survey, which utilized questionnaire and oral interview methods, involved a total of 21,252 respondents comprising students, school teachers, informal traders, professionals, and artisanal miners, drawn from the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria (North-west, Northeast, North-central, South-west, South-east, South-south), for comparative purposes. The results show generally low but wide variations in the levels of awareness of the relationship of the geosciences to the highlighted issues among the respondents. For example, the highest awareness of any of the issues was 75.12% by teachers in the South-east zone on the relationship of geosciences and geohazards, while the lowest was recorded among the primary school pupils of the North-east zone on the same issue (0.12%). A noticeable trend revealed by the survey is the relationship of the awareness levels and the literacy level among the respondents on one hand and the geopolitical zones on the other. Also, the awareness level also correlates with the relative intensity of geoscientific activity in the various zones. Appropriate strategies needed to enhance the level of awareness are suggested in the study. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	National Association of Geoscience Teachers. Carleton College W-SERC, One North College Street, Northfield, MN 55057. Tel: 540-568-6675; Fax: 540-568-8058; e-mail: jge@jmu.edu; Website: http://nagt-jge.org
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01