Problem Facing Teaching and Learning Genetics in Higher Institutions
Chapter One
Purpose of the study
The purpose of this study was to determine the characteristics of teachers who teach genetics and to investigate how genetics was taught in higher institution in Akwa Ibom state. This study was conducted in order to provide explanations for poor performance as well as to propose viable solutions. The study also explored the challenges faced by the teachers and students when teaching and learning genetics respectively.
Objectives of the study
The objectives of the study were:
- To determine who teaches genetics in higher institution in Akwa Ibom state.
- To establish how genetics is taught in higher institution in Akwa Ibom state.
- To explore the challenges faced by the teachers and students when teaching and learning genetics
- To come up with ideas and suggestions on how to improve the teaching of genetics
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction
This chapter presents review of literature related to genetics education. It is structured as follows: Teaching; lesson planning and preparation, lesson presentation, studies on genetics education done outside Africa, studies on genetics education done in Africa, studies on genetics education done in Nigeria and Examinations Council of Nigeria Chief Examiner’s Reports on performance of candidates in genetics questions. These aspects of literature depict the problems teachers encounter while teaching as well as the learners’ problems on learning genetics and how the problems could be solved.
Teaching
This section starts by defining what teaching and particularly what effective teaching is. It highlights the factors that contribute to effective teaching. Mohan (2010) defines teaching as a process of assisting learners acquire new knowledge and skills. It consists
of showing and guiding the learners in performance of tasks and then measuring their results. Das (2007) on the other hand defines teaching as the creation of a situation which facilitates learning. He observes that it is an interactive process between the teacher and the student.
Onyekuru and Ibegbunam (2013) defined teaching effectiveness as a measure of the extent of realisation of instructional objectives. They stated that there are four main factors that enhance effective teaching and learning; teacher variables, family variables, school variables and learner variables. They defined teacher-variables as aspects of teacher characteristics such as qualification, experience, motivation and dedication. Family variables include social cultural background of students, level and type of education of parents or guardians and personal relationships among family members. School variables, on the other hand are seen as teaching effectiveness which include quality and quantity of teaching staff, facilities such as well equipped libraries and laboratories, instructional materials and learner variables which include motivation and previous knowledge. Of these factors, the teacher-variables are the ones that exert the most influence on learning outcome because the teacher is the implementer of the curriculum. One of the teacher variables which contribute greatly to improve student academic achievement is teacher qualifications. Edu, Edu and Kalu (2023) and Onyekuru and Ibegbunam (2013) reported that teaching experience and teachers’ qualification had an influence on teaching effectiveness of secondary school teachers while gender had no influence. Teaching and learning are interrelated. Well trained teachers, highly qualified teachers and teachers who perform their duties responsibly have a bearing on the effectiveness of teaching (Onyekuru and Ibegbunam, 2013).
Qualified and Experienced Teachers
Qualified teachers are teachers who received relevant training in education for their teaching subject up to a minimum level (Onyekuru and Ibegbunam, 2013). In Nigeria, University bachelor’s degree holders are the teachers qualified to teach senior secondary classes and diploma holders are qualified to teach junior secondary school classes (MoE, 1996). The experience of a teacher is based on the number of years of service (Rice, 2010). Onyekuru and Ibegbunam (2013) reported that the more years a teacher spends in teaching service, the more experience the teacher gets and becomes more knowledgeable in all it takes to improve the achievement of learners. In addition, Rice (2010) revealed that teacher experience enhances the knowledge, skills and productivity of teachers. The Nigerian Ministry of Education recognised the importance of having qualified teachers to teach Nigerian learners. As a result, in 1990 this ministry established the Teacher Education Directorate (TED) whose mandate is to deal with the training of teachers (Mulenga, 2023).
Lesson Planning and Preparation
This section highlighted lesson planning and aspects of a lesson plan. The merits and demerits of teaching methods are discussed. Mohan, (2023) defines a lesson plan as an outline of the important points of a lesson arranged in the order in which they are to be presented to learners by the teacher. A lesson plan is a detailed description of the course
of instruction for one lesson in a particular class which guides class instruction (Davar, 2023; MESVTEE, 2014). Lesson planning is a hallmark of the teaching profession.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Introduction
This chapter presents information on the methodologies used to answer the research questions under the following sub headings; research design, research sites, target population, sample and sampling procedures, research instruments, data collection procedures, data analysis, ethical issues and limitations of the study.
Research Design
This study used a cross sectional survey design (Kumar, 1996). It is also known as one- short or status studies that investigate things such as the prevalence of a phenomenon, situation, problem, attitude or issues by taking a cross-section of the population. The design gives an overall picture of the problem under study as it was at the time of study. This design was used because it was the most appropriate for collecting data at a particular time during the school year (term 3) when genetics is taught to Year @ learners. This design was used because it also helped to address the research questions and to generate the type of data required as suggested by Kumar (1996) and Creswell (2003). It was mainly a qualitative research.
Target Population
The target population were all teachers of biology who taught genetics in secondary schools in Akwa Ibom state. Information was also obtained from students and heads of natural sciences departments.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS
Introduction
In this chapter the findings of this study are presented according to research questions.
CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Introduction
This chapter presents the conclusion and recommendations based on the findings of the study.
Conclusion
The study established that teachers who had bachelor’s degrees taught genetics with a lot of confidence because their conceptual knowledge was adequate.
From the study, it can be concluded that lack of practical work during lessons contributed to ineffective teaching of genetics because the learners were not engaged in the lessons. The learners did not develop critical thinking skill to help them understand the abstract and complex concepts in genetics. They were not involved in hands-on, minds-on activities that help them participate in scientific investigations and to verify for themselves science concepts, principles and laws.
In addition, it can be concluded that poor or lack of planning contributed to ineffective lesson presentation because it made the lesson presentations unsystematic. This is because the teacher did not think and reflect on how to use the teaching and learning materials to genuinely and effectively engage the learners. As a result, a lot of learning time was wasted.
It was also revealed that teachers did not use any teaching and learning aid apart from the chalkboard. This also resulted in ineffective teaching of genetics. It is important to use teaching and learning aids because they break the monotony of lecture method and help to arouse student interest in genetics. Using teaching aids provides better understanding as concepts become clearer and meaningful as teacher explains with the help of teaching aids. The use of teaching aids saves time and energy of the teacher as the learners find it easy to understand when a concept is taught. Slow learners find it easy to understand and remember abstract concepts like genetics with the help of teaching aids. The learners retain the learnt material for a long time because the experiences are concrete.
Furthermore, from this study, it was concluded that teachers who teach genetics mainly use lecture method and question and answer method. Lecture method is one of the teacher-centred methods of teaching as such there was little room or no room at all of asking questions by the learners. Lecture method has a number of limitations such as very minimal students’ involvement in the lesson which minimises feedback from the students, as a result, teachers can’t be sure how much the students have understood. Identification of an individual learner’s specific learning difficulties is difficult. The evaluation of the methodology used in the lesson and oneself is difficult. During a lecture students get easily distracted and inattentive, scientific skills are not developed, retention is very low and learners are not given the opportunity to use the ideas being taught (Petty, 2009). A lecture method is not suitable for slow learners. This is because the learners are not actively involved in the lesson and their concentration span is short. It was further concluded that the use of low order questions during lesson presentation contributed to poor lesson delivery because these questions did very little to develop the learners critical thinking. As much as possible, the teacher should ask open ended questions because they promote critical thinking necessary for unblocking the enormous potential in the learners.
The study also concluded that one of the challenges that teachers and learners face when teaching and learning genetics is the abstract nature of the topic. The lack of practical work and learning aids compounds this problem. The lack of learners’ background knowledge makes it difficult for learners to construct their own knowledge. They have difficulties in connecting the new knowledge to prior knowledge because the terminologies used are new and are not used everyday language. Another challenge was the lack of biology textbooks in the participating schools and as a result, learners were not able to study genetics on their own. Learners depended on the notes from the teacher. In addition, learners have a negative attitude to genetics. This makes it difficult to teach because the learners are already defeated even before they are taught. The teachers also have heavy teaching loads.
The study further established that genetics as a topic in biology is usually taught in the third term of Year @ just before the school certificate examinations. As such, the teachers were unable to complete teaching the wide topic or taught the topic at a fast pace. Learners found it difficult to understand the topic because they were panicking. The teaching of genetics can be improved if teachers prepared lesson plans, used practical work, group discussions in teaching genetics. The teaching strategies used in other countries such as computer simulations, video games, project, learning cycle, dialogues and concept mapping can also be used to teach genetics in Akwa Ibom state.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Policy Makers
- Nigeria Association for Science Educators (ZASE) should prepare teaching notes on genetics for teachers to use. The notes should contain summary notes on genetics including practical work for learners to do in order to improve the delivery of lessons by teachers who teach genetics and understanding of concepts in genetics by the
- The MESVTEE through (ZASE) should conduct short in-service courses teachers of biology in genetics so as to increase the content knowledge of genetics by the teachers and retrain the teachers on how to use learner centred methods of
- Headteachers should procure teaching and learning aids for use during genetics lessons as this will make it possible for teachers to give practical work to In addition, the teachers should be involved in the procurement of the teaching and learning resources (including textbooks) since they usually understand the aids that may be urgently required and would benefit the learners the most.
- The MESVTEE should be able to include in its planning process the procurement of technological resources such as computer hardware and software for use in the teaching of genetics, which have become increasingly important in the teaching of biology topics in the twenty-first century (Anneta et al, 2010).
- Headteachers, deputy headteachers and heads of departments should intensify internal monitoring of teaching and learning process. They should ensure that teachers;
- Use a variety of teaching methods in order to cater for individual
- Prepare lesson plans for all lessons to be taught so that they deliver quality lessons that are systematic and effective. Although all lessons should be guided by a lesson plan, it is the quality of such a teaching document that should be
- Prepare teaching and learning aids in order to help learners to conceptualise and remember
- Implement the homework policy because homework helps learners to revise their work and learn from parents, siblings and
Recommendations for Teachers.
- The topic genetics should be schemed to be taught in the first term of Year @ in order to give learners time to learn the concepts involved. This gives time to do practical work, for example, carrying out Mendelian experiments with
- Improvisation of safe teaching and learning aids should be encouraged. With careful planning and preparation a teacher can improvise teaching and learning aids using locally available
- Teaching of mitosis and meiosis should be done in separate lessons to reduce on the chances of the learners being confused by the An experiment can be performed to show mitosis in the onion root tip. Films showing stages in mitosis and then meiosis can be shown on separate days. Asking learners to summarize what they saw in the film is a good practice as it helps learners to be active.
REFERENCES
- AIEMS, 1994. Module 3 (Science). Akwa Ibom: University of Nigeria
- Alozie, N., J. Eklund and J. Krajcik. 2010. “Genetics In The 21st Century: The Benefits and Challenges of Incorporating a Project-Based Genetics Unit in Biology.” The American Biology Teacher.72 (4), 225-230.
- Annetta, L.A., M. Cheng and S. Holmes. 2010. Assessing twenty-first century skills through a teacher created video game for High School biology students. Research in Science and Technological Education 28(2), 101-114.
- Asokhia, M. O., 2009. “Improvisation of Teaching Aids: Aid to Effective Teaching of English Language.” International Journal of Education Science 1(2), 79-85.
- Chu, Y. C., 2008. “Learning Difficulties in Genetics and the Development of Related Attitudes in Taiwanese Junior High Schools.” PhD Thesis. Glasgow: University of Glasgow.
- Curriculum Development Centre. 2000. Biology High School Syllabus. Akwa Ibom: Curriculum Development Centre.
- Creswell, J.W., 2003. Research Design Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Methods Approaches. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications.
- Danekar, A. M. and N. Gutterson. 2000. “Genetic Engineering to Improve Quality, Productivity and Value of Crops.” California Agriculture. 54(4), 49-56
- Das, R. C., 2007. Science Teaching in Schools. New Delhi: Sterling Publishers Private Limited
- Davar, M., 2023. Teaching of science. New Delhi, PHI Learning Private Limited.
