TABLE OF
CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.0
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
1.1 STATEMENT OF
THE PROBLEM
1.2 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1.4 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES
1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE
STUDY
1.7 SCOPE OF
THE STUDY
1.8 LIMITATION
OF STUDY
1.9 DEFINITION OF TERMS
CHAPTER
TWO
2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 BIOLOGY – A
SINE QUA NON TO ENVIRONMENTAL LITERACY
AND KNOWLEDGE
2.2 INSTRUCTIONAL
STRATEGIES AND STUDENTS ENVIRONMENTAL
KNOWLEDGE IN BIOLOGY
2.2.1
Teacher-Directed Instructional Strategy
2.2.2
Student-Directed Instructional Strategy
2.3 GENDER AND STUDENTS ENVIRONMENTAL KNOWLEDGE
IN
BIOLOGY
2.4 THE PROBLEMS OF INSTRUCTIONAL
SELECTION
2.5 LEARNING STYLES: RAISING AWARENESS
OF THE DIVERSITY
AMONG LEARNERS
2.6
SENSORY MODALITIES OF LEARNING: THE VAK FRAMEWORK
2.7 DECONSTRUCTING INTELLIGENCE: HOWARD
GARDNER'S
THEORY OF MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES
2.8 DIMENSIONS OF LEARNING STYLES IN
SCIENCE: FELDER AND
SILVERMAN
REFERENCES
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 INTRODUCTION
3.2 RESEARCH
DESIGN
3.3 POPULATION OF
THE STUDY
3.3 SAMPLING AND
SAMPLING TECHNIQUES
3.4 RESEARCH
INSTRUMENTS
3.4.1 Students’
Environmental Knowledge Test (SEKT)
3.4.1.1 Validity and Reliability of SEKT
3.4.2 Operational
Guide for Teacher-directed Biology Instruction
(OGTBI)
3.4.3 Operational
Guide for Student-directed Biology Instruction
(OGSBI)
3.5 PROCEDURE FOR DATA COLLECTION
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
4.1
DATA ANALYSIS
CHAPTER
FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Summary
Conclusion
Recommendation
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.0
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Mankind’s encounter with the
environment is as old as man himself. Since the evolution of man on the earth
he has been dependent on the very nature and reality of his environment.
Initially the needs of man were limited and small; therefore, his activities
did not really affect the environment. But slowly human being settled down and
civilized himself and learnt to cultivate. Over recent decades, global problems
relating to degradation of natural resources and pollution have increased
dramatically (Larijani, 2010). Natural resources are depleted
by excessive use which in fact begs for better and more understanding of it.
The Environment is the sum total
of all conditions and influences of the development of the life of human beings
and other organisms (Hema & Jamal, 2004). It includes air, water, land and
dynamically the interrelationship that exists between these and human beings;
other living creatures, plants, microorganisms and property (Hema & Jamal,
2004). The word environment embraces the conditions or influences under which
any organism or thing exists, lives or develops. All these may be placed into
three divisions such as the set of physical conditions affecting and
influencing the growth and development of an individual and community; the
social and cultural conditions affecting the nature of an individual or
community; and the surroundings of an inanimate object of intrinsic social
value (Gilpin, 1995). Therefore, environment includes all the conditions,
circumstances and influences surrounding and affecting an organism or a group
of organisms (Trivedi & Raj, 1992). So, it may be stated that the concept
of environment in its totality is a complex one, far ranging in its
implications and challenging to our understanding.
However, over the last 50 years,
environmental awareness, education or knowledge as the case may be, has been
one of the main interests of school organisations, local communities, the
private sectors and local governments (Monroe, Day, Grieser & Green, 2000).
These organisations have been demanding that schools should include such in the
curriculum of education. Many authors name the 1960s as the decade when
Environmental Education started to develop in response to the world’s
growing awareness about environmental problems (Monroe et al, 2000). Others believe that Environmental Education grew from
the movement that existed from the beginning of the last century such as nature
study, conservation and outdoor education (NACD, 1998).
One
of the most widely accepted definitions of Environmental Education was given in
the Tbilisi Declaration which was developed at the international conference of
environment educators, sponsored by UNESCO in 1977. Environmental education was
defined there as “learning process that increase people’s
knowledge and awareness about the environment and associated challenges,
develops the necessary skills and expertise to address the challenges, and
fosters attitude, motivations, and commitments to make informed decisions and
take responsible action”
(UNESCO, 1978). According to this declaration, environmental education is seen
as a life-long process that is interdisciplinary and holistic in nature and
application. It concerns the interrelationship between human and natural
systems and encourages the development of an environmental ethic, awareness,
understanding of environmental problems, development of critical thinking and
problem solving skills. MacGregor (2003) believes that the Tbilisi definition
was based on the definition developed by Stapp, Swan, Wall & Havlick. (1969),
because William Stapp influence in creating and shaping the Tbilisi
Environmental Education conference (Bartosh, 2003).
The term environmental awareness
or knowledge has a broad meaning. It not only implies knowledge about
environment but also values and necessary skills to solve environmental
problems. Moreover, environmental awareness is the initial step ultimately
leading to the ability to carry on responsible citizenship behaviour (Sengupta,
Das & Maji, 2010). Environmental education is a process of identifying
values and clarifying concepts in order to develop skills and added tools necessary
to understand and appreciate the inter-relationship among man, his culture and
his bio-physical surroundings.
A
number of research works have been taken up in this respect (Banerjee &
Das, 2014). But being a location specific issue, research on environmental
education should be undertaken in different parts of a country for developing a
clear understanding and perspective of the issues involved. Rajput et al. (1980), made an attempt to identify the awareness of children of
primary level, towards the scientific and social environment. The study
revealed that only one of the four group (2 schools X 2 Class) were
significantly different on Environmental awareness at pre-test stage, whereas
at the post test stage two experimental group were significantly better than
the control group. Paramjit (1993) conducted a study on
“Environmental Awareness among the student of Different Socio-Economic status”.
The finding revealed that environmental awareness was more among boys of better
socio-economic status whereas among girl, it was observed that the girls of
lower socio-economic status had more environmental awareness as compared with
boys. Study of Sebastian & Nima (2005) showed that science students
have more awareness of biodiversity and its conservation than other students.
Fisman, (2005), Study Showed that the local environmental awareness found only
among students living in high socio-economic neighbourhoods.
As aforementioned environmental
knowledge is an ongoing process in our lives and is influenced by family,
school and societal factors. The major aim of environmental education is to
increase individuals’ environmental awareness and sensitivity; this can improve
one’s standard of living by fostering a healthier and safer environment (Altin,
Bacanli, & Yildiz, 2002).
There has been a variety of research on
environmental education. For example, Kuhlemeier, Van Den Bergh, &
Lagerweij (1999) studied more than 9,000 ninth grade students in 206 individual
Dutch secondary schools about their environmental knowledge, environmental
attitudes and environmentally responsible behaviours. Students were generally
willing to make financial sacrifices and apply environmentally responsible
behaviour in their daily lives. While nearly half of the students had a high
level of positive attitudes toward the environment, all students had incorrect
and/or insufficient knowledge about environmental problems and inadequate
environmentally responsible behaviour in general.
Similarly, Pe’er, Goldman, & Yavetz
(2007) examined the attitudes, knowledge and environmental behaviour of 765
first year students in three teacher training colleges in Israel. They reported
that students’ attitudes toward environment were positive, but their
environmental knowledge was limited.
Students environmental attitudes may
differ based on several variables such as grade level, gender and socioeconomic
level, though there does not appear to be a consensus (Sama, 2003; Erol &
Gezer, 2006; Ulucinar Sagir, Aslan, & Cansaran, 2008; Carrier, 2009;
Coertjens, Boeve-de Pauw, De Maeyer, & Van Petegem, 2010). For example,
Sama (2003) stated that the university students’ grade levels, whether their
first year or final year, did not have any impact on their environmental
attitudes; yet, there was a significant difference in the attitudes of the
students in the department of foreign languages.
The study results of Uzun & Saglam
(2005) revealed that there was a significant difference in the average
environmental consciousness among the socioeconomic status of 258 high school
students: The middle socioeconomic group showed more environmental
consciousness than the high and low socioeconomic groups. Erol & Gezer
(2006) illustrated that 225 prospective elementary school teachers often had
weak attitudes toward the environment and environmental problems. Students’
environmental attitudes changed with age, and girls had better attitudes toward
to environment than boys. Students’ environmental attitudes did not change with
their fathers’ occupation, parent education level or their socio-economic
status. The study of Ulucinar Sagir et al. (2008) reported that there was no
significant difference between males and females or among the students’
environmental knowledge with regard to their parents’ education levels.
Toili (2007) found that few students
within 22 secondary schools in Kenya participated in civic activities dedicated
to improving the quality of their communities’ environments. Many students
expressed that insufficient environmental awareness contributed to their lack
of enthusiasm or even to their ability to make a difference. Therefore, an
environmental education curriculum that promotes environmental knowledge and
environmental issues and/or problems would be quite beneficial in meeting the
needs of its students and their communities.
An effective environmental education
requires qualified teachers with adequate knowledge. If the teacher lacks
sufficient knowledge and responsibility, then environmentally illiterate
students cannot be trained (Cabuk & Karacaoglu, 2003; Denis & Genc,
2007).
Campbell, Medina-Jerez, Erdogan, &
Zhang (2009) made a comparison among 171 seventh and twelfth grade science
teachers from the U.S., Bolivia and Turkey, according to their attitudes toward
environmental education and instructional practices. They concluded that while
the teachers’ knowledge about global environmental issues and the teachers’
rationales related to environmental education in their science classroom
instruction showed a significant difference among three countries,
technological and/or environmental problems in science classroom instruction
did not show any significant differences among three countries. Therefore,
teachers should be well-trained regarding environmental issues as they are a
model to students of how to protect the environment for tomorrow; in addition,
it would be best to integrate the importance of education for sustainable development
in teaching of biology in schools (Noziran, 2010).
In order to raise environmentally-aware
individuals, who can take responsibility to overcome environmental problems,
students from the preschool level and above should be educated about these
issues. Students could acquire the necessary awareness and responsibility about
the environment by implementing instructional approaches, which make students
more active, saves them from an unnecessary knowledge burden and improves their
brain power (Sahin, Cerrah, Saka, & Sahin, 2004; Turkish Environmental
Atlas, 2009).
Students’ environmental knowledge
and/or attitudes could be increased by several instructional techniques. For
example, while instruction based on a conceptual change approach increased
students’ environmental understanding, it did not increase students’ attitudes
toward the environment and biology (Cetin, 2003).
Students’ environmental knowledge and
attitudes could be increased by computer-assisted instruction (Aivazidis,
Lazaridou, & Hellden, 2006). Paleoecology, the study of ancient ecosystems
as a teaching tool can be used in a science curriculum to teach global
environmental education quite effectively (Raper & Zander, 2009). Outdoor
activities can also be useful to increase students’ environmental awareness
(Carrier, 2009).
1.1 STATEMENT OF
THE PROBLEM
The predominant conventional teaching
strategy adopted in teaching biology, a science subject and indeed all subjects
in the secondary school is devoid of giving Students adequate knowledge and
understanding about their immediate environment and the ecosystem in general.
Premised on this observed defect, our school leavers generally lack the basic
knowledge of their environment. Environmental knowledge is necessary in our
daily lives and students can start learning to know about it from a very young
age, this is necessary in knowing about their bodies, their environment,
people, animals et cetera. More so, knowledge about ones environment enables
him or her to be conscious of the pros and cons of the ecosystem – for
instance, a knowledgeable student who has basic knowledge of his or her
environment would immediately know how to keep it clean and the repercussions
if he or she does not. This and many more forms the basic necessity behind the
rationale for students to have adequate knowledge of their environment through
biology. But as it is students barely know what goes on in their
ecosystem. However, this study
investigated the relative effects of Teacher – Directed and Student – Directed
Instructional Strategies on Students’ Environmental Knowledge in Biology. The
teacher-directed approach provides students with a step-by-step process for
tackling complex tasks. (Tanner, Bottoms, Ferragin and Bearman 2007). In this
study, a combination of lectures and reading, recalling and relating prior
knowledge, with elaborating and extending information involving high
participation by students are used to investigate the effectiveness or
otherwise of the teacher-directed instructional strategy. Student-directed
learning on the other hand, is based on the belief that active students’
involvement in the learning process increases learning and motivation.
According to Tanner, Bottoms, Ferragin and Bearman (2007), good student-centred
learning values the students’ role in acquiring knowledge and understanding.
This approach empowers students to ask questions, seek answers and attempt to
understand the world’s complexities. The teacher and students share the
responsibility of instruction and assessment but the students are more actively
involved.
1.2 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The purpose of this study is to
investigate the Relative Effects of Teacher – Directed and Student – Directed
Instructional Strategies on Students’ Environmental Knowledge in Biology. The specific
objectives of this study are as follows:
1.
To
determine the relative effects of the teacher’s instructional strategies on
students’ environmental knowledge in biology
2.
To
examine the influence of gender on students’ environmental knowledge in
biology.
3.
To
examine the adequacy of the teacher-directed, student-directed instructional
strategies used in the teaching of biology in Secondary schools
4.
And
also identify solutions to the problems that hinder students’ environmental
knowledge in biology.
1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The following research questions were raised to
guide the study:
1. Is there any significant difference in students'
environmental knowledge in SSS biology based on treatment?
2. Does gender influence students' environmental knowledge
in SSS biology?
1.4 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES
Ho1: There is no significant main effect
of treatments on students’ environmental knowledge in Senior Secondary School
Biology.
Ho2: There is no significant main effect
of gender on student’s environmental knowledge in Senior Secondary School
Biology.
Ho3: There is no significant interaction
effect of treatment and gender on students’ environmental knowledge in Senior
Secondary School Biology.
1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE
STUDY
This research work will
benefit the parents, teachers, government and the entire society. If the result
of this research is properly utilized, it will.
(i). Promote students
environmental knowledge through effective and efficient teaching of Biology.
(ii). Motivate the
parents to provide basic requirements of practical lesson for their children in
secondary schools.
(iii). Convince the
teachers that both instructional strategies are mostly essential for effective
teaching and learning of science subjects like biology.
(iv). Make the government
through the ministry of education realize the need for the inclusion and
implementation of these instructional strategies in secondary schools.
(v). Help the Nigeria
society in the quest for the need to promote environmental awareness.
1.7 SCOPE
OF THE STUDY
The
essence of this research work is to primarily study the Relative
Effects of Teacher – Directed and Student
– Directed Instructional Strategies on Students’ Environmental Knowledge in Biology. The research intends to focus on Senior
Secondary Students in selected private and public Senior Secondary schools in
Alimosho Local Government area of Lagos state.
This population of study would comprise of Six (6)
selected senior secondary schools in Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos
State. The scope is also limited to SS1 biology student as regards knowledge of
their environment. The contents of SS1 biology scheme of work are Living
Things, Classification of Living Things, Ecosystem, Population
Studies, Functioning Ecosystem et cetera and shall be considered in
the research instrument for this study.
1.8 LIMITATION
OF STUDY
Although the researcher tried as
much as possible to reduce a number of limitations during the course of the research
but factors like time, schools being on holiday and also at resumption trying
to quickly meet up and cover their syllabuses as a result of time made delayed
the experimentation process. Nevertheless, the researcher was able to create
time for the experiment.
1.9 DEFINITION OF TERMS
Gender;
Male and Female students of SS1
Teacher-directed
instruction; the teacher directed
instructional strategies is initiated and guided by the teacher. It’s includes
the lecture method used in the study. Here, the teacher presents a verbal
discourse on the topic being taught to the SS1students. The lesson is delivered
pre-planned to the students by the teacher with little or no instructional
aide.
Student-directed
instruction; is based on having ss1 students
construct his\ her own understanding of the lesson. It has its roots in
constructivism. And, among these strategies is the cooperative learning
instructional strategy. Using Cooperative learning instructional strategy, the
ss1 students are deliberate grouped into small heterogenous groups. Each group
work together to maximize each other’s learning. Heterogeneity in grouping can
be achieved by combining students of different sexes, academicability level,
ages, religion among others, so that students can get beyond their initial
stereotypes and be able to treat each other as other science students’ and
fellow group members.
Place-based education; its
focuses on the use of the local environment as the place to investigate
nature. In placed-based education, the ss1 student are provided with the
opportunity to carry out guided investigations into the environment and
environmental issues, they generate knowledge and also develop observation,
recording and interpretation skills, which are important in understanding the
environment (Stevenson, 2008; Van Kannel-Ray, 2006).
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