Conceptions of the Nature of Biology Held by Senior Secondary School Biology Teachers in Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria

Autor/inn/en	Adegboye, Motunrayo Catherine; Bello, Ganiyu; Abimbola, Isaac O.
Titel	Conceptions of the Nature of Biology Held by Senior Secondary School Biology Teachers in Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria
Quelle	In: Malaysian Online Journal of Educational Sciences, 5 (2017) 3, S.1-12 (12 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	2289-3024
Schlagwörter	Secondary School Teachers; Secondary School Science; Biology; Science Instruction; Science Teachers; Foreign Countries; Scientific Principles; Questionnaires; Teacher Education Programs; Pedagogical Content Knowledge; Misconceptions; Statistical Analysis; Preservice Teachers; Preservice Teacher Education; Nigeria + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Biologie; Teaching of science; Science education; Natural sciences Lessons; Naturwissenschaftlicher Unterricht; Science; Teacher; Teachers; Science teacher; Wissenschaft; Lehrer; Lehrerin; Lehrende; Ausland; Fragebogen; Pädagogische Kompetenz; Missverständnis; Statistische Analyse; Lehramtsstudiengang; Lehrerausbildung
Abstract	There is a sustained public outcry against the persistent abysmal performance of students in biology and other science subjects at the Senior School Certificate Examinations conducted by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the National Examinations Council (NECO). Biology is a unique science discipline with peculiar philosophical principles and methodology that are not applicable to other science disciplines. Understanding the unique structure of knowledge, principles and methodology for providing explanations in biology is sine qua-non for effective and efficiency teaching of biology by teachers, and meaningful learning by the students. This study, therefore, investigated the conceptions of the nature of biology held by biology teachers in Ilorin, Nigeria. The study adopted the descriptive research design of the survey type. A questionnaire entitled "Biology Teachers' Conceptions of the Nature of Biology Questionnaire" (BTCNBQ) was designed by the researchers and used as the instrument for data collection. The population for the study comprised all the biology teachers in Ilorin, Nigeria. Simple random sampling technique was used to select two hundred and sixty (260) biology teachers from Ilorin, Nigeria. Results of the study revealed that each biology teacher held admixture of informed conceptions and misconceptions about the nature of biology. The results of the study also revealed that biology teachers' gender, qualifications and experience did not have a significant influence on the number of misconceptions and informed conceptions of the nature of biology they held. The findings imply that biology teachers often misrepresent biology concepts, principles, and theories in their explanations during class lessons, consequently, impeding meaningful learning by the students. Based on the findings, it was recommended that Biology educators and curriculum experts should introduce courses on the unique nature and philosophy of biology into teacher education programmes, to enhance teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	University of Malaya Faculty of Education. Kuala Lumpur 50603 Malaysia. Web site: http://moj-es.net/
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01