ANALYSIS OF TEACHING PRACTICE ASSESSMENT OF TRAINEE NCE SCIENCE TEACHERS OF COLLEGE OF EDUCATION: IMPLICATIONS FOR 21ST CENTURY TEACHING

ANALYSIS OF TEACHING PRACTICE ASSESSMENT OF TRAINEE NCE SCIENCE TEACHERS OF COLLEGE OF EDUCATION: IMPLICATIONS FOR 21ST CENTURY TEACHING

ANALYSIS OF TEACHING PRACTICE ASSESSMENT OF TRAINEE NCE SCIENCE TEACHERS OF COLLEGE OF EDUCATION: IMPLICATIONS FOR 21^ST CENTURY TEACHING

 

 

                                                By                                       

 

 

Onuekwusi, Chijioke . N. (Ph.D)

08036746032 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

 

Onyeka,  Joy .N. (Ph.D)

08033409245   This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

                                           

Dara, Angela  .O. (Ph.D)

                08038413888   This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.          

 

 

Department of Ed/Psychology/G & C,

Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education Owerri

 Imo State.

 

 

 

 

Abstract

 

This paper focuses on Teaching Practice (TP) which is an essential component of teacher preparation. It analyzes the TP assessment of NCE  Science Teachers in Alvan Ikoku Federal College of  Education (AIFCE), Owerri. It is a case study achieved through documentary analysis of TP results obtained in 2018/19 session. A Sample of 73 trainee teachers was selected with purposive cluster sampling technique. Two research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. Data collected were analyzed using Mean, t-test, Anova and Ebel raters reliability techniques. Results show that the trainee teachers had above mean performance score in the exercise but had below mean score in 2 out of the 8 applied parameters precisely lesson preparation and presentation. The results further show that there is no significant difference between the mean rating scores of lecturers in the school of Education and those in the sciences. Also no significant difference existed among the mean rating scores of 8 raters. The inter-rater reliability was 0.76 which was considered high enough to guarantee its use for the study. It was recommended that the Teachers-in-training should receive more training on lesson preparation and presentation for the teachers to be very sound and fully qualified.

 

 

Key words:      Teaching  Practice, Trainee Science Teacher, 21^st                    Century Teaching.

 

 

 

Introduction

 

Colleges of Education and Universities where teachers are produced occupy important positions in any educational system. This is because as has often been noted, the quality of teachers mirrors the quality of education in a nation. In agreement with this view, Kanu (2011) posits that teacher education is considered to be the foundation of quality and relevance in education at all levels. Interestingly, the Federal  Republic of Nigeria is fully aware of the vital role of teachers and boldly states in various editions of National Policy on Education including the recent (FRN 2014:43) that “in recognition of the pivotal role of quality of teachers in the provision of quality education at all levels, teacher education shall continue to be emphasized in educational  planning and development.” In  the believe that teacher training will improve the quality of education, teacher education programmes in Nigeria are structured with a view to producing positively  motivated teachers with intellectual and professional background adequate for their assignment. The best Nigerian government can therefore give to her citizen through institutions of learning is quality education. To achieve this aim  Olumbanonye (2012) instructs that there should be quality assurance in teacher production. This is to give trainee teachers the right kind of knowledge, skill and attitude to enable them perform their expected duties effectively after training.

        It is an obvious fact that science has played  significant roles towards achieving a better quality of life for the Nigeria citizenry. It is also true that science has great scope and potential to further play roles in transforming the Nigerian economy if given adequate attention. The aim of Nigeria as a nation to make progress by means of application of science and technology has been well documented  in our National Policy on Education. However, the quantum and nature of the role it can play is a function of the quality of science teachers in our schools. The Universities and Colleges of Education are expected to produce academically knowledgeable and professionally competent science teachers for the educational system who will be adaptable to changing situations in the system and society.  The realization of the objectives of science teacher education is hinged on effective teacher preparation through the use of appropriate methods, resources and evaluation practices.

        It is important to ascertain that these competencies considered pertinent for  science teachers to enable them perform creditably  especially in the 21^st century are acquired during the training programme. This is important because a number of competencies are aimed at during professional training of teachers, once they are certified by the appropriate authority, it is assumed that the competencies have been attained. Science teacher education is made up of three components namely; content area (subject matter) such as Biology, Chemistry, Physics; Pedagogy (science of methodology) and classroom practice. During teaching practice, trainee teachers put into practice what they have learnt in the content area and in the methods. The teacher education programme of interest here is the  Nigerian Certificate in Education. The course lasts for three years, full time with twelve (12) weeks devoted to teaching practice. NCE is now the minimum teaching qualification in our educational system and seeks to prepare teachers for basic education.

        Teaching practice exercise is considered an essential component of teacher preparation programmes. Teacher education institutions insist that successful completion of teaching practice is a pre-rquisite for graduation as is stipulated by the  National University Commission (NUC) Benchmark  Minimum Academic Standard for Undergraduate programme in Nigeria Universities (2007). This is also stated in the Colleges of Education Minimum Academic standards of the National Commission for Colleges  of Education (NCCE) for  students in colleges of Education  (2015), Hamilton-Ekeke (2016), sees teaching practice an exercise in which student teachers are guided to acquire practical skills and competencies necessary for effective teaching after training. Contributing on the importance of teaching practice Asaya (2010) opines that the exercise provides time as well as awareness for the teacher in training to acquire necessary experiences, knowledge, attitude, skill and competencies that are imperative to the teaching profession. Teaching practice is therefore an apprenticeship period for a would-be teacher and its importance cannot  be over emphasized  as it allows  the trainee teacher opportunity to try out in actual classroom situations what was acquired from teaching in content area and science of  methodology of teaching.

        Effective supervisions of teaching practice is important. Supervisors have responsibility of ensuring that science trainee teachers are properly guided in developing the appropriate competencies that would turn them into good and  effective 21^st century teachers. To this end, Agih (2015) advises that supervision should be more of a process of improvement of teaching skills than grading. It is therefore very necessary that feedback on students performance be promptly communicated for necessary remediation.  Feedback  of the initial result will expose the trainee teachers to a knowledge of their strengths and weakness and give them motivation to improve.

                The quest for improvement of teacher education programme in Nigeria  in this age of internet learning is genuine and crucial and has been recently a matter of great concern Palmer (2015) avers that teaching in the 21^st century is altogether a different phenomenon. Driscoll  (2015) explains that it is about giving students skills they need to succeed in the future. Pre-science teachers need to acquire 21^st century skills that will enable them prepare students for jobs that have not been seen. Thus,  Stauffer (2020) listed twelve abilities which make up the 21^st century skill  to include; critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, communication, information literacy, media literacy, technology literacy,  flexibility, leadership, initiative, productivity and social skills. These skills and competencies are futuristic as they challenge the ever-changing trends especially in technology. It is no longer news that education in almost all the countries of world including our dear country Nigeria, has been affected by the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Pandemic.  Consequent upon the scary effects, schools remained closed for some months from March, 2020. This situation has introduced a new narrative namely; virtual teaching and learning. Those teachers who do not have the necessary skills to do online teaching definitely should be learning the system.

        Okebukola (2002) as reported in  Obowu-Adutchey, Mkpae and Onifade (2013) lamented over the poor quality of graduates produced in Nigerian  institution of higher learning especially in the last four years which has thumbed  down the quality of those that would graduate in the next couple of years ahead. In a related observation Muraina (2016) reported that many teachers in Nigerian secondary schools cannot manage classroom situation effectively in terms of audibility and student-teacher relationship. It is also known to the researchers that presently some secondary school teachers would opt to teach subjects which they consider ‘ cheaper’  rather than what they studied according to the certificate they hold and or insist on teaching junior classes. One begins to wonder if these certificated teachers actually were subjected to appropriate teaching practice exercise or could it be that they were not properly supervised. It is important to note that trainee teachers must attain certain reasonable competencies to be accepted as trained and certificated teachers. It is also useful to note here that a sound professional preparation is necessary for a successful teaching career. Teaching practice contributes an important and indispensible component of the process involved in the adequate preparation of professional teachers. The need therefore to examine how TP exercises are supervised becomes imperative, thus the purpose of this study is to analyze TP assessment of trainee science teachers.

The following research questions were posed to guide the study.

1. What is the mean teaching practice performance score of the students?
2. What are the mean performance scores of students in the different parameters of assessment?

The following null hypotheses tested at 0.05 level of significance futher guided the study.

H_o1:   There is no significant difference between mean scores by                lecturers         in school of science and those in school of Education.

H_o2:   There is no significant difference among the  mean scores of the       8 raters on teaching practice performance.

 

Method      

This is a case study achieved through documentary analysis. The population of the study consisted of the 318 students who were the Science NCE students who had completed the teaching practice of the 2018/2019 session at the Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education. The study considered only final year  set of student who had completed the teaching practice numbering 85, however only 73 students who had the required information  provided data for the study. The instrument for data collection was a proforma designed by the researchers to enable them obtain information from assessment forms and results submitted to TP Directorate. Information relating to the variables of investigation included the following for each student:

1.  Eight (8) different scores awarded by 8 out of 10 expected raters (maximum  score obtainable is 80).
2. Average of the scores.
3. Scores for each of 6 parameters of assessment namely:

1. Quality of lesson preparation (maximum 10mrks)
2. Presentation and development of lesson (41)
3. Skill of class management (7mrks)
4. Communication skill (6mrks)
5. Skill of evaluation (6mrks) and
6. Teachers personality/professional attitude and values (10mrks).

 

 

Results

Research Question 1: What is the Mean Teaching Practice performance score of the students?

 

Table 1: Mean performance score of TP students

N	Max score	Mean	SD
73	80	50.65	3.25

 

Result in table shows that the mean performance score of the students is 50.65 with SD 3.25. This shows that the students have High mean score.

 

Research Question 2: What are the Mean Performance scores of the students in the different parameters of assessment?

 

Table 2: Mean performance score of students and SD on different parameters of assessment.

S/N	Parameters  of Assessment	Mean score	Mean	SD
1	Quality  of lesson preparation	10	44.30	3.20
2	Presentation and development of lesson	41	38.34	3.01
3	Skill of classroom management strategies	7	56.00	4.05
4	Communication skill	6	53.50	4.00
5	Skill of evaluation	6	48.33	2.8
6	Teachers personality/professional attitude and values	10	48.00	2.8

Result in table 2 shows that mean score on parameters of assessment are high on skill of classroom management strategies and communication skill while there are low mean scores on Quality of lesson preparation, skill of evaluation and teacher personality attitude and values and very low mean score on preparation, presentation and development of lesson.

Hypotheses 1:

 H_o1:  There is no significant difference between mean score by lecturers    in school of science and those in school of education.

 

Table 3: t-test on performance score according to the two groups of               lecturers.

 

Variables	N	Mean	SD	Df	t-cal	t-tab	Decision
Department	73	215.12	11.32	71	2.18	1.96	Accept
Education		214.05	11.147

 

The result of the t-test presented in table 3 shows that the calculated t-value of 2.18 is not significant at (P 0.05). the null hypothesis is accepted. Therefore, there is no significant difference in the mean score performance by lecturers in science department and education.

 

 

 

H_o2: There is no significant difference among mean scores of the 8 raters on teaching practice performance scores of students.

Table 4: ANOVA Test on Assessment by the raters

Score of variation	Sum of square	Df	Mean square	F	P-value
Between crops	18.80	7	2.10	4.18	0.02
With crops	5.00	65	0.50
Total	23.80	72

 

Ftab= F (71,65, 0.05)

 

 r = Mse – Mse

               Mse

 

 r =  =  = 0.76

 

 

 

 

Discussion of Results

The result in respect to research question 1, shows that the students have above mean score performance in teaching practice. In a related study, Jekayinfa et al (2020), rated the quality of teaching practice in Nigerian Universities as fairly above average similarly Oluwatayo and Adebule (2012) found that trainee teachers have satisfactory teaching practice  performance. Results with regard to performance in different parameters of assessment reveal that students performed below mean in preparation and presentation of lesson. These areas need to be addressed seriously especially in the light of acquisition of critical 21^st century science teaching skills. This is so even as Udosen (2019) joins Schrum to condemn the old ways of teaching in Nigerian schools which was more of presentation driven and teacher directed with students listening to teachers and doing monotonous note copying. This approach sure does not encourage creativity in the learners especially in the acquisition of science related skills.

        Results from the hypotheses tests reveal that, there is no significant difference between the mean performance scores by the two categories of teaching practice supervisors that is, those in school of science and those in school of education respectively.

Furthermore, there is no significant difference in the mean performance  scores of students by the 8 raters. Also the rater reliability coefficient of 0.76 is considered substantial enough. It is interesting to note that there is consistency and high degree of agreement amongst the raters. However, it may still be helpful to report here the findings of Asaya (2010) and Mutende (2017) who questioned the validity of teaching practice assessment by lecturers. This is an important matter to determine even as we look forward to preparing our pre-science teachers for 21^st century teaching. Moreover, whether the skills we are presently testing are critical in acquisition of emerging science skills for the 21^st century is an issue for further consideration and research.

 

Conclusion

There is a need for a retraining of the students in the areas of preparation and presentation of lesson. This has arisen because the existing performances in these areas do not tally with desired outputs. The retaining will help a lot to improve students productivity especially in the 21^st century teaching.

 

 

Recommendation

The students should receive further training on how to develop appropriate professional competence in preparation and presentation of lessons. More so, other parameters should be included for study such as lecturer-teacher relationship so as to enable trainee teachers relax, concentrate and increase their knowledge of preparation and presentation of lesson. These two vital areas cannot be mastered by student-teachers in a threatened lecture hall/room situation.

 

 

 

References

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Asaya, S.A. (2010). Management of Teaching practice in the                      Preparation of Nigeria Certificate of Education (NCE)Teachers   Journal of college teaching and learning        7(11).        https://www.researchgate.

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Hamilton-Ekeke, J.T. (2016). Evaluation of Teaching Practice in Nigeria      European journal of education studies 2(12)  www.oapub.org/edu

Jekayinfa, A.A, Yahaya, L. A, Yusuf, A. U, Ajidagba, U. A Onyiye, A. O         Oniyangi, S.O & Ibraheem , T.O. (2020) Lecturers’ Assessment       of     Teaching Practice Exercise in Nigerian Universities. Journal of education       and   practice 3(4) www.iiste.org.

Kanu, J. A. (2011), Updating the Technical and Professional skills of             Teachers: A panacea for Human Capital Development. Nigerian   journal of educational research and evaluation 10 (3)115-121.

Muraina, M.B. (2016). Teaching Practice Exercise and classroom                 Performance of Ideal Teachers in Public Secondary Schools in Kwara state, Nigeria. Teacher education and curriculum studies   1.(2) 49-53  sciencepublishinggroup.com.

 

Mutende, R. A. (2017). Influence of Supervision Practices on the                Teaching         Practice Performance of B.Ed. Science students: A case    of a public University in Western Kenya. International journal of     humanities social, sciences and Education   4(8)515     www.arcjournals.org.

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NCCE (2015), Minimum standard for NCE Teachers Kaduna NCCE                Publications.

Obowu-Adutchay, V, Mkpae, S.B. & Onifade, A.K; (2013), input-process-      Product Quality in graduate preparation. Nigerian journal of           education research and evaluation 12.

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Palmer, T. (2015). 15 characteristics of a 21^st – Century    Teacher              https://www. edutopia.org.

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