Experimental Research

1. Question

What is the impact of medium of instruction on the performance of students in Biology studies?

The medium of instruction is always argued as an obstacle to the performance students in studies, especially the students upgraded from a Chinese medium instruction (CMI) school to an English medium instruction (EMI) school. The aim of the study is compare the effect of medium of instruction on the performance of students in Biology studies.

The independent variable is the medium of instruction: English and Chinese (Cantonese).

The dependent variable is the performance of students in Biology studies which will be assessed by the scores of the tests and exam in the term.

2. How data for the correlated variables is collected

 Methods

• 80 Form-1 students are randomly selected from a local “Through-Train” school (most of the From-1 students are coming from the same primary school). There are 35 girls and 45 boys. The medium of instruction of participating secondary school is English. All the selected students are coming from the primary schools which are CMI.


• Approval of the study is sought from the principal and the parents have signed a consent letter of participating in the study for their children. The name of the students is kept confidential in the study.


• There are 2 groups, each containing 40 students. One group is taught by English and the other group is taught by Cantonese (Chinese) as medium instruction in Biology studies. All the students are taught by English as medium instruction in other subjects.


• The teaching materials for the 2 groups are the same. Their performance in Biology studies are assessed by 2 interim tests and a final exam. The tests and exam are the same for the 2 groups. The study last for one term in a school year.


• The mean of the scores in the tests and exam of each group will be taken. If the mean of the scores of the group is higher, the performance of the group is higher and the medium of instruction is supposed to contribute to the better performance.

3. Contribution of the Research Question

If the mean of the score of the CMI group is significantly higher than that of the EMI group, CMI is needed to promote to improve the performance of the students in studies. At least, the schools should consider teaching the students in the assistance of Chinese (Cantonese) when the students are upgraded from a CMI school to an EMI school.

Posted by Phoebe Wong