PROBLEMS
OF EFFECTIVE TEACHING AND LEARNING OF
BIOLOGY IN NIGERIA. A CASE STUDY OF SOME SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN IKERE
EKITI, EKITI STATE
ABSTRACT
The study is aimed at finding out
the problem of effective Teaching and learning of Biology in Senior Secondary Schools in
Ikere Local Government Area. Four research questions were stated to guide the
study. The population comprises all the biology teacher in 30 secondary schools
in Ikere Local Government. The sample size consisted of the 26 biology teachers
from the five senior secondary schools selected. Mean responses was used to
analyse the findings and 2.5 above was accepted while below 2.5 was not
accepted. Most of biology teachers in schools studied by the researchers were
not qualified because the mean of NCE and Others are (3.8) which is accepted.
The methods often used by the teaches while teaching biology are lecture method
and explanatory method with mean of (3.5) and (3.2) respectively which are not
in conformity with the recommended method of teaching by some scholars in
schools. There are inadequate supply of biology equipment in Ikere Local
Government Area, the most of the equipment weighed below 2.5 and were not
enough for the students. Many of the biology teachers in Ikere Local Government
Area do not posses qualities and attitudes that promote learning. All these
stated above constitute the factors that militate against effective teaching of
biology in senior secondary schools in Ikere Local Government Area. We
recommended that the post primary school management board (PPSMB) in
collaboration with the state ministry of education should strive to employ
qualified teachers. The parent teachers association should try to employ
qualified teachers if Government pays
nonchalant attitude in employing teachers, those with TCII and NCE should
further their education, federal and state government should supply new and
enough science equipment to all schools and select group of people to
supervise. It is to ensure the effective utilization. In-service training
should be given to teachers and teachers should be dedicated to their duties
CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
The term science has to do with
nature; it is derived from the latin word scientia which means knowledge. It is
a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of
testable explanation and predictions about the universe. It can equally be
defined as the field of study which tries to describe and understand the nature
of the universe in whole or part. According to Hyacinth (2004) science in its
broadest scene refers to all human activities involving organized knowledge of
natural phenomena. It also refers to a system of acquiring knowledge here
system uses observation and experimentation to describe and explain natural
phenomena.
Science is a great enterprise which
nations depend on, in-order to advance technologically. Science therefore, is
receiving much emphasis in education because of its significance and relevance
to life and society. Biology as a branch of science and the prerequisite
subject for many fields of learning contributes immensely to the technological
growth of the nation. This includes medicine, forestry, agriculture,
biotechnology and nursing. The study of Biology in senior secondary school can
equip students with useful concepts, principles and theories that will enable
them face the challenges before and after graduation.
Biology as one of the science subject
is bent in making one to be conversation with the environment he/she lives in
appreciate the meaning of scientific life, to develop unbiased mind and to be
intellectually homes with serve as ideal to the future citizen. Fortunately, it
is a fact that Biology is the commonly chosen science subject of most secondary
pupils are confirmed by the west Africa Examination council (WAEC) record.
The
term biology is derived from two Greek words “bios” and “logos” which mean life
and study respectively. Biology therefore means the study of life or study of
living things. According to stone etal (1985), biology as a science is defined
as a scientific study of living organisms. It is therefore a natural science
concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their
structure, function, growth, origin, evolution and taxonomy. It have several
branches; including the two big branches of biology which are botany (the study
of plants) and zoology (the study of animals), morphology (the study if
external structure of living things) physiology (the study of how living things
function), Ecology (the study of relationship between living things and their
environments), Genetics (the study of how living things inherits characters
from their parents) Cell biology (the study of cell structure and functions).
According
to Okeke (2000). Students who did well in biology could have prospects of
becoming: Doctors, Nurses, Pharmacists, Dentists, Biology teachers, Medical
technologist, Food technologists, Genetic Engineers, Microbiologists,
Biochemists, and other science subject.
Biology
has its origin from Europe but today all the nations of the world accord
priority attention to science and technology in development efforts. The reason
for according such priority attention to science and technology being that it
carries the promises of great economic improvement and equally serve as a
gateway to national development in the age of fast developing technology, has
become necessary for all countries of the world especially the developing ones
to organize and improve the teaching of science throughout the school stage. It
is through science that we get the fundamental bases to develop technology.
Biology
often overlaps with other sciences, for example biochemistry with biology and
chemistry, Astrobiology with biology and astronomy. Social science such as
geography, philosophy, psychology and sociology can also interact with biology,
for example in administration of biological resources, developmental biology
etc. it is a vast subject containing many subdivisions topics which are five
unifying principle that can be said to be fundamental of modern biology.
1. Cells are the basic unit of life
2. Living Organisms consumes and transforms
energy
3. Organisms regulate the internal environment
to maintain a suitable and constant condition.
4. Genes and the basic unit of heredity
5. New species and inherited characters are the
product of evolution.
Sub-discipline
of biology are recognized on the basis of the scale at which organisms are
studied and methods used to study them, Biochemistry examines the rudimentary
chemistry of life, molecular biology studies the complex interactions systems
of biological molecules; then cellular biology examines the basic building
block of all life, which is the cell, physiology examines the physical and
chemical functions of the tissue, organs, organ of facts and presentation of
information about the natural world. The pace of the development of a given
country is always determined by the type of education which operates in that country.
What is needed in biology is students involvement in the exploration of
important ideas of biology.
Effective
teaching of biology is a process by which a biology teacher adopt all the
possible method used in teaching in the classroom to make sure that students
understand biology and be able to respond positively during assessment or to
produce a good result. Teachers’ effectiveness is exhibited in the teaching
method, classroom managements, the material as well as the way students are
being handled, a good teacher always bear in mind the individual differences of
the students while presenting the lesson and frequently check the student’s
understanding of his or her points to make sure that they are getting of
understanding his lesson. This also includes the ability of the teacher to
answer question asked by the students, having knowledge about his or her
subject matter and ability to show students how to conduct appropriate
research.
Effective
teaching is crucial, in order for students to reach educational success in and
outside classroom setting, therefore, there has been some factors militating
against effective teaching of biology in senior secondary school in Ikere Local
Government Area, which some of them are as follows:
1. Unqualified biology teacher: Inappropriate
training background of science teachers especially biology teachers and
qualification of biology teachers are the major factor that militate against
effective teaching of biology because some biology teachers in some senior
secondary school did not undergo enough training to enable them get skills,
qualities and enough knowledge of the subject matter and how to impact the
knowledge to the students.
2. Poor method of teaching biology in senior
secondary school: For teaching to be effectives one must use different methods
of teaching. According to Eke (2001), teaching is effective if only it produces
or yields the desired results, the ability of the teacher to adapt to different
situations and produce a desired result in the classroom is a mark of teaching
effectiveness. Vennier and Faith (2001) are of the opinion that all the
teaching activities are supposed to produce learning, so that test of effective
teaching will be amount of learning that occurs.
When
the following methods are used, teaching of biology can be effective. According
to Bigmen (1999), activity method, inquiry method, and discovery method which
elicit student’s interests and enhance their level of attainment or
comprehension of biology. Activity method the methods that encourage students
to participate actively during the lesion while teaching at the same time.
Oforkansi (2008) defined activity method as a method whereby the students learn
through active involvement rather than being passive or being at the receiving end.
According to Ofokansi (2008), discovery means
finding out. Exploration, manipulation and experimentation are components
scientific enquiry that help one to discover. This approach demand that the
teacher create the problem and allow the pupil/students to find answer for
themselves. The author also said that enquiry involve active participation by
the student/pupil rather than transmit a preconceived notion about situations.
3.Inadequte supply of biology equipment: In
some schools, many laboratories equipments like microscope, glass tube, Beaker,
slide, Bones of vertebrates etc. charts of different animals development,
systems, organs, etc, work book for practical and textbooks are not adequate
for the students in learning of biology. Biology is a science subject which is
all about practical and also when combined with other science subject one will
be able to study courses like medicine, nursing, pharmacy etc in higher
institution. Beaty and Woolnough (1990) are of the opinion that the obsolete
and insufficient teaching of biology in senior secondary schools. They stressed
that the teacher may be competent enough and have all the qualities to impact
the knowledge to the students but to the obsolete and insufficient availability
of biological equipment the aim is defeated.
Teachers
attitude towards the teaching of biology: the teachers personalities such as
the way the teacher walks, talks, reacts to issues, his/her code of conduct and
dressing code has become the major factors which leads to the ineffective
teaching of biology. It goes with the saying that the personality of such
teacher affect the effective teaching of biology in a great way. Enwieme(2001)
continuous to stressed that teachers personality invariably affect the
effectiveness of teaching of biology. Oforkansi(2008)opinion that personal
qualities do not only enhance teaching and learning but also promotes the tone
of the school as well as the profession.
In
summary, ineffective of teaching of biology in Nuskka Local Government Area
could be due to the several reasons such as classroom management,
communication, teachers qualification, supply of biology equipment, teachers
personality, negligence of seminars, and workshop by the teachers of biology,
inadequate illustration and practical aspect of biology is another factors,
infrastructural facilities and absences of laboratories etc.
1.2 Statement Of The Problem
Biology
is one of the core science subjects, which is supposed to be the most
interesting subject to students in senior secondary schools. It has been
discovered that the effective teaching of biology has been very important. But
the rate at which students fails biology in result time’s shows that effective
learning has not been attained by these students. Aganga (2000) observed that
“Many secondary schools, especially the public schools have insufficient
competent teachers as well as biological equipment in their different schools”.
Therefore, there is the need to answer certain questions to re-enforce their
effectiveness in teaching.
1.3 Purpose Of Study
The
purpose of the study is to find out the problem facing teaching of biology in senior secondary schools in
Ikere Local government area. Specifically the study aims at finding out.
1.
The extent to which senior secondary schools in
Ikere Local Government Area have qualified biology teachers.
2.
To what extend does teacher teaching method
have effect on teaching and learning of biology.
3.
to examine if
the use of instructional material have effect in teaching of biology
4.
The extent to which teachers attitude affect
the teaching of biology in Ikere Local Government Area.
1.4 Research Questions
In the course of this work, specific research
questions to be answered are:
1. Does teacher qualification have effect in
teaching biology in Ikere Local Government Area
2. What method of teaching do biology teachers
usually used in teaching biology in Ikere Local Government Area?
3. To what extent do secondary schools in Ikere
Local Government Area have adequate supply of biology equipment?
4. To what extent do the attitude of teachers
affect the teaching of biology in Ikere Local Government Area?
Research Hypothesis
The following null hypothesis would
be tested at 0.05 level of significance
1. Teachers Qualification does not have
significant effect in teaching and learning of biology
2. Teaching method does not have
signafiant effect in teaching and learning biology
3. Teacher attitude does not have
effect in teaching biology
1.5 Significant Of The Study
This research will be beneficial to:
1. Teachers: The result of this research will
enable teachers to use different teaching methods in teaching biology
2. The result of this study will enable
educational supervisors (government officials)
to check the activities of schools and show that qualified teachers are
used.
3. To provide adequate information in the
availability of the scientific specific biology equipment in senior secondary
schools in Ikere Local Government Area.
1.6 Scope Of Study
The study is aimed at investigating the problem in teaching biology in
selected secondary schools in Ikere local government. Five selected secondary
schools were used for the study
1.7 Definition Of The Basic Concepts
Factors: Are one of the element contributing to
a particular result or situation.
Militate against: This is a process of making
something less likely to happen or succeed. According to Oxford Advanced
Learner’s dictionary militate against is to prevent something or to make it
difficult for something to happen or exist.
Teaching: this means to impart knowledge to or
to instruct someone as to do something. Okonkwo (2005) in Oforkansi (2008)
defined teaching as a deliberate effort by a mature or experienced person to
impart information, knowledge, values skills, norms (standard behavior) more
(moral values) attitude language and so on to an immature or less experienced
person through the process that is morally and pedagogically acceptable.
Effective teaching: is a process by which a
teacher adopt all the possible skills or method used in teaching in the
classroom to make sure that students understand the lesson and be able to
respond positively during evaluation and produce a good result.
Biology: Biology is the study of life and
living things. It is also a natural science concerned with the study of life
and living organisms including their structure, function, growth, evolution
distribution and taxonomy.
Senior secondary school: This is a period of
study from senior secondary school one to senior secondary school three.
CHAPTER
TWO
LITERATURE
REVIEW
This chapter will be
discussed under the following headings:
Conceptual framework
Problem of teaching biology in Nigeria secondary school
Teacher’s educational qualification
– Poor method of teaching
– Insufficient supply of biology equipment
– Teachers personality / quality
Theoretical framework
Empirical framework
