Research papers
1991 · Journal of Research in Science Teaching · 41 citations
Abstract The effects of discovery and expository instructional methods on the attitude of students to biology was investigated. The sample consisted of 240 Form IV biology students randomly drawn from six selected secondary schools in the Oyo state of Nigeria. They were assigned into two groups—experimental and control. The experimental group was exposed to the discovery method, and the control group was taught using the expository method. The science class of Form IV in each of the six schools was selected intact for the study. A nonrandomized pretest‐posttest control group design was employed. The major instrument was the 40–item Scientific Attitude Questionnaire (SAQ). It is a Likert‐type questionnaire using five scales. Two hypotheses were tested. Analyses of the results showed that the experimental group evinced a significantly more favorable attitude to biology than the control group (t = 8.87, p < 0.01). It was also found that the high, average‐, and low‐ability groups in the experimental class evinced a more favorable attitude to biology than their counterparts in the control class. However, there was no significant difference in the attitude of male and female students exposed to the discovery and expository methods (F1,227 = 0.07, p > 0.999). The article concludes with a recommendation that science learning using the discovery method may enable the learner to evince more a favorable attitude toward problem recognition and problem solving than when learning is done by the expository method.
2025 · The Journal of Educational Research · 14 citations
As science educators seek innovative methods to engage students, the Culturo-Techno-Contextual Approach (CTCA) has emerged as a promising strategy, particularly for African students. CTCA is a culturally responsive teaching method that integrates culture, technology, and locational context, making science more relatable and meaningful. We assessed CTCA’s effectiveness in enhancing critical thinking in biology among 121 senior secondary students in Lagos State. An explanatory sequential design was used, with the experimental group taught using CTCA and the control group receiving traditional instruction. Data were collected using the Critical Thinking Test in Nutrition (a = 0.80) and interviews. Results showed a significant improvement in critical thinking for the CTCA group (F(1, 198) = 11.43; p < 0.05), with no significant gender differences (F(1,49) = .49; p > .05). Students responded positively to intervention, leading to the conclusion that CTCA effectively enhances critical thinking in biology; hence, adoption of CTCA in biology instruction is recommended.
2016 · The Australian journal of teacher education · 12 citations
This paper explores New Zealand (NZ) physics teachers’ and physics educators’ views about Initial Teacher Education (ITE). Perspectives of physics teachers nationally indicated that in general, teachers considered themselves not well-prepared in some content areas including electronics, modern physics, and atomic and nuclear physics. This may be because in NZ, physics teachers have usually gained their content knowledge from an undergraduate science degree where they may have only taken one or two courses in physics. One year postgraduate teacher education programmes do not have sufficient time to cover the physics content taught in the final three years of schooling. The implications for ITE of physics teachers are discussed in terms of the shifts needed to help them to identify the gaps in their content knowledge and to develop their conceptual understanding of physics.
2021 · Journal of Education and Training Studies · 11 citations
This study sought to examine whether junior high school teachers’ attitudes are enabling or disabling dispositions toward inquiry-based science teaching. We used concurrent triangulation mixed methods design involving surveys and multiple case studies to collect quantitative and qualitative data. We sampled 308 integrated science teachers and a subsample of 18 teachers from junior high schools in urban and rural areas. Validity and reliability of the questionnaire were satisfactory for research. Credibility and dependability of the semi-structured interview schedule were also sufficient. Findings suggest that most junior high school teachers in the study context hold weak unfavourable attitudes that are disabling dispositions toward inquiry-based science teaching. Findings also suggest that the combination of societal subjective norms, perceived context dependency, and weak unfavourable attitudes of most junior high school teachers adversely influence their intentions and behaviours toward inquiry-based science teaching. Findings further suggest that most teachers in the study context developed weak unfavourable attitudes partly because they never had inquiry-based science teaching and learning experiences when they were students. Again, the teachers developed weak general attitudes toward science teaching partly because most science teaching and learning experiences they had were in specific subjects such as biology, chemistry, and physics instead of general (integrated) science. We recommend frequent attitude-focused inquiry-based science in-service trainings for junior high school teachers. We also recommend reforms in education that engages preservice teachers in attitude-focused inquiry-based science teaching and learning experiences.
2002 · AIP conference proceedings
We discuss the problems in attracting girls into physics. We present some of the projects undertaken in various countries to ameliorate the problem, and we conclude with some follow‐up suggestions that can be implemented in all countries.