Background: In many classrooms, science textbooks remain a significant tool, functioning in some instances as the de facto curriculum and influencing pedagogical practices. Such conventions are more noticeable in the science classrooms of developing countries, like Jamaica, because of a chronic shortage of specialist science teachers and the…

This study explored motivation and engagement among 585 Jamaican middle and high school students. Motivation and engagement were assessed via students' responses to the Motivation and Engagement Scale. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) found satisfactory fit, and by most measures, multigroup CFA demonstrated comparable factor structure for males…

Using an expectancy-value framework, the present investigation is the first to explore the generality of this theorizing and research in the emerging regional context of the Caribbean. Given high underachievement in the Caribbean region, we addressed the need to better understand the role of engagement in students' academic motivation and…

This article reports on a study carried out in a secondary school in the Island of Jamaica. One grade 7 class (n = 20) and one grade 9 class (n = 23) were taught a six-week unit of lessons aimed at facilitating student listening, performing and composing. Rap and Jamaican dance hall music were used as the stimulus for students' rhythmic…

This study assessed the extent to which the science content knowledge, process skills, and attitudes of some Grade 7 students improved after the implementation of the Jamaican reform of secondary education (RSEO) science curriculum. Relationships among gender, school location, and student performance were also investigated. The study sample of 156…