The African Journal of Behavioural and Scale Development Research

Teaching and Learning for Education in 21st Century: Skill Development and Students’ Learning Outcome in Biology in Oyo State

Olufunmilayo Amoo — 2023-08-01

Abstract

Biology being one of the important science subject to science learners intending to do programmes such as medicine, nursing, physiotherapy, anatomy, physiology, animal production and health among others and also a subject that entails theory and practical. There is need for such learners to develop skills in relation to content which may bring about improvement in learning. Therefore, a direct instruction and collaborative learning were used. A pretest -posttest-approach was used in a quasi-experimental design. Ibadan is divided into four educational zones in which one was chosen by random sampling and purpose sampling was used in and purposive sampling was used in selecting four schools and from each school, an arm of SS2 science intact class was used totaling 135 learners. Three instruments were used: Achievement Biology Test (ABT) (r = .78), direct instruction guide (DIG) and collaborative learning guide (CLG). Two hypotheses were evaluated at p = 0.05. Data analysis used were mean, standard deviation and analysis of covariance. The result revealed that there was a significant effect of collaborative learning on pre -test and posttest of learners’ academic achievement with high mean score ( while in direct instruction there was no significant effect of direct instruction on pretest and posttest of learners’ academic achievement with low mean score ( . The outcome showed a considerable impact of the treatments (collaborative learning and direct instruction) on learners’ academic achievement [F (_{2, 135}) = 291.476, p=.000]. Additionally, it was shown that there is no significant effects of learners’ gender on academic achievements of direct instruction and collaborative learning achievement [F (_{2, 135}) = 1.491, p=.224]. It was recommended collaborative learning should be encouraged and adopted during teaching/learning of Biology.

PERCEIVED TEACHERS’ USE OF TEACHING STRATEGIES AND ACHIEVEMENT OF CHEMISTRY STUDENTS IN ONDO STATE, NIGERIA

BUSAYO FATOYINBO — 2023-08-01

^{This present study explores perceived use of student-centered teaching strategies and achievement of chemistry students in Ondo state, Nigeria. The population study is all the SSS III chemistry post basic students and chemistry teachers teaching the students in the public post basic schools in Ondo state, Nigeria. Using simple random sampling, two local government areas were selected in each of the available three senatorial districts. The sample is made up of 1,307 chemistry students and 43 chemistry teachers. Two Instruments and a Chemistry Achievement Test were used. Teacher Teaching Strategies Awareness Inventory (TTSAI) was used to collect data about the extent of awareness of six teaching strategies among the sampled chemistry teachers, while the Teachers’ Use of Teaching Strategies Questionnaire (TUTSQ) was used to get data from the students perspective regarding their perceived teachers’ use of teaching strategies in chemistry.
The demonstration teaching has the highest awareness level among chemistry teachers. Only the discussion teaching has significant influence on the student chemistry achievement while the metacognitive teaching has the most prevalent use among the studied six teaching strategies. Recommendation is that while teachers should create more awareness for concept mapping in chemistry, the use of cooperative and concept mapping teaching strategies should be sincerely encouraged among the chemistry teachers by concern authorities.}

The Assessment of Teachers Perceived Skills in Affective Assessment Practice: A Convergent Parallel Design

Doris Cookey-Dafe — 2023-08-01

The study assess teachers perceived skills in affective assessment practices in secondary schools. A convergent parallel mixed model design was used, three research questions and hypotheses served as its guiding principles. 1,888 junior secondary school teachers in Obio Akpor LGA, Rivers State made up the study's population. For this study, 383 junior secondary school teachers made up the sample size. Simple random selection was utilized to select nine schools from the 27 junior secondary schools as part of the multistage sample methods. Each of the nine schools had a sample taken using proportionate sampling. Finally, the instruments were given to the teachers and schools that had been chosen using the convenience sampling technique. The study employed both quantitative and qualitative instruments. A 16-item questionnaire that was created by the researcher and validated by two additional educational evaluators served as the study tool for quantitative data collecting. Open-ended questions were utilized in a semi-structured teacher interview that was created. Interviews were conducted with two teachers from each of the nine chosen schools. Using Cronbach's alpha, a reliability coefficient of 0.87 was calculated. For the research questions, simple percentages, means, and standard deviation were used. The hypotheses were tested using the chi-square and independent t-test. Only 27.3 percent of respondents reported to have sufficient knowledge of the affective assessment instrument, according to the results. The interviewees claimed to have little familiarity with the affective assessment methods. Also, only a small percentage of respondents, 30.8% always employ affective assessment techniques. The affective assessment tools are only occasionally used, according to all interviews. According to the findings, teachers' biggest concerns were allocating their limited time effectively and evaluating their crowded classes. Regardless of gender, there are no significant difference in the knowledge, application, and difficulties of teachers in affective evaluation techniques. It is recommended, among others, that teachers take training to learn about and experiment with various affective assessment tools.

DISCRIMINANT ANALYSIS OF MATHEMATICS ACHIEVEMENT AND PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS ON GENDER OF SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS STUDENTS

Sunday Nnamdi Okocha — 2023-08-01

Mathematics is expected to model how real life problems could be solve. However, most students find it difficult to transfer problem solving skills learnt from Mathematics concepts to new situations and this could hinder their ability to solve real life problems. Similarly, researchers often used the wrong approach to measure students’ achievement in Mathematics and skills in solving mathematics as regards gender. This study examined if achievement in Mathematics and problem-solving skills could reliably discriminate between male and female students. Non-experimental design of correlational research type was adopted in this study. Population consist of SSS 2 Mathematics students in Ibadan, Oyo State. Simple random sampling technique was used to select three local governments from the eleven LGAs in Ibadan metropolis and eight public senior secondary schools (four in each LGA). An intact class from the arms of classes of SSS 2 Mathematics students was used and a total 520 students formed the sample of the study. Mathematics Achievement Test (r=0.72) and Problem Solving Skills Test (r=0.68) was used for data collection. Content validity of the instruments was established using Table of Specification of Mathematics Concepts while internal consistency was established using Cronbach Alpha. Three research questions were raised and analysed using R 4.2.2 software. Results reveal that achievement in Mathematics is a potent and reliable predictor that can discriminate between male and female students in Mathematics. Also, result show that problem solving skills do not reliably discriminate between male and female students. It is therefore of importance to have a proper knowledge of variables that could reliably discriminate between categorical dependent variables using discriminant analysis. The study recommended that cognitive scales should not be categorised and used for categorical dependent variable if the focus is on discriminant analysis.

EFFECT OF A CONVENTIONAL AND MODIFIED-COGNITIVE BEHAVIOURAL COUNSELLING TECHNIQUES ON AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOUR AMONG PUPILS OF ALMAJIRI INTEGRATED SCHOOLS IN GOMBE METROPOLIS

M. A Gwani Dauda, Adepoju and Gwani — 2023-08-01

ABSTRACT
This study sought to examine the effect of a modified-cognitive restructuring counselling technique on aggressive behaviouramong Almajiri school pupil in Gombe Metropolis. The study was guided by three null hypotheses and employed a quasi-experimental design. The study sample comprised 162 pupils’ randomly drawn from the 5,961 pupils of five Almajiri integrated school in Gombe metropolis. The Buss-Perry Aggressive Questionnaire (Hausa Version, translated by Dauda and Adepoju, 2021) was used in collecting data. The data were analysed using ANCOVA. The results indicate that CCBT and RCBT had significant effect in reducing aggressive behaviours among the Almajiri pupils and that the counselling intervention strategy was not sensitive to the age of Almajiris. The results further indicated that the Almajiris exposed to the counselling intervention strategy had significantly lowered level of aggressive behaviour in comparison to those not exposed to the counselling intervention and thus no significant differences in aggressive behaviour was ditected between Almajiris exposed to CCBT and RCBT although RCBT reduced aggressive behaviour more than CCBT. The study thus suggested that the use of these two counselling techniques be stimulated to combat aggressive behaviour among Almajiri pupils, especially RCTB which appeared to be more effective.

An Analysis of Effects of Test Misconduct on Students' Perception of Assessment Quality in Nigeria Federal Colleges of Education.

Blessing Dickson-Omogoye — 2023-08-01

Test misconduct is a prevalent issue in Nigeria's education system, particularly in colleges of education. This paper analysed the effects of test misconduct on students' perception of assessment quality in these institutions. The research employed a mixed-methods strategy to collect extensive data on the experiences and viewpoints of the students by combining the use of questionnaire, focus group discussion and in-depth interviews. The study found answers to two research questions and tested an hypothesis. The results show that most of the federal colleges of education in south west Nigeria have disciplinary committees that deal with test misconduct cases which may emanate from both staff and students. From the interviews and focus group discussion it is event that the severity of punishment mete to offenders signalled strong warning to the entire academic community to steer clear of illicit activities. Results from the study also show that 70 % of the students observed do not doubt the integrity of test administration procedures. Only a few have lesser confidence in the final output of Tests, as a result of observed greed and lackadaisity, of lecturers. The result also revealed a statistical significant relationship between students’ perception of quality of assessment and their perception of test misconduct which is significant at p<0.05 (r = 0.59; p = 0.00).

In order to tackle this problem, it was recommended that comprehensive strategies such as fostering academic honesty, and offering sufficient assistance for students' education and preparation, be adopted. Promoting a culture characterised by integrity and a system based on individual merit can help to rebuild students' trust in the evaluation process.

Keywords: Test, misconduct, Perception, Assessment, Quality