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TEACHERS PERCEPTION OF DIFFICULT AREAS IN SENIOR SECONDARY
SCHOOL BIOLOGY CURRICULUM
ABSTRACT
This study sought to identify teachers’ perceptions of
difficult areas in senior secondary school biology curriculum in Lagos state of
Nigeria. Based on a review of literature, five research questions guided the
study while three hypotheses were equally tested. A survey design was used for
the study. A multistage sampling procedure involving simple random sampling
techniques by balloting and cluster sampling techniques were adopted to compose
the sample of 120 biology teachers in four Education Zones of Lagos State. A
Structured Questionnaire Titled Biology Topic Assessment Questionnaire (BTAQ)
was used to collect data from the respondents. The data collected were analyzed
using mean, standard deviation and one-way ANOVA to test the hypotheses at 0.05
level of significance. The analysis of the data yielded the following results:
the teachers find the teaching of chromosome, Evolution, Glycolysis,
Germination, Genetics and Skeleton difficult. Gender, academic qualification
and location of services of the teacher have no significant influence in the
difficulty levels of topics in the biology curriculum. It was recommended that
in-service training, constant workshops, higher degree programmes, provision of
modern instructional materials, use of computer and its softwares, re- equipping
of school library, using teachers past performance for promotions, frequent
supervisions by ministries, employing more qualified teachers, supplying
relevant textbooks, holiday tutorials and Biology laboratory are necessary for
improvement on the difficult topics.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
Science provides a
body of knowledge
for use in
addressing various forms of
human, material and environmental
problems. It can
also be viewed
as composed of two
major complementary modes: accumulation
of knowledge through exploration
and discovery efforts about the natural world,
and the use of such
knowledge for human
and material development. Science is
studied and practised in
all parts of the
world, including Nigeria.
Nigeria is a developing nation with
an increasing demand
for science based
skilled manpower. The achievement of
this can start
with the learning
and application of
science subjects as in biology, chemistry,
integrated science, and
physics at secondary school level.
Among these science subjects:
biology, chemistry, integrated science and
physics taught in
Nigerian secondary schools, only
biology was discussed. This is because; the study was focused on
biology curriculum.
Biology is one
of the senior
secondary school subjects
taught in Nigeria. Biology is an
integral science subject
which provides contents
in the training
of students who want
to study medicine, nursing,
pharmacy, forestry, fisheries
and so on. Requirement
for a credit pass
and above in
biology is needed
for science related vocational
discipline. Majority of senior
secondary school students choose biology
in the West
African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) or
National Examination Council’s
Senior School Certificate
Examinations (NECOSSCE). Also,
for some senior
secondary school students, biology is
a subject of
first choice because
they find it to be
an interesting subject as a
subject that is
more related to
nature. Biology is
one of the
subjects in the national curriculum for
senior secondary schools,
first published by the
Federal Ministry of
Education in 1985.
Biology curriculum was first introduced in 1977. At that
time the duration for secondary school education was five years. The biology
teaching was started in
class four and in class
five the students took
the West African
School Certificate
Examination. In keeping
with the dynamics of
social change and demands
on education, there
was the need
to broaden the
curriculum. The quest for improving
the method of
teaching and learning
of secondary school
biology began in 1982
by the Nigerian
Education Research Council
(NERC, 2005). The Federal Government in
collaboration with Esselte
(Swedish non-governmental
organization) initiated the National
Secondary Science and
Mathematics Project (NSSMP). They
worked hand in hand
with the federal
government of Nigeria. The
basic aim of
that project was
to inculcate learning through
the use of
a wide variety of
instructional materials. The
outcome of this was
the emergence of the
new biology curriculum
in 1985 published
by the Federal Ministry of Education.
In this 1985
curriculum, many more
topics in biology
were introduced and the number
of years to
be spent in
secondary school increased from five
years to six years.
It is the
implementation of National
curriculum for 13 Secondary School
Biology that the present
study is designed
to evaluate.
The biology curriculum has a spiral arrangement of content.
The content of biology
curriculum are: Concept of
living; Basic ecological
concepts; Plant and animal
nutrition; Variations and
variability; Evolution and Genetics. Based
on this spiral
arrangement, the concepts
to be taught are
arranged in such a
way that topics
are repeated yearly,
throughout the three
years of the course; to
cover the 62
units in the
biology curriculum. Any
repeated concept is discussed
in greater complexity
and depth as
the course matures
over the three year
period. The contents of
the senior secondary
school biology curriculum places emphasis
on field studies, guided
discovery, laboratory techniques
and skills. The curriculum
for teaching biology in
senior secondary schools emphasized the
relationship between living
and non-living things;
relevance of biology to
agriculture; the structure
and physiology of
organisms; some basic
ecological concepts; the
use of natural
resources; lands, plants
and animals-their
variations, populations and
implications, adaptation; theories
of evolution and application of the principle
of heredity in
agriculture and medicine.
The objectives
of secondary school
biology curriculum have
been derived from the
National Policy on Education
first introduced in
1977 and revised
in 1981, 1998 and
2004 (FRN,2004). The cardinal
objectives are to prepare students to acquire:
1.
Adequate laboratory and
field skills in biology;
2.
Meaningful and relevant
knowledge in biology
3.
Ability to apply
scientific knowledge to
every day’s life
in matters of personal and community health and
agriculture.
4. Reasonable
and functional scientific attitude. Biology is the study of living things. It is the study of life. Biology
can also be defined
as the study
of plants and
animals. Content of biology curriculum the content of biology curriculum
are:
i. Concept of
living
ii. Basic ecological
concepts
iii. Plant and
animal nutrition
iv. Variations and variability
v. Evolution
vi. Genetics
The objectives
of the biology
curriculum have been
adjudged as laudable according to Agu
(2006), Soyibo (2008)
and Yabugbe (2009);
and there is evidence
to show that
even though many students
find biology interesting, thereby registering
for it in
the senior secondary schools, many
of them obtain poor
results, year in and year
out in it
as shown by Okebukola
and Akinbola (2008).
In the recent past government and non governmental agencies
in most developing countries in the world, recognizing the importance of
science and technology are putting much in terms of resources and fund to
encourage teaching and learning of science in senior secondary schools. This
justifies its inclusion in the school curriculum, right from primary to
tertiary levels in Nigerian schools.
Biology has come to take a vital place among the three basic
science, more so since the national policy on education requires secondary
school students to offer at least one basic science subject of secondary school
level.
Nigeria educational research and development council NERDC
(1993) was organised because of recurring annual poor performance of students
in science, Workshop on "Difficult concepts" in science and
mathematics. It was then reported that, some concept are difficult and claimed
this to be responsible for students poor performance.
The NERDC classified the reasons for the perceived difficult
biology curriculum to be: student related reasons, teachers in the field
reasons, learning environment, nature of concepts and resources materials.
Emphasis was also placed on teachers misconceptions, poor knowledge of subject
matter, non currency of the teachers in the field. Poor teacher made tests and
teaching methods as factors responsible for poor students performance in
examination.
Biology learning and
teaching in secondary school includes many factors which are determinants of
learning quality. These can be classified
as affective and cognitive factors.
For the cognitive domain, reasoning
ability, information
processing and academic
achievement are among the
most studied constructs. Under the affective title, some
well-defined constructs are included. Those among the
most frequently emphasized
factors of the affective
domain in the
science and biology education literature are
attitude, self-efficacy, anxiety
and motivation. As
an affective factor, giving
more importance of motivation
for science education over the other affective today’s world. Biology learning
includes understanding biological
organization from molecules to
ecosystems. To understand systems
and their organs are one of the
most important steps of learning
the organization of
life. So, to learn
and teach organs as a
school subject are important task for
biology teachers.. Although
learning and teaching biology
begin at elementary grades,
under the title of
biology, they begin
to occur in
secondary school years. Motivational
preparedness of teachers as mediators
of curriculum to
teach and learn
any subject matter of
a curriculum and related perceptions
on the subject matter
are important to reach
aims of a curriculum,
because every curriculum is
needed to be considered in instructional level and teachers
are important factors in this
level, above scenario moved the researcher into difficult areas in
senior secondary school (SSS) biology curriculum from the perception of the
biology teachers.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Several research works carried out on curriculum in Nigeria
particularly in lagos State have revealed the nonchalant attitude of teachers
in the secondary schools towards certain areas in biology curriculum. One of
the major goals
of science education
in Nigeria is
to produce scientists for national
development (FRN, 2004).
In spite of
Nigerian government’s desire to
promote science education programme
in the country, the
quality of science
students produced by the
secondary schools seem
to be deteriorating. In the particular case
of biology, one is
led to observe that
despite the importance of
biology as a
science subject, evidence
have shown that students are
not doing well
in this subject
at both West
African Secondary School
Certificate Examination (WASSCE)
and National Examination Councils’ Secondary School Certificate Examination
(NECOSSCE).In Nigeria today, teachers attitude and students lack of
interest have been reported to be major factors responsible for students
perceived difficulty in sciences. Teachers attitude towards science(biology)
can either motivate students or discourage them, such recurring annual poor
performance of students. There is therefore a problem of which concepts did
teachers find difficult to teach. Then what could be responsible for this?
Could it be Teachers academic qualification?, teaching experience? or gender?.
Could it be that teachers themselves neglect or do not teach some areas in the
class? Are the methods the teachers use
in teaching some areas in biology inappropriate? This research is an attempt to
answer the above questions.
1.3 Purpose of the Study
The main purpose of this study is to identify the difficult
content areas in secondary school biology curriculum that science teachers find
difficult to teach. It also sought to determine whether teachers academic
qualification, teaching experience and gender as factors responsible for
perception of difficulty which leads to poor performance of students in science
courses (biology). Specifically, the study was directed at finding out;
1. The areas in
biology curriculum which senior secondary biology teachers find difficult to
teach.
2. Whether
academic qualification and teaching experience of teachers, are factors which
influences the area of difficulty in senior secondary school biology
curriculum.
3. Whether gender
of teacher, is a factor which influences the area of difficulty in senior
secondary school biology curriculum.
4.
Strategies to be
employed in solving
the problem of
difficult topics found in the senior secondary school biology
curriculum.
1.4 Research Questions
The following research questions were raised.
1. What content
areas in the senior secondary school (SSS) biology curriculum do teachers find
difficult to teach?
2. To what
extent does academic qualification of the teachers influence perceived area in
biology curriculum?
3. To what extent
does gender of the teachers influence perceived area of difficulty in senior
secondary school biology curriculum?
4. What
strategies can be employed in solving the problem of difficult areas found in
senior secondary school biology curriculum?
1.5 Research Hypothesis
The following hypotheses were formulated to guide the study
H01: Teachers` gender
has no significant
influence on the
perception mean scores of the
teachers in the
senior secondary school biology curriculum.
H02: Teachers academic
qualification has no
significant influence on
the perception mean scores
of the teachers
in the senior secondary school biology curriculum.
1.6 Significance of the study
The researcher was compelled to engage in this study work of
difficult content areas in the secondary school biology curriculum, by the
present alarming increase in the failure of biology subject by students in
senior school certificate biology examinations.
As earlier noted, the knowledge of biology prepares students
for various fields like medicine, pharmacy; agriculture etc. For instance, if
the problem of cells, genetics, mitosis and meiosis are dealt with as regards
to heredity and cell division, the people in the society will be able to choose
the best life partner and be aware of cell divisions in them during embryonic
formation in the area of reproduction. Disease among the population will be
prevented and also living condition will improve. The suggestions will be of
great help to the teachers and students in those areas of difficulties.
Moreover, the findings of the study will be of immense
benefits to biology researchers and book writers in biology. It will also help
institutions preparing teachers of biology to be familiar with important data
for planning biology course for potential and present biology teachers in our
secondary schools.
Governmental bodies entrusted with curriculum planning will
know where to amend while planning biology curriculum when this work must have
been completed by the researcher. And this will eventually lead to a
sustainable development and improvement in the teaching of biology in schools.
1.7 Scope of the Study
The scope of
this study was
delimited to thirty biology teachers in
Lagos State. This
work was also limited
to gender, location, academic
qualifications and experience as
factors that influence teachers
perceptions of difficult
areas on the senior secondary
school biology curriculum.
This work also
intended to provide possible remedial
strategies that may be employed
as means of alleviating
the perception problems and the difficult contents of the biology
curriculum.
1.8 Definition
of terms
1. Perception:
conscious understanding of something.
2. Teacher: a
person who teaches, especially one employed in a school.
3. Difficult:
hard, not easy, requiring much effort.
4. Curriculum:
the set of courses, coursework and content, offered at a school or university.
5. Biology:
study of all life or living matter.
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