TABLE
OF CONTENTS
TITLE
Table of Contents i
CHAPTER ONE 1
INTRODUCTION 1
Background to the Study 1
Statement of the Problem 6
Purpose of the Study 7
Significance of the Study 8
Scope of the Study 10
Research Questions 10
Hypotheses 11
Review of Related Literature 12
Conceptual Framework 12
Curriculum at Secondary Level 12
Overview of Science Education 15
Difficult Topics and Concepts in
Sciences: Issues and Implications 17
Factors that Influence Secondary School
Students Achievement in Biology 19
Theoretical Framework 28
Review of Empirical Studies 31
Summary of Literature Review 44
CHAPTER THREE 47
METHODOLOGY 47
Research Design 47
Area of the Study 47
Population of the
Study 48
Sample and
Sampling Techniques 48
Instrument for
Data Collection 49
Validation of the
Instrument 49
Reliability of
the Instrument 50
Method of Data
Collection 50
Method of Data
Analysis 50
REFERENCES 51
APPENDIX I 55
APPENDIX 2 58
APPENDIX 3 64
APPENDIX 4 67
APPENDIX 5 69
APPENDIX 6 71
APPENDIX 7 73
APPENDIX 8 75
APPENDIX 9 77
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
The overall importance of science education
and biology in particular in national development and sustainability cannot be
over emphasized. No Nation can neglect science education at any level of its educational
system and hope to thrive in any field of human endeavour. This is because
science and technology education is significantly useful in mans daily struggle
to control his environment and build a strong world (Osuafor and Okonkwo,
2013). Science education is essential for useful living in any society. It plays
a vital role in socioeconomic, scientific and technological development of any
nation (Egbunonu and Ugbaja, 2011).
Biology,
according to Hornby (1994) is the science of the life of animals and plants. It
also has to do with the studies of the inter-relationships between the living
organisms and their immediate environment. In all spheres of human activity,
biology plays a prominent role. It is indispensable in the fields of medicine,
agriculture, brewery and petro-chemical industries and even in geology and
mining. Because of the indispensability of biology, much emphasis has been
placed on biology instruction especially at the secondary school level. This is
to ensure full realization of the objectives of biology education as stipulated
in the National Policy on Education (F.M.E. 2008).
Biology as a science has been providing
many important innovations through specialized disciplines such as in genetics,
biotechnology, molecular biology, micro biology and biochemistry.
Biology is taught both at the secondary
and tertiary levels of the Nigerian educational system. The secondary school
biology curriculum was derived from a draft developed by the Comparative
Education Study and Adaptation Centre (CESAC), University of Lagos
and presented to the National Critique Workshop in December 1984 (FME, 1985). Based
on the experiences gathered over the years, a biology curriculum was proposed
for the new (6-3-3-4) system of secondary education and presented to the
National Critique Workshop which was further presented to the Joint
Consultative committee (JCC) Reference Committee on secondary education in
April 1985 for final review and recommendation to the JCC Plenary (FME, 1985). Since
then it has undergone a number of reviews and modification to suit the emerging
challenges of modern systems and environmental changes.
The focus of the syllabus was derived
from the National Policy on Education (F.M.E 2008). The cardinal objectives of
the syllabus are to prepare pupils to acquire:
(a). adequate
laboratory and field skills in biology
(b). meaningful
and relevant knowledge in biology
(c). ability to apply scientific knowledge to everyday life in matters of
community health and agriculture; and
(d). reasonable
and functional scientific attitudes
The new biology curriculum is designed
to provide new biology courses while meeting the needs of the society through
relevance and functionality in its contents. In terms of structure it adopted
the spiral approach to sequencing thus providing for intellectual maturity as
students progresses in their studies. In an effort to ensure continuity and
smooth transition from the junior secondary science programme, the content of
the junior secondary curriculum was assumed in such a manner that the six
themes of the basic science curriculum have references to the themes presented
in the new biology curriculum.
Although the biology curriculum for
secondary school has been revised to ensure functionality, flexibility and
smooth transition to higher specialized studies in biology, available evidence
reveal poor achievement in biology at the secondary school level (WAEC, 2011;
WAEC 2012; WAEC 2013). Reports from different examination bodies such as WAEC
and NECO always report a decline on the yearly poor performance of students in senior
school certificate biology examination. The chief examiner’s reports of WAEC
(2008) reported the decline in performance of students in Biology especially on
the theoretical part of the subject. The West African Examination Council
(WAEC) Annual Report of 2007/2008 showed
that out of 609 026 (92.27%), that 96 202 (15.79%) got credit and above (1-6),
142, 044 (23.32%) got pass (7-8) and 370, 800 (60.88%) failed (9). In 2008, out
of 841,868 students that sat for biology, 31.29% scored credit and above (1-6) 34.08% got pass (7-8) and 34.62% failed
(9) that continue to occur till date. The trend in poor achievement in biology
has continued in that direction up till the year 2014.
A number of efforts were made to address
the persistent poor achievement in biology. These includes quests for
appropriate pedagogy (Umoke and Nwafor, 2014; Akili, 2007; Ashbough 2008; Baker, Wentz, and Woods 2009),
conceptual reorientation (Ani, 2009; Berger and Luckman 1967) conditioning approaches (Dragoi and Staddon 1999), resource provision and utilization
(Njoku 2013) and gender inclusive classrooms (Okeke, 2009; Akinola, 2005; Harding, & WhiteLeg 1997). The
research recommendations with respect to pedagogy, conceptual reorientation and
constructivist arguments, conditioning, resource provision and utilization have
been addressed to a large extent in our secondary education system. A number of
new instructional approaches are currently in use with numerous instructional
resources in schools for effective implementation of the curriculum.
Although
a number of precautions have been taken to remedy the trends in poor
achievement in biology at the secondary school level, recent evidence has
revealed that the poor achievement in school certificate biology still persist
(WAEC, 2013, WAEC, 2014). Research
efforts were therefore focused on the identification of the principal causes of
poor achievement in school certificate biology.
During
the UNESCO West African Regional Symposium held on the 19th August
during the 56th Annual Conference of the Science Teachers
Association of Nigeria (STAN) of 2015 on
the theme Effective Application of STEM
Education Research: Views from various countries, the issue of science
education being examination based rather that competency based was raised. This
generated a pertinent curriculum issue in science education for Africa. The argument is that a number of teachers
entrusted with science instruction lack the competency and technicalities in
handling a number of topics in the science curriculum because of their restricted
knowledge of new research innovations in pedagogy. In the same vein the incompetence of the
teachers has spiraling effects on students who therefore tag a number of topics
in science curriculum as difficult. The consequences of these are over memorization,
loss of mastery and poor knowledge transfer. Professor Njoku appropriately
tagged this syndrome “teaching and
learning for examination purposes” rather than teaching for mastery and
sustainable skill acquisition. It was generally agreed that remedial measures
could be adopted if researchers could appropriately identify and isolate such
topics that both teachers and students dread in STM curriculum.
Researchers
in STM education were therefore charged with the responsibility of exploring
the difficult topics in various science subjects with the view of developing
effective intervention strategies for demystifying them. This will go a long
way in ensuring effective instructional delivery, boost students and teachers
interests and subsequently enhance achievement. Granted that detailed
exploration of difficulty topics in science is indispensable for effective
instructional delivery, researchers in STM education should not lose sight of
the facts that a number of moderator variables such as gender and job
experience usually comes into play with their accompanying interactions.
Although there are a number of empirical evidence to back the influence of
gender and job experience on concept mastery and instructional delivery ( ),
such studies were not centered on isolated difficult topics in science. As such
the influence of gender and job experience on topic difficulties for students
and teachers respectively remains in doubt and requires proper verification. Most
importantly, most recent studies on topic difficulties were carried out in
chemistry, physics and mathematics thereby leaving researchers in biology
education in doubts about areas of constraints in biology. It is therefore on
this background that the researcher deems it expedient to explore the core
contents of senior secondary biology curriculum with the principal focus of
isolating the specific topics both teachers and students perceive as difficult.
Statement of the Problem
The persistent poor achievement of
students in Senior School Certificate Biology Examination is an issue of great
concern to the STM practitioners, the government and society at large. The West
African Examination Council (WAEC) annual Report May/June (2007 - 2008),
statistics shows that out of 609,026 (92.27%) 96,202 (15.79%) got credit and
above in biology. In 2008, out of 841, 868 students that sat for biology,
31.29% scored credit and above 34.08% got pass while 34.62% failed. The
scenario did not change up to 2012 because out of 5,135, 283 candidate that sat
for biology only 31.81% got credit and above.
Although the recent Chief examiners
reports (WAEC,2011; WAEC2012, WAEC 2013) made reference to curriculum contents
and instructional resources, they were not specific about the topics that have
constituted a major setback to both the teachers and students. While also the
reports tends to suggest that emphasis be laid on some topics in the curriculum
with special instructional measures researchers in biology education are still
in doubt about the specific topics that attention should be focused on. The
problem of this study therefore is to find out from the teachers and students
the content areas of the senior secondary school biology curriculum they
perceived difficulty.
Purpose of the
Study
The main purpose
of this study is to identify the topics in school certificate biology that
students find difficult to learn and also the topics that teachers find
difficult to teach. Specifically the study will seek to Identify:
1. Content areas in senior secondary school biology curriculum that
teachers find difficult to teach.
2. Content areas in senior secondary school biology curriculum that
students find difficult to learn.
3. Influence of gender of students on difficulties encountered by
students in learning some contents of the school certificate biology
4. Influence of job experience of teachers on difficulties encountered in
teaching some contents of the school certificate biology
Significance of
the study:
With the increasing importance of
biology in national development greater emphasis has been placed on effective
teaching and learning of biology at the most crucial preparatory stage of
specialist studies in life science. This underscores the need for proper
isolation of difficult topics in secondary school biology to as to address the
specific problems encountered by both teachers and students in the course
delivery.
This study will be very significant to
both the teachers, students, curriculum developers and the government. The
study will isolate those topics the teachers encounter problems in teaching.
This will inform the design and implementation of effective retraining program
for teachers that will specifically focus on those identified topics. This will
invariably strengthen the teachers’ competence especially in teaching those
topics and this will obviously translate to enhanced performance of the
students.
In the same vein the study will isolate
the specific topics the students perceive as very difficult to understand. This
will inform the teacher on areas of focus and also on the need to employ better
pedagogic strategies in handling those topics so as to demystify the topics to
the students and consequently improve on their mastery of such topics. This
will also translate to improvement in students overall performance in biology.
The
curriculum planners through the findings of this study will be understand areas
both teachers and students find difficult. This will guide effective review of
the biology curriculum to ensure that adequate provisions are made through
sequencing and resource designs to ensure that such topics are broken down into
understandable and comprehensible units. They will also be guided through the
finding of this study on the need to ensure that concepts or topics are
arranged in such a manner that each builds on the previous learning experience
of the students.
The findings of this study will afford
the government awareness of the need to ensure that the schools are well funded
to acquire the necessary materials and facilities to improved teaching and
learning of biology in the schools. This study will also inform government on
the needs to encourage and sponsor in-service training, workshop, seminars and
conferences for professional growth and knowledge development of teachers. The
findings will guide the government on their design of in-service training and
short term workshops for biology teachers.
Other future
researchers would find the study as a good reference material for future
studies. They will be guided on the areas that have been covered and further add
to literature on content difficulties in sciences
Scope of the Study
This study is
delimited to identification of topics in secondary school biology that teachers
and students perceive as difficult. The
study will cover the curriculum of SS1, SS2 and SS3 biology of the Federal
Ministry of Education. The study will be conducted in Abakaliki Education zone
of Ebonyi State.
Research Questions
The following
research questions are formulated to guide the researcher in the study:
1. Which content areas in senior secondary school biology curriculum do teachers
find difficult to teach?
2. Which content areas in senior secondary school biology curriculum do students
find difficult to learn?
3. What is the influence of gender on difficulties encountered by
students in learning some contents of the school certificate biology?
4. What is the influence of job experience on difficulties encountered by
teachers in teaching some contents of the school certificate biology?
Hypotheses
The
following null hypotheses will be tested at 0.05 alpha level of significance:
HO1: Difficulties
encountered by students in learning some contents of the school certificate
biology does not depend significantly on gender of the students.
HO2: Difficulties
encountered by teachers in teaching some contents of the school certificate
biology does not depend significantly on the job experience of the teachers.
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