Abstract
The objective of this study is to examine the connection between science and mathematics at upper secondary level in Zambia. Fifty-one students in Grade 12, whose academic performance was average among upper secondary schools in Zambia, were chosen for this study. Eleven keywords related to the topic of function were chosen from students’ science and mathematics textbooks. Then, students were asked to create a conceptual map, based on the connections they make among the chosen keywords. The results show that students tend to formulate the fundamental conceptual structure based on each subject’s topic. A strong connection between the concepts of “load and extension” and “direct proportion” was identified, as well as between the concepts of “motion with uniform acceleration” and “graphs”. Based on the pattern of links identified, students were classified into three groups: those able to establish connections among subjects, those unable to connect proportion-related concepts with “load and extension”, and those unable to establish connections within concepts belonging to the same subject. Especially, students of the last two groups had difficulty connecting the concepts of “load and extension” and “direct proportion”. For those students, teaching about Hooke’s law and how to find commonalities seems to be needed.
