CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

Education is the greatest weapon one can use to change the society and the

world at large. Education is a very important human activity (Kimani, Kara and

Njagi, 2013). Education is one of the imperative aspects that not only inculcates

the essential skills, abilities and knowledge among the individuals, but also leads to

overall growth and progress of the individuals, community and nation as a whole

(Bamigbade, Amoo, Oluwadare & Adedokun, 2021). Education is also viewed as a

tool for social economic changes (Njuguna, 2011). According to Boit, Njoki, and

Chang’ach (2012) the purpose of education is to equip the citizens to reshape their

society and eliminate inequality. Nelson Mandela rightly quoted “Education is the

most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world” (Duncan, 2013).It

is in line with this fact that Ogunmade cited in Bello (2021) added that for any

nation including Nigeria to attain sustainable development; there is the need to

recognize science education as a priority area of education for her citizens.

Science Education is a fusion between the elements of science and

education, to produce a simplified and comprehensible concept of science that can

be understood by individuals not traditionally part of the scientific community

(Ayeni, 2021). Science education is the application of educational (learning)

theories especially those based on the philosophical, sociological and

psychological perspectives in the endless search for knowledge, which results in

the development of the intellectual, psychomotor domains through some

systematic processes involving careful observation, deduction and testing by

empirical means (Igbaji, Bello & Sanus, 2017). Science Education stimulates

creativity and originality; and to achieve this, the students have to be actively

engaged in identifying problems and search for the solutions. (Ohunene & Ebele,

2014). According to Pember and Humbe cited in Ayeni (2021), Science Education

is the process of teaching or training particularly, in school to improve one’s

knowledge about the environment, develop one’s skill of systematic inquiry and

also natural attitudinal characteristics. SCORE (2008) opined that science without

practical is like swimming without water. The implication according to Imanda,

Omwenga, Andima & Obuba (2020) from this analogy therefore is that science

learning is not complete without practical skill activities.

Practical skills are those skills that are acquired by students and teachers

through practical activities. According to Obialor (2016) practical skills are those

skills acquired by students to carry out practical activities in sciences; Obialor

further stated that practical skills can also be referred to as science process skills

(SPS). SPS are a lifelong learning process that forms a basis for analytical

thinking, creating knowledge by principles of ‘learning by doing used for problem

solving (Aslan, 2015). Science process skills are those activities which scientist

employ in carrying out scientific investigation in order to arrive at new knowledge

(Obialor, 2016). It is geared towards acquiring critical thinking and exploration,

which leads to sustainable development (Sani & Ikpe, 2019). Science Process skills

is grouped into two types; basic and integrated. According to American

Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) the basic science process

skills comprise of observing, measuring, communicating, classifying, inferring and

predicting while the integrated science process skills comprised of controlling

variables, defining operationally, formulating variables, interpreting data,

experimenting and formulating models (Molefe and Michele, 2014). Sadhana

(2017) observes that practical skills learning also known as science process skills

learning should be promoted and rote learning should be discouraged. Practical

skill learning therefore becomes more permanent, meaningful and concrete. The

purpose of learning science at an early stage is not so as to behave like scientist,

rather the purpose is to develop process skills, concepts and attitudes towards

science, which will enable learners to effectively cope up with the demands for

further education and achievement Imanda, Omwenga, Andima & Obuba (2020).

Biology is one of the science subjects in which learners require to develop practical

skills that will enable them to be relevant in the scientific world. The school

curriculum offers a child centered teaching learning approach as students are

encouraged to take up biology, which occupies a unique position in the school

curriculum and is central to many science related courses (Aina, 2012).

Biology is one of the science education subjects taught at the senior

secondary school level. Biology is a branch of science education which has been

structured to equip the students with the knowledge of relevant concepts and

scientific skills (Adepoju, 2016). Biology is all the knowledge of living things that

has come to us from the past (Ezechi & Adukwu, 2021). Biology exposes man on

how to maintain good health through clean water, clean air, good hygiene and

sanitation, balanced diet, vaccination against infectious diseases, exercise and

adequate rest (Obialor 2016). Biology is also a natural science that is concerned

with the study of life and living organism, including their structure, function,

growth, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a science subject which

describes how living organism carry out their life activities and how they interact

with their environment (Obialor, Ezeobi and Ezenwabuchili, 2020). According to

Okenyi (2012), Biology education is an application of principles of education in

teaching and learning Biology; it is also the act of teaching and training in order to

inculcate or transfer the knowledge of Biology to students. It is therefore the

science of life. Biology education can only be acquired through the process of

effective and efficient teaching.

 Teaching is a process by which an individual is educated by a teacher or an

instructor. Teaching is a deliberate action undertaken with the intent of facilitation

of learning (Obialor and Osuafor, 2019), Megan (2014) defined teaching as the art

and science of helping others to grow in their knowledge and understanding.

Teaching involves the relationship or interaction between three elements; the

teacher, learning and the subject matter which formally takes place in a conducive

environment. This is to say that teaching and learning are two interrelated

processes in our educational system. Teachers’ competency in teaching and

learning is an important factor in determining the success of a teaching session.

Competence is the ability of an individual to do something successfully or

efficiently. Competence also refers to the skills the teacher brings to the teaching

situation with a view to arouse the interest of the learner to learn effectively.

Teachers’ competence is conceptualized as a framework that describes the specific

personal qualities that teachers need to meet the high demands of their profession

(Fauth, Decristian, Decker, buther, hardy, kileme & kunter, 2019). Teacher

competence refers to the teacher’s personal characteristics (e.g., knowledge and

motivation). Teachers’ competence covers cognitive as well as motivational

variables (Baumert & Kunter, 2013). For example, good teachers should have a

profound knowledge of tasks and instructional strategies that foster students’

conceptual understanding (i.e., pedagogical content knowledge; Sadler, Sonnert,

Coyle, Cook-Smith, & Miller, 2013). They should also exhibit a certain degree of

motivation to really be able to concentrate on the challenges of everyday classroom

instruction (e.g., enthusiasm for teaching; Keller, Goetz, Becker, Morger, &

Hensley, 2014). According to Adodo & Oyeniyi (2013), one of the most basic

principles of teaching abilities is not just teachers’ competence but also the atittude

of the teacher towards their students and teaching. In the same vein, Gbore &

Daramola (2013) concurred that teachers need to be highly interested in the

subjects and topics they teach, showing positive attitude towards them otherwise

students would perform poorly in their academics

Attitude forms a fundamental framework for students’ meaningful way of

thinking and their representations about climate change (Flores, 2017). Flores

(2017) defines attitude as one’s predisposition, or one’s tendency to respond

positively or negatively towards a certain idea, object, person, or situation. Attitude

influences an individual’s choice of action, and responses to challenges, incentives,

and rewards (togethercalled stimuli). Positive attitude towards science motivates

learners to study science and choose careers in science (Rosink, 2012). Teachers’

attitude is a relatively enduring organization of beliefs, feelings, and behavioural

tendencies towards socially significant objects, groups, events or symbols (Mcleod,

2014). Teacher’s who has strong positive attitude to teaching will be able to impact

his/her learners positively more than a teacher with a negative attitude to teaching
as a profession. This is to say that teachers attitude (wether positive or negative)

has an influence on students academic performance.

Academic performance is the knowledge attained or skills, shown in the

school subject. Academic performance according to Narad and Abdullah (2016) is

the knowledge achieved which is assessed by marks assigned by a teacher.

Academic performance is defined as the ability of students to study and remember

facts and describe their knowledge orally or on paper to demonstrate different

skills that students have achieved during study period (Suleman, Sawar, Aslam,

Lodhi, & Hussain, 2012). According to Onifade and Bello (2016) performance is a

measurable and observable behaviour of a student within a specific period; he

added that it consist of scores obtained by a student in an assessment such as class

exercise, class test, mid-semester, mock examination, and end of semester

examination. Martha (2009) emphasized that academic performance of students is

defined by a student’s performance in an examination, tests, and in a course work.

Academic performance of a student in secondary school determines whether the

student will proceed to university for higher degree or be able to secure a teaching

job. Akinfe, Olofimiyi and Fashiky (2012) investigated teacher’s characteristics as

predictor of academic performance of students in Osun State and found that

students’ academic performance correlates positively and significantly with

teachers’ attitude to teaching. Shittu and Oanite (2015) also examined the influence
of teachers’ attitude on teaching and learning of Social Studies in secondary

schools and concluded that teachers’ attitude to their profession play a crucial role

in determining students’ performance in the subject. Ekperie’tal (2019) concluded

in his study that there was a positive correlation between Geography teachers’

attitude to teaching and students’ performance in Enugu North Local Government

Area, Enugu State. However, the finding is in contrast with the work of Kurgat and

Gordon (2014) which revealed that there was no correlation between teachers’

attitude to teaching and students’ achievement in KSCE Economics examination in

Kenya.

Gender is also one of the factors noted in school curriculum to have

considerable effects on student’s academic performance in science subjects like

biology. Gender is the fact of being male or female (Quirk in Obialor, 2016).

Gender is the amount of masculinity or femininity found in an individual. Kanno

(2008) referred to gender as an analytic concept that describes sociological roles,

cultural responsibilities and expectations of men and women in a given society or

cultural setting. Ezeh (2013) explains that 'gender describes the personality traits,

attitudes, behaviour, values, relative power, influence, roles and expectation

(femininity and masculinity) that society ascribes to the two sexes on a differential

basis'. Therefore, gender is a psychological term and a cultural construct developed

by society to differentiate between the roles, behaviour, mental and emotional

attributes of males and females. The influence of gender on students‟ performance

has a long time been a concern to many educational researchers in biology and

other science subject but surprisingly no consistent results have been obtained

Ajaja and Eravwoke (2010).

It is therefore against this backdrop that this study is empirically undertaken

to investigate teachers’ attitude and competence as correlates of students’ academic

performance in biology, using gender as the moderating variable.

Statement of the Problem

All the teaching and learning processes that go on in the classroom cannot be

what it should be without the help of a teacher. At the same time, teachers cannot

effectively carry out the teaching profession without possessing the necessary

characteristics. These characteristics involve the teachers’ attitude and pedagogical

competencies which are indispensable in the teaching and learning processes.

There has been a non-satisfying performance of students in biology examinations

over the past five years. Students’ performance in biology at internal and external

examinations has been reported to be consistently unsatisfactory, Olatoye (2004)

cited in Sanni and Emeke (2017). Comments of the chief examiner of the West

African Examinations Council (WAEC) corroborated this assertion, (chief

examiner reports, 2008, 2012, 2015 & 2018). To this end, it is not yet understood

whether teachers’ attitude and competencies are part of the reasons for this
unsatisfactory performance in these biology examinations. Therefore there was

need to conduct this research to investigate teachers’ attitude and competence as

correlates of students’ academic performance in Biology.

Purpose of the study

The main purpose of this study is to investigate teachers’ attitude and

competence as correlates of students’ academic performance in Biology.

Specifically the study sought to determine the;

1. Relationship between teachers’ attitude towards practical biology and

secondary school students’ academic performance in biology.

2. Relationship between teachers’ competence towards practical biology and

secondary school students’ academic performance in biology.

3. Relationship between the attitude of teachers and male secondary school

students’ academic performance in biology.

4. Relationship between the attitude of teachers and female secondary school

students’ academic performance in biology.

Significance of the Study

The findings of this study when successfully completed and published will

be beneficial to Students, Teachers, government and other researchers.

 The findings of this study will be an eye opener to students on the areas that

they are affected and also help them to know how to handle their academic

performance. It will help students in secondary schools to focus on the teachers’

positive attitude towards them and on tackling their academic task despite the

competency level of the teachers teaching them.

Teachers who will read the work when it is published will benefit from the

findings of the study as it will help them to understand the importance of

developing and demonstrating positive attitude towards the students because this

will encourage the students to be active participants in classrooms and help them

perform better during assessments and examinations.

The findings of the study will also help the government to understand the

need for biology teachers to be competent in their subject areas, thus this will

encourage them to set up bodies that will enforce educational seminars and

workshops for biology teachers in senior secondary schools.

The findings of this study will add to existing literatures and also be a source

of knowledge to future researchers when consulted for reference purpose

Scope of the study

The study investigated teachers’ attitude and competence as correlates of

students’ academic performance in Biology in Awka South Education Zone. Awka

South Education Zone has two distinct seasons, the wet and dry seasons, with an
estimated total amount of precipitation of 2950mm. The region’s average

temperature is 27 0 c , with a 70% average humidity. It also has a coordinate of

6 10 N 7 04 E . The independent variables measured in this study were teachers’

0 ' 0 '

attitude and teachers’ competence, while the dependent variable was academic

performance. The study focused only on senior secondary school two (SSII)

students in governmrnt owned secondary schools within Awka South Education

Zone. The reason for choosing the SS2 students is because students in SS2 are not

preparing for external examination and they have chosen what field to study at the

time, whether to be science or Arts students, which means they have knowledge of

biology.

Research Questions

The following research questions were employed to guide the study:

1. What is the relationship between teachers’ attitude towards practical biology

and secondary school students’ academic performance in biology?

2. What is the relationship between teachers’ competence towards practical

biology and secondary school students’ academic performance in biology?

3. What is the relationship between the attitude of teachers and male secondary

school students’ academic performance in biology?

4. What is the relationship between the attitude of teachers and female

secondary school students’ academic performance in biology?

Hypothesis

The following null hypothesis were formulated and tested at 0.05 possibility level.

1. There is no significant relationship between teachers’ attitude towards

practical biology and secondary school students’ academic performance in

biology.

2. There is no significant relationship between teachers’ competence towards

practical biology and secondary school students’ academic performance in

biology.

3. There is no significant relationship between the attitude of teachers and male

secondary school students’ academic performance in biology.

4. There is no significant relationship between the attitude of teachers and

female secondary school students’ academic performance in biology.