Perceptions of Basic Education Students and Beyond about Teaching Space Education in the Social Studies Curricula in the Sultanate of Oman

Abstract

This study aims to reveal the perceptions of basic education students about teaching space education in the social studies curricula in the Sultanate of Oman, the reality of their interest in space sciences, and to identify the applications of space sciences. This study adopted the descriptive survey method. To achieve study objectives, data was collected using a questionnaire consisting of 26 items distributed over four domains, which was applied to a stratified random sample consisting of 200 male and female students. The results of the study concluded that there are positive perceptions among students of basic education about the teaching of space education in the curricula of social studies in all its aspects. There are no statistically significant differences in terms of gender and academic grade variables, and there are statistically significant differences according to the educational governorate variable in favor of Muscat Governorate. The study recommended the need to reconsider the social studies curricula by including space education, topics, concepts, and applications following international standards and trends.