Lack of Qualified and Motivated Biology Teachers

Lack of Qualified and Motivated Biology Teachers

The success of any educational problem depends on the caliber of teachers. Lack of qualified and motivated biology teachers is a major impediment militating against the effective teaching of biology. The quality of a teacher determines to a large extent the students level of understanding, it is pertinent to know that the quality of a teacher is the most important educational input predicting students achievement.

Ajeyalemi (1990), opined that the students poor performance and lack of interest in science, particularly biology is as a result of lack of qualified and motivated biology teachers. If teachers from any other field are mandated to teach biology in schools, in such cases, then due to the abstract nature of biology the learners will not be able to benefit maximally from the lesson because the teacher is not professionally trained in the mandated field of study. Owing to the need for scientists and their accelerated influx in other sectors, teaching is generally seen as unlucrative profession,

Non Use of Proper Teaching Methods and Techniques

Non Use of Proper Teaching Methods and Techniques   

          A method is a way of doing something consequently, a teaching method is a systematic procedure employed by teachers in their attempt to help learning take place. A teaching method often represents the implementation of a given theory of learning. People have various concept of the nature of education and how learning takes place. These concepts have resulted in different propositions of what teachers should do to facilitate learning.

Lack of Adequately Equipped Biology Laboratories in Secondary Schools

Lack of Adequately Equipped Biology Laboratories in Secondary Schools  

          With unnumbered botanical (for plants) and scientific (for animals) names, chemical transactions and transformations and biotic and abiotic intra and inter-relations, biology will only amount to boredom if there are no well equipped laboratories to perform experiments which will internalize the principles and practices of the subjects. Bad enough, there are no laboratories in many secondary schools, while the available ones are poorly equipped or mismanaged. This is a serious set-back to the teaching of biology.

          Okeh (2008) argued that science subjects are not to be taught outside laboratories. He further declared that the out-of- laboratory teaching of biology is the chief cause of biology students inadequacies in the art of instrumentation and their poor performance in biology examinations.

Infrequent and Inefficient Biology Practical Classes

Infrequent and Inefficient Biology Practical Classes

           

Biology as a science subject requires an integration of both theoretical and practical work to make it easily understood by the students. But a large proportion of biology teachers only concentrate on the theoretical aspect of the subject leaving the essential practical work unattended to.

          The degree to which the teacher is conversant with a chosen topic facilitates the attainment of the instructional objectives. Further more, it is assumed that under the guidance of teacher, students can develop the understanding and skill of biology.

Inadequate Provision of Infrastructural Facilities in Secondary Schools

Inadequate Provision of Infrastructural Facilities in Secondary Schools  

         

Infrastructural facilities such as good class rooms, classroom furniture, staff offices, office equipment, well equipped laboratories, portable water supply, electricity, libraries and library books and gadgets, housing and accommodation, transportation means and accessible routes are vital to teachers and students as they provide them with improved teaching and learning conditions. In addition, a qualified and motivated biology teacher may be often demoralized by the short supply or breach in the provision of these facilities and mainly teaching materials and aids which may lead to the frustration of his efforts.

BIOLOGY EDUCATION IN NIGERIA

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

The views of scholars who had worked centrally or peripherally on this subject are the concern of this chapter, and have been organized according to the following sub-headings:

i.                   Biology education in Nigeria

ii.                 Lack of qualified and motivated biology teachers

iii.              Methods and techniques used in teaching biology

iv.              Lack of adequately equipped biology laboratories.

v.                 Infrequent and in-efficient biology practical classes

vi.              Inadequate provision of infrastructural facilities in schools.

2.1     BIOLOGY EDUCATION IN NIGERIA

          Biology, being the science that studies life, is as important as life itself. Everybody has a need for it, for it has to do with their food, health, environment, business and virtually everything – air, water, soil and we are still counting; so that one is right to ask, where on earth is biology needed?

          It is needed in agriculture for food production and processing, growing of plants and animals for nutritional, pharmacological, industrial and environmental uses. Industries that deal with organic substrates, catalysis (enzymes) and products are in need of biology. The biotic and abiotic distinctions, interaction and transformations that is obtained in the air, soil and water are only elucidated by biology.

          The Nigerian system of education had a scheme for inevitable study of biology in the school curriculum.

EFFECTIVE TEACHING OF BIOLOGY IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

          The main purpose of this study is to:

1.     Identify the factors militating against the effective teaching of biology in secondary schools in Ikwo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.

2.     Find out what the factors militating against the effective teaching of biology is all about.         

3.     Determine how and to what extent the factors are militating against the effective teaching of biology.

4.     Make recommendation based on findings

1.4     SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Findings of this study will be useful to teachers of biology, students, education authorities and government. As:

i.                   It will help biology teachers to employ appropriate teaching methods and techniques in teaching the subject;

FACTORS MILITATING AGAINST THE EFFECTIVE TEACHING OF BIOLOGY IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN IKWO

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Biology according to encyclopedia international is the science that deals with life. It refers further to a unified group of life sciences dealing with development, growth, responses, reproduction, metabolism, evolution and the inter-relationship of all living and non-living things in our environment. It is the epicenter of all studies in the faculties of sciences, education, health and medicine, agriculture, engineering, technology, social sciences and management whether pure or applied that buttress

FACTORS MILITATING AGAINST THE EFFECTIVE TEACHING OF BIOLOGY IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS

FACTORS MILITATING AGAINST THE EFFECTIVE TEACHING
OF BIOLOGY IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN IKWO LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF EBONYI STATE

PRESENTED BY

...............

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A RESEARCH PROJECT PRESENTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE EDUCATION, FACULTY OF EDUCATION

EBONYI STATE UNIVERSITYABAKALIKI

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (B.Sc. ED)

DEGREE IN BIOLOGY EDUCATION

NOVEMBER, 2012

APPROVAL PAGE

DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS, LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY, SUGGESTIONS AND SUMMARY FOR DIOSCOREA ROTUNDATA VARIETIES GROWN IN SOUTH EAST AGRO-ECOLOGICAL ZONE.

CHAPTER FIVE

DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS, LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY, SUGGESTIONS AND SUMMARY.

5.1   Discussion of findings

This chapter discusses issues that follow from the preceding chapters, evaluating, respondent view from the data obtained in this research work.

Implications limitations and suggestion for further study are discussed.

Research Question 1 

Sought to ascertain in what ways the lack of qualified and motivated biology teachers are consequential to the teaching of the subject. The result (table 2) obtained revealed that 98% of the respondents agree that the inability of the teacher to explain the lessons very well is one of the consequences of lack of qualified and motivated biology teachers, while 2% disagree. 94% agree to inability to apply knowledge of biology in appropriate area of life, while 6% disagree. 97% agree to students loss of interest in biology, while 3% disagree. 94% agree to low practical knowledge of biology, while 6% disagree. 95% agree to tiring owing to the volume and ambiguity, while 5% disagree.

Consequently, it is observed that all the items in table 2 are the ways in which lack of qualified and motivated biology teachers affect the teaching of biology. 98% of the respondents agree while 5% disagree. This tallies with Agunyegon (1980). He noted that there exists a relationship between teachers qualification and students performance.

Research Question 2 

aimed at finding out the extent of conformity of teaching method and techniques in teaching biology in secondary schools with what is required. The result in table 3 revealed that 96% agree that the teaching method and techniques do not conform to what is required, while 4% disagree. 94% agree that it is far from requirement, while 6% disagree. 35% agree that it connect properly, while 65% disagree. 32% agree that it is appropriate while 68% disagree. 97% agree that it is out of place, while 3% disagree.

From the available record, it is evident that the method and techniques used in teaching biology in secondary schools do not conform to what is required.

This corroborates with the WAEC Acting HRDH officer’s report (2001,2002,2003,2005), which held that failure in biology is due to non use of the necessary methods and techniques to impact the knowledge by teaching in order to ensure that learning takes place.

How frequent and efficient are biology practical classes Conducted?

Research question 4:           

How frequent and efficient are biology practical classes Conducted?

TABLE V: Frequency and Efficiency of Biology practical classes

S/N	Item statement	No of respondents	A	A%	D	D%
1.	Frequency of practical classes:
(a)	Once in a week	100	0	0	100	100
(b)	Once in two weeks	100	0	0	100	100
(c)	Once in a month	100	10	10%	90	90
(d)	Once in a term	100	10	10%	90	90
(e)	Once in a while	100	30	30%	70	70
(f)	Not at all	100	50	50%	50	50
2.	Demonstration of practical exercises:
(a)	Done by individuals	100	10	10	90	90
(b)	Done in groups	100	30	30	70	70
(c)	Done by the teachers only	100	60	60	40	40
3	Discussion of exercise and results after demonstration:
(a)	Consistently	100	21	21	79	79
(b)	Inconsistently	100	76	76	24	24
(c)	Once in a while	100	25	25	75	75
(d)	Not at all	100	72	72	28	28

DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF RESULTS FOR DIOSCOREA ROTUNDATA VARIETIES GROWN IN SOUTH EAST AGRO-ECOLOGICAL ZONE.

CHAPTER FOUR

DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF RESULTS

This chapter presents the result and the interpretation of the data collected for this study. The collective result of the data of the items of the questionnaire will be analyzed with the corresponding research question, tables of the Column heads, S/N, Item No, No. of students, agree, agree%, disagree, disagree%. The column for the A and SA, D and the SD of the questionnaire are grouped into Agree and disagree in the corresponding research question tables using the responses gathered from the hundred respondents in respect of each of the research questions.

Research question 1

How does the lack of qualified and motivated teachers affect the teaching of biology in the secondary school?

Table II: ways in which the lack of qualified and motivated teachers affect the teaching of biology in the secondary schools.

S/N	Item Statement	No of respondents	A	A%	D	D%
1.	Inability of teacher to explain the lessons very well.	100	98	98%	2	2%
2.	Inability to apply knowledge of biology in appropriate areas of life.	100	94	94%	6	6%
3.	Students loss of interest in biology	100	97	97%	3	3%
4.	Low practical knowledge of biology	100	94	94%	6	6%
5.	Tiring, owing to the volume and ambiguity	100	95	95%	5	5%