A STUDY OF FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO THE NON-ELECTION OF HOME ECONOMICS

• Main Author: Reynolds, Mildred Adella
• Format: Thesis
• Language: unknown
• Published: 1975
• Subjects: secondary school students; home economics; Hudson Bay
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10388/15276

The problem of this study was to determine why students in selected secondary schools of the province of Saskatchewan, Canada, had not included home economics in their program of studies. A review of literature identified a number of possible reasons affecting student decisions not to elect home economics. These reasons were categorized into seven factors and three questions. The sixty-six students in the sample who provided the data for this study were drawn from students not electing home economics in the nine schools offering this class in Hudson Bay, Sturgis and Tisdale School Units in the province of Saskatchewan. The students were asked to complete a questionnaire designed by the writer for the study. Approximately ninety-three percent of the questionnaires were returned. The data were subjected to statistical analyses which involved calculating the mean value, One-Way Analysis of Variance and Newman-Keults Procedure. A questionnaire completed by the teachers provided the information regarding the equipment, program and staff which is referred to in the discussion parts of the thesis. As an influence on students' decisions not to elect home economics, the factors analyzed in this study ranked as follows: 1. Factor 7: Subject Requirements for Post-Secondary Courses 2. Factor 2: The Home Economics Program 3. Factor 3: The Home Economics Teacher 4. Factor 6: Preference for Other Classes 5. Factor 4: Tangible Products of the Class 6. Factor 1: The Equipment in the Home Economics Room 7. Factor 5: Timetabling of Home Economics Older students in this study indicated they did not elect home economics in their program because they did not need the class for what they planned to do after high school. Students planning to attend university or vocational school were more greatly influenced by subject requirements for post- secondary courses than were students who planned to marry, get a job, had other plans or were undecided about their future. In this study the decision to include or not to include home economics in ...