EFFECT OF TEACHER’S CREATIVITY ON SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS ACHIEVEMENT IN BIOLOGY IN TARABA STATE NIGERIA

TABLE OF CONTENT

Title page

Approval page

Dedication

Acknowledgment

Abstract

Table of content

CHAPETR ONE

1.0   INTRODUCTION 

1.1        Background of the study

1.2        Statement of problem

1.3        Research questions

1.4        Objective of the study

1.5        Significance of the study

1.6        Scope of the study

1.7       Definition of terms

CHAPETR TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 introduction

2.2 conceptual review

2.3 empirical review

CHAPETR THREE

3.0        Research methodology

3.1    sources of data collection

3.3        Population of the study

3.4        Sampling and sampling distribution

3.5        Validation of research instrument

3.6        Method of data analysis

CHAPTER FOUR

DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

4.1 Introductions

4.2 Data analysis

CHAPTER FIVE

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Summary

5.3 Conclusion

5.4 Recommendation

Appendix

Abstract

The intensity of teachers’ creativity, attitude and commitment are considered as key factors in the success of the current educational reform agenda, as it heavily influences the teachers’ willingness to engage in cooperative, reflective and critical practice to develop students’ proficiency or performance in biology. This study examined the effect of teacher’s creativity on senior secondary school student achievement in biology in Taraba state. Three hundred teachers of selected secondary schools in Taraba state were surveyed for this purpose. The instrument of data collection was the questionnaire, the researcher adopt simple percentage as the method of data analysis, and it was discovered that creative thinking, creative learning, creative teaching, teachers’ attitude and teachers’ commitment positively and significantly influence the students’ achievement in biology in Taraba state.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

• Background of the study

Creativity is the ability to make or bring to existence something new, whether a new solution to a problem, a new method or device or a new artistic object or form. Penick (2012) described creativity as a process of becoming sensitive to problems, deficiencies, gaps in knowledge, missing elements and disharmonies as well as identifying, searching for solutions, making guesses or formulation of hypotheses, and possibly modifying and restating them, and experimenting to find results and finally communicating the results. Nwazuoke, Olatoye and Oyundoyin (2012) argued that environment where a child finds himself/herself could foster or inhibit creativity. Though a child may have the innate or genetic ability for creativity, yet parents and teachers have roles to play to enhance and foster the creative traits. Dingledine (2013) asserted that family support, availability of learning materials and social pressures are some of the factors that influence the development of creativity. From these findings, it is clear that if teaching, assessment and social environment do not support creative thinking, the innate tendency in learners to be creative may be subdued. Creativity is fundamental to self-reliance, the more self-reliant a person becomes, the better the quality of his/her life, family, community and society at large. Creativity enables human beings to get the most out of life experiences and resources. Creativity produces actionable ideas, new concepts, new designs and new opportunities while innovation adds values to the new products. According to Akinboye (2013), without creativity, a person is not able to access the fullness of information and resources available but is locked up in old habits, structures, patterns, concepts and perceptions. This is why creativity, generative perception, constructive and design thinking plus innovation should form the basis of any education for sustainable development. Creativity is the confluence of intellectual activity, knowledge, motivation, thinking styles, personality and environment. Creativity should be related to intellectual activity and knowledge. Teachers these days are expected to assimilate reforms on a number of levels in their daily practice. According to Day, (2010) “the reform agenda has created an environment where those who wish to survive and thrive must become involved in an increased rate of personal adaptation and professional development.” According to Darling Hammond (2007), the quality of teaching is the key to boost the success of students in learning and proficiency. Many efforts have been taken to provide a better quality of teaching throughout the professional development. The trainings or workshops will be effective when the teachers transfer new knowledge and skills obtained from the classroom. However, at times, these teachers cannot interpret whatever they learn from the training program into their classroom practice because of their efficacy and organizational support (Smylie, 2018). Related training programs for biology teachers will enable them to learn and apply accurate and appropriate usage of their creative thinking. Biology is a subject that is difficult to learn. The difficulty affects student achievement. In addition, the difficulty makes students less motivated to learn the subject. As a result, it is hard for them to achieve a good result of their studies. The difficulty is caused by misconceptions, difficulty in finding relation between biology topics and the nature of the topic in general. For example, students do not understand the structure of the chromosome in a cell nucleus and its role in genetic activities (Cimer, 2012; Kubika-Sebitosi, 2007). It is hard for the student to learn it since they do not have the skill to learn the specific topics. There are many research studies that are conducted to find solutions for the learning difficulty. In order to learn biology effectively, students have to make connections between different topics (Law & Lee, 2004). Further, they have to be able to answer any question within their learning activities. This is the skill to produce and validate ideas (Lawson, 2001, Mumford, 2010). Some students do not have the skills, which makes them have trouble studying biology. The student struggle is caused by their inability to describe the concepts of biology and they need skills to learn biology. They have to be trained to think, describe and evaluate concepts. Therefore, they need to think creatively, since creativity is a skill to formulate a problem, find out an answer, evaluate and disseminate it to others (Torrance, 1969). Students who have the skill will have an advantage to understand the concept, because they can evaluate ideas and produce solutions for actual problems. At present, there is some research on creativity in the field of biology. Mumford (2010) and Dunbar (2017) did research on creativity of biology scientists. There are not many research studies on how the creativity can be used to overcome students’ difficulty in learning biology, especially at the undergraduate level.

• STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

In Nigeria, the study of Biology starts from senior secondary education and continues to tertiary education level. At secondary education level, the aims and objectives of biology education as stated by Federal ministry of education, FME (2007) are to prepare students.  FME (2007) also stated that, in pursuance of the above stated objectives the contents and context of the curriculum places emphasis on field studies, guided discovery, laboratory techniques and skills along with conceptual thinking. A critical look at the above statement and the details of the biology curriculum breakdown shows that Nigeria has designed a curriculum which would not only help in achieving the objectives of biology education at this level but also help to enhance creativity. It is therefore unfortunate that studies as well as personal observation have shown that the curriculum policies and practices in secondary schools have some yawning gaps (Offorma, 2005). It is in view of this that the study intends to examines the effect of teachers creativity on senior school student achievement in biology.

• OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The study has one main objectives which is sub-divided into general and specific objective; the general objective is to examine the effect of teacher’s creativity on senior secondary school student’s achievement in biology in Taraba state. The specific objectives are;

1. To examine the effect of teachers creativity on student academic achievement in biology
2. To ascertain if there is any significant relationship between teachers creativity and student academic performance in biology

• To examine the role of teachers creativity on student interest in biology in secondary schools

1. To proffer suggested solution to the identified problem
   • RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The following research questions were formulated by the researcher to aid the completion of the study;

1. Does teachers creativity has any effect on student academic achievement in biology?
2. Is there any significant relationship between teachers creativity and student academic performance in biology?

• Does teachers creativity influences secondary schools student interest in biology?
  • RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

The following research hypotheses were formulated by the researcher to aid the completion of the study;

H₀: Teachers creativity does not have any effect on student academic achievement in biology

H₁: Teachers creativity does have an effect on student academic achievement in biology

H₀: There is no significant relationship between teachers creativity and student academic performance in biology

H₂: There is a significant relationship between teachers creativity and student academic performance in biology

• SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

It is believed that at the completion of the study, the study will be of great importance to secondary school teachers as the study seek to explore the importance of teachers creativity on the academic performance in chemistry, the study will also be of importance the management of selected secondary school as the study will seek to explore the importance of creativity. The study will also be of great importance to researcher who intend to embark on a study in a similar topic as the study will serve as a pathfinder to further studies. Finally, the study will be of importance to teachers, students, academia’s and the general public as the study will contribute to the pool of existing literature and also contribute to knowledge on the subject matter.

• SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The scope of the study covers the effect of teacher’s creativity on senior secondary school student achievement in biology in Taraba state, but in the course of the study, there are some factors that limit the scope of the study;

AVAILABILITY OF RESEARCH MATERIAL: The research material available to the researcher is insufficient, thereby limiting the study

TIME: The time frame allocated to the study does not enhance wider coverage as the researcher have to combine other academic activities and examinations with the study.

FINANCE: The finance available for the research work does not allow for wider coverage as resources are very limited as the researcher has other academic bills to cover.

 1.8 OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS

Creativity

Creativity is a phenomenon whereby something new and somehow valuable is formed.

Teacher

A teacher is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence or virtue. Informally the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone.

Biology

Biology is the natural science that studies life and living organisms, including their physical structure, chemical processes, molecular interactions, physiological mechanisms, development and evolution.

1.9 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY

This research work is organized in five chapters, for easy understanding, as follows

Chapter one is concern with the introduction, which consist of the (overview, of the study), statement of problem, objectives of the study, research question, significance or the study, research methodology, definition of terms and historical background of the study. Chapter two highlight the theoretical framework on which the study its based, thus the review of related literature. Chapter three deals on the research design and methodology adopted in the study. Chapter four concentrate on the data collection and analysis and presentation of finding.  Chapter five gives summary, conclusion, and recommendations made of the study.

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