TEACHERS’ VARIABLES AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF STUDENTS IN BIOLOGY

TEACHERS’ VARIABLES AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF STUDENTS IN BIOLOGY 

Abstract

The study was conducted in Oruk Anam Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State to establish the relation between Teachers’ variables and academic performance among secondary school students in Biology. Two null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. A survey research design was used, all SS2 students from fourteen secondary schools constitute the population for the study. From the five selected secondary schools, fifteen (15) SS2 students were drawn from each to form, the sample size. Seventy-five (75) SS2 students were used for the study. Simple random sampling technique was used for the selection of the sample size. A Teachers questionnaire and ten-item test called Biology Achievement Test (BAT) was developed and validated by the supervisor and two Biology teachers for data collection. Data generated from the instrument was analyzed using an independent t-test method while the hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The results from findings revealed that teachers professionalism and years of working experience have a significant influence on academic performance among secondary school students in Biology. The study further revealed that students taught by professional teachers performed better than those taught by non-professional teachers. And also students taught by experienced teachers performed better than those taught by in-experienced teachers. Based on findings, the researcher recommended among others that Biology teachers who do not have a professional qualification, should try and obtain that.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents                                                                                                         Pages

Title Page                                -           -           -           -           -           -           -           i

Certification                            -           -           -           -           -           -           -           ii

Dedication                              -           -           -           -           -           -           -           iii

Acknowledgements    -           -           -           -           -           -           -           -           iv

Abstract                                  -           -           -           -           -           -           -           vi

Table of Contents                   -           -           -           -           -           -           -           vii

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1       Background to the Study                   -           -           -           -           -           1

1.2       Purpose of the Study              -           -           -           -           -           3

1.3       Statement of the Problem                   -           -           -           -           -           3

1.4       Objective of the Study                       -           -           -           -           -           4

1.5       Research Hypotheses              -           -           -           -           -           5

1.6       Significance of the Study                   -           -           -           -           -           5

1.7       Limitation of the Study                      -           -           -           -           -           6

1.8       Delimitation of the Study                   -           -           -           -           -           6

1.9       Operational Definition of Terms         -           -           -           -           -           6

CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

2.1       Who is a Teacher?                               -           -           -           -           -           8

2.2       Variables of a good teacher    -           -           -           -           -           10

2.3       Factors that Determine Effective Teaching and

Learning of Biology                            -           -           -           -           -           11

2.4              Influence of Teaching Strategies in the Learning of

Biology                                               -           -           -           -           -           13

2.5       Teacher gender and academic performance in science           -           -           14

2.6       Summary of literature review -           -           -           -           -           16

CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY

3.1       Area of the study                                -           -           -           -           -           17

3.2       Research design                                  -           -           -           -           -           18

3.3       Population of the study                      -           -           -           -           -           19

3.4       Sample and sampling technique                      -           -           -           -           19

3.5       instrument for Data collection                        -           -           -           -           19

3.6       Validation of instrument                                 -           -           -           -           20

3.7       Administration of instrument             -           -           -           -           20

3.8       Method of data analysis                                 -           -           -           -           20

CHAPTER FOUR: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS

4.1       Presentation of result                          -           -           -           -           21

4.2       Discussion of finding                          -           -           -           -           23

CHAPTER FIVE:    SUMMARY, RECOMMENDATIONS AND

CONCLUSIONS

5.1       Summary                                             -           -           -           -           -           25

5.2       Recommendation                                -           -           -           -           -           26

5.3       Conclusion                                          -           -           -           -           -           27

References                             

Appendices    

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1       Background to the Study

Teaching is an activity that has to do with an exhibition of certain variables of a person who is involved in it. The teacher occupies a central position upon which all other activities with the school revolve, therefore these are certain qualities expected of him to posses for effective execution of his functions. These can be related to the work of Ozigi (1980) who opined that an important sign of long-range breath of a nation is the spirit and quality of its teacher and had support from the work of Derama (2000) that education is the key to national development and only teachers holds the key and can turn it for national development.

The teacher is, therefore, the pivot on which every educational development hangs. These in other words also means that the future of any nation rest in the hands of its teacher’s qualities they possess today will inevitably be reflected in the citizens of tomorrow. If the variables (qualities) of the teacher is good, there is a tendency of his/her students excelling in learning. On the whole, a teacher is effective to the extent of causing learning to occur among his learner’s only when his variables are good. The teacher has to be properly educated before he/she can effectively impact knowledge into the learners for he/she cannot offer what he/she does not have.

Specification on the variables of a teacher in his the context will cover three main aspects, which are the qualification of the teacher, his or her gender.

Gender of a teacher, Ekpo (2001) asserts that the longer teachers (male/female) stays in the teaching profession the more competence they become; as there would be provided for in-service training for the acquisition of intellectual, technical competence, resourcefulness and class management.

            Therefore, in this research work, a critical examination on what teacher’s variables could do on performance of Biology Student in Oruk Anam Local Government Area is considered.

1.2       Purpose of the study

The purpose of this study was to find out Teachers Variables and Academic Performance of Biology Students in Secondary School in Oruk Anam Local Government Area.

In specific terms the purposes of this are:

i)          To find out the influence of teacher qualification on students’ academic performance in Biology.

ii)         To find out the influence of teachers’ gender on academic performance of students in Biology

1.3       Statement of Problem

  According to Waller (2005), the concept to teaching implies that it is a set of stimuli initiated and regulated by an individual who has been professionally trained to do so.

Teaching strategies are learned and not automatically manifested by individuals. This means that before anybody is said to be a teacher, such a person must undergo a process of professional training so as to be able to acquire the needed skills for the job.

On the aspect of the experience, Rengochetoe (2002) believes that experience are only available to individuals who have subjected themselves to training in order to be able to appreciate the complexities and scope of their functions. Teaching is a complex process, which involves the learners whose behaviour are to be influenced to affect a behaviour change in a context; that is why the person’s sex is seen as an important factor in the profession. Most times, researchers do overlook the issue of gender as not having any time to do with the execution of the duties of professionally qualified teachers.

But in this context specification had been laid on three major aspects which are the professional qualification of the teacher and gender status of the teacher as well as some of the variable processed by subject teachers in our schools and how those variables affect the performance of students in secondary school biology in Oruk Anam Local Government Area.

1.4       Objective of the Study

                        The objectives of the study were;

i.          To investigate whether the qualification of a subject teacher could influence students’ performance in biology.

ii.         To examine the influence of gender status of the teacher on the academic performance of students in Biology how such influence affects the students’ performance