The Effect of Gender on the Biological Orientation of Deaf Learners

Abstract

Evidence from Kenya was that the performance of learners who sat for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education in biology was relatively low (Owino, Yungungu, Ahmed & Ogolla, 2015; Siringi, 2010) since 2004. According to the Owino et al. (2015) and Siringi (2010) there was a decline in the pass rate in biology from about 12.03% in 2004 to 5.88% in 2010. Other studies outside Africa have also shown variance in the attitude and achievement in biology. For instance, Dong (2002) reports a low interest and moderate attitude towards biology among non-native English speaking high school learners in New York City who wrote the 1998–1999 school year Regents biology exams. Native English speaking learners achieved higher scores and showed a more positive disposition towards biology than their non-native English speaking counterparts. While the above studies reveal the performance in biology among non-deaf learners, it is quite unfortunate that studies which assess the performance of deaf learners in biology is scarce.