IMPACT OF COLLEGIAL TEACHING AND VERBAL-INTERACTION ON ATTITUDE AND PERFORMANCE IN BASIC SCIENCE AMONG JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the Impact of Collegial teaching strategy and Verbal-Interaction on Attitude and Performance in Basic Science among Junior Secondary students in Kafanchan Education Zone, Kaduna State, Nigeria. Five objective questions, five research questions and five null hypotheses were formulated for this study and tested respectively.182 students out of a population of 7,264 from four secondary schools were randomly selected to form the study sample. The students were then randomized into four groups in four schools. Three groups from the four were taught Basic Science concepts employing collegial teaching methods by teachers using high, medium and low levels of verbal-interaction. The fourth group was taught the same Basic Science concepts employing lecture method. Topics taught were drawn from the Basic Science curriculum for JSS II. The treatment lasted for a period of six weeks. Three instruments; Basic Science Performance Test (BASPT) with a reliability coefficient of 0.89; Attitude of Students towards Basic Science Inventory (ATBASI) with reliability coefficient of 0.87 and Eggleston Science Teaching Observation Schedules (ESTOS) with a reliability coefficient of 0.67 were used to collect data for pretest, posttest and to test the five hypotheses. The data collected were analyzed using t-test, descriptive statistics and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) at a significant level of p≤ 0.5. one of the findings of the study is that students taught using collegial teaching method performed better than those taught using lecture method, when the same concepts are taught by teachers using high, medium and low level of verbal-interaction. The conclusion from this study is that if teachers collegiate among themselves and allow active participation with students dominating discussion during lessons then we should expect improved performance in Basic Science. It was therefore recommended among others that Basic Science teachers should employ collegial teaching method and encourage high teacher-students interaction.

CHAPTER ONE

THE PROBLEM

1.1         Introduction

Science is a household name in the world today. It has made rapid progress and completely transformed outwardly the manner of human existence. Science has revolutionized man’s thinking and behaviour so much that its meaning and the roles it plays in human development has to be made clear. Gottlieb, (2004) defined science as intellectual activities carried out by scientists designed to discover information about the natural world in which we live and to discover ways in which this information can be organized to benefit human race. Michael, (2007) identified science as a body of knowledge which is acquired through observation and systematic experimentation. On their part, Mogbo, Gana, & Alabi (2012) defined science as a way of knowing, a systematic method of learning about nature, based on observation and testing leading to the formulation of hypothesis, facts, laws, and theories.

From the foregoing, science is said to provide a way of exploring the world to offer humanity a meaningful and realistic life. It is a method by which man develops an understanding of why things happen the way they do. Science thus is seen as a product of knowledge as well as a process of generating knowledge. The content is the knowledge that we accumulate about our environment while the process skills deal with ways in which scientists go about gathering knowledge about the environment. Such process skills include: observation, measurement, classification, communication, inference, and formulation of hypotheses to mention a few. Science functions to make man knowledgeable and be able to use the knowledge acquired. It is important to note that all scientific knowledge must be testable. It must be consistent with what we know about the world, therefore scientific knowledge has to be systematic and verifiable.

Science in the Junior Secondary School (J.S.S) or Upper Basic is taught as Basic Science. The idea of the Nigeria Integrated Science Project (NISP) now Basic Science was borne by Science Teachers Association of Nigeria in the 1970s which is an attempt to teach science as a unified whole to achieve science knowledge. Basic Science is the study of the easy and uncomplicated most important part of life and physical sciences (Spohn, 2012). Basic Science underlies all other science. According to Bernard, (2000) Basic Science is established to aid understanding of the world. Also UNESCO in Mogbo, et at (2012) sees Basic Science as the approach in which concepts and principles of nature are presented so as to express the fundamental unity of science, to avoid premature or undue stress on the distinction between the various disciplines. Basic science which is an innovation of Integrated Science came about as a result of Federal Government’s mandate to Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC, 2007) to develop a curricula for use at all levels of education in Nigeria in line with the declaration for a 9 – Year Basic Education Programme. The National Council on Education also approved a new curriculum structure namely: Lower Basic Education Curriculum (primary 1-3); Middle Basic Education Curriculum (primary 4-6); and Upper Basic Education Curriculum (JSS 1-3) listing relevant subjects for each level. The 9- Year Basic Education Curriculum (FGN, 2007) has the overall objectives to enable the learners to develop interest in science and technology by acquiring basic knowledge and skills which can be applied for societal needs.

In line with the philosophical thoughts on Basic Science various teaching methods such as inquiry, discovery, and discussion, demonstration, and laboratory activities have been advocated by Science Teachers’ Association of Nigeria for the teaching of Basic Science to achieve these objectives. However results from previous studies (Osborne, 1999; Kaduna Education Resource Centre, 2008; Olorundare 2011) on teaching of Basic Science revealed that teachers lectured and gave notes in Basic Science lessons instead of using the prescribed methods. This is coming from the background of the nature of teachers employed to teach the subject. The teachers are still too much in the grip of their single subject disciplines. Bearing in mind that graduates in Integrated Science who are the natural crop of teachers to handle these students are in short demand (Wakili 2007). Basic Science is one of the core subjects that is taught at the junior secondary school. It is at this level that young scientists are groomed and streamed into the fundamental science subjects of Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. Teachers that handle these levels of students must have acquired the necessary skills for such a big task. Given the high value placed on science at the junior school curriculum the need to teach it effectively through an effective method is indisputable. It is on record that Basic Science curriculum has a hierarchical structure and in themes which are taught progressive. One of the basic problems militating against teaching Basic Science effectively is that teachers who handle both the content and method are bias in the approach to teaching. Some concepts are skipped because teachers major in particular subjects, therefore they settle for traditional method of teaching.

Bichi (2004) and Usman (2007) have separately observed that lecture method encourages rote-learning without enhancing understanding. Furthermore, survey studies in various states of the Federation as reported by Akinmade in Wakili (2007) showed that Basic Science teaching was handled by incompetent teachers who are faced with pedagogical difficulties as a result of their professional background which often leads to poor performance in terms of students’ outcome. Ajaji (2013) argued that teaching in Nigerian secondary schools has suffered some setbacks because there are no effective training and retraining programmes for teachers who are even in short supply. Reflecting on the problems of teaching Basic Science Mohammed, (2006) suggested that there is need to

pursue rigorously the issue of professionalism by involving high standard of initial training and a continuous updating through refresher courses, workshop, subscription to journals and through networking with others of the same specialization. Moreover each profession needs professional development and for teachers, various models have emerged. Mohammed (2006), research has indicated two most commonly used models in Nigeria: the workshop model and the school-based teacher professional support model. The workshop model entails drawing participants out of their school to a venue where they are exposed by experts to a core of information and skills. This is the most common form of continuing professional development model in Nigeria.

The school-based teacher professional support known as collegial/collaboration model is an alternative strategy for in-service training of teachers (Harries & Anthony 2001, Mohammed 2006). In this model, teachers, supervisors and facilitators are involved collaboratively in school-based activities that will help the teacher to improve. The teacher gets professional support from facilitators and experienced or co-teachers in managing their classes. Activities may include direct classroom support by fellow teachers and supervisors, staff meeting within the school involving principals and the participating teachers and demonstration lessons by teacher-educators. DuFour (2004) concluded that the success of a school depends on effective administration, teachers’ professional, personal and social development as well as close relationship between and among teachers. One way of attaining close working relationship is through fostering collegiality among teachers. High level collegiality among staff members is associated with effective school management and improves students’ academic performance.

Collegiality is the act of learning from one another, sharing and building expertise together. (Tolisano, 2009). To be collegial means to be colleagues and being a good colleague means nothing less than fulfilling the contractual obligation to perform adequately in the classroom (Crazy, 2012). Collegiality is the quality of relationships that exist within and between the levels of the education system, a climate of trust running from top to bottom, respect for the views of staff and opportunities for them to engage in decision making, a reflective co-operative approach to the processes of commitment to share values with regards to relationship (Humes, 2007). Shah (2012) is of the view that strong and healthy collegial relationship among school staff is regarded as an essential component of school effectiveness and teacher enhancement. Shah suggested that teacher collegiality plays a vital role in augmenting teacher professional growth and development, job satisfaction, organization and professional commitment as well as school quality and students performance. Collegial support provides an opportunity for reflection on practice and sharing expertise for problem solving through group processes ultimately deepening the knowledge of teaching and learning. These processes are practiced through effective verbal interaction.

Verbal interaction according toBerko (2013) is an act of conveying messages, ideas, or feelings through the use of mouth. Verbal communication is the main way of communicating face-to-face. Among the key components of verbal communication are words, sound, speaking and language. Communication involves both transferring a message and ensuring that the message is received and fully understood by the receiver. In classroom interaction between a teacher and students, communication is an important component in collegial teaching. Student-teacher relationships are well established if communication is well understood and practiced in the class. In the course of teaching, the teacher engages students in the class meaningfully to bring out the best from them. This engagement can be in the form of verbal interaction, gestures, research work, assignment questioning, soliciting responses, and many other forms of interactions. In all of these forms of verbal interaction between teachers and students, verbal communication skills stand out as very vital in this concept. The beauty of these interactions often gives birth to good academic performance.

Steinmayr, MeiBner, Weidinger and Wirhwein, (2015) defined academic performance as an outcome of education, the extent to which a student, teacher or institution have achieved their educational goals that were the focus of activities. According to Steinmayr et al, (2015) academic performance is commonly measured by examination or continuous assessment. In line with this study, academic performance refers to the extent to which a student has achieved in Basic Science haven been taught by teachers who worked collaboratively. Academic performance is a measure of what students do in the school over a period of time. Causes of fluctuating performance among students have also been attributed to teacher-teacher, teacher –students’ relationships, methods employ for teaching and attitudes toward the subject.

Attitude is defined as a person’s feeling, thought and predicts position to behave or responds in some particular manner (Lakpini 2006). Attitude according to Gadzama (2010) is an expression of like and dislikes or person’s disposition towards a particular

area, a discipline or an object. Such disposition is generally based on one’s feelings, mood, opinion and beliefs about the idea, discipline and object. Attitude is indispensable in personality formation and manifestation and it is a core aspect in the study of human behavior. It has components which are related to beliefs, feelings and the tendencies to behave in a particular way. Attitude has been discovered to be an integral part in learning, it promotes or hinders teaching and learning of science. Otuka (2004), Shata in Gadzama (2010) asserted that attitude is a vial aspect that cannot be overlooked in teaching and learning. In this regard the development of positive attitude is part of the teachers’ responsibilities.

The training of students in science to get their right attitudes toward the subject is done irrespective of gender. Research has shown that gender does not affect science students’ attitude and performance adversely. Oludipe (2012) asserted that gender difference on Junior Secondary Students’ Academic performance in Basic Science using team teaching strategy revealed that there was no significant difference in academic achievements (performance) of male and female students. This study investigated the impact of collegial teaching and verbal interaction, on academic performance and students’ attitudes toward Basic Science at the Junior Secondary School.

1.1.1     Theoretical Framework  of the Study

Collegial teaching strategy is usually an ongoing programme in schools. It is seen as a professional development of teachers to deepen their classroom practices or teaching skills. One of the theories underpinning collegial teaching is called organizational theory. According to Taylor (1917), organizational theory represents the merger of scientific management, bureaucratic theory and administrative theory. The theory deals with the study of organizations for the benefits of identifying common themes for the purpose of solving problem, maximizing efficiency and productivity, and meeting the needs of stakeholders. Barzilai, (2010) explained further that organizational theory can be classified into  three  broad  concepts  which  includes:  individual processes  like            motivation

organizational success. Allowing for a diverse set of experiences with appropriate support can maximize and expand the capabilities of each teacher.

Working in groups or pairs among teachers are building blocks for meeting organizational goals when intervention is undertaking to arrest particular needs. Principals should consider ways to develop leadership in team members like the teachers. There should be training among teachers to enable them support each other. When teachers are able to relate freely well the element of team spirit develops which will lead to identifying and cultivating talents like quality teaching skills. It should be mindful in school organization that a democratic process would require a delay of time to plan, teach and reflect on what transpire in the class. In a process of this nature Senge (1990) beliefs that where people continually expand their capacity to create the result they truly desire, where new and expansive pattern of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspirations are set free, then people will continually learn to see the whole together. In such a set up team members becomes flexible, adaptive and production will excel. But for this to happen, it is argued that organizations need to discover how to tap people’s commitment and capacity to learn at all level.

Senge (1990), encourages team learning in organizations where he viewed such learning as the process of aligning and developing the capacities of a team to create the results it members truly desire. It builds on personal mastery and share vision, but these are not enough. People need to be able to act together. When team learns together, Senge, (1990) suggest that not only there can be good results for the organization; members will grow rapidly than could have occurred otherwise. Collegial learning starts with dialogue, which is the capacity of members of a team to suspend assumptions and enter into a genuine thinking together as colleagues; this is the spirit of collegiality. In such a climate, there is a free flowing of ideas an insight not attainable individually. It equally helps team members recognize the pattern of interaction that brings about improve learning outcome in terms of performance. So this study is built around organizational theory of teachers relating well by joint planning, share teaching and joint reflection/feedback of what happens in class.

1.2         Statement of the Problem

Basic Science as designed by the curriculum planners is to be taught by a single expert in the subject. But experience had shown that every Basic Science teacher in the junior secondary school do take side (Ajayi 2016). This is because the teachers are trained in particular science discipline like Biology, Chemistry, or Physics, therefore are bias. Being bias in specific aspects of the subject does mar the attainment of designer’s objectives in the subject. There is the likelihood that some aspects of the subject will be left partially taught or not taught at all. The challenge has further been aggravated by teachers’ interest and attitudes towards the subject. As a result of all the effects mentioned and even more, the performance of students in Basic Science has been a growing concern in schools in recent times (Olatoye, 2009). To this effect scholars have further carried out studies to investigate the factors that may be responsible for the unfortunate situation.

The factors according to Osborne, (1999) Olorukooba, Lawal and Jiya, (2012) can be attributed to the absence of supportive environment for meaningful interaction to inappropriate and uninspiring teaching methods employ by science teachers. In addition

academic background of students, poor learning environment, anxiety of teachers, fear of teachers planning and lack of confidence to teach lessons alone, poor reading habits and attitudes of students towards Basic Science. Moreover attitudes have both the potential to facilitate or inhibit learning of Basic Science. When students experience some difficulties in learning Basic Science, they manifest unfavorable attitudes towards the subject whereas the situation will reverse if there is favorable disposition towards the subject.

Source:  Education Resource Centre Kaduna (2017)

The JSCE results displayed shows the performance of students in the Basic Science from 2013-2017. The result can broadly be classified into two categories that is the pass indicating those who earned a credit and above (60 marks and above), while fail indicating those who earned 0-59 marks. In 2013 and 3016 there were mass failures as shown in the table.

Shuaibu and Usman (2002) and Alausa (2007) attributed poor performance to the attitude and the type of method usually adopted in teaching Basic Science. The lecture or expository method of teaching does not give students the desired opportunity to express themselves well and it equally limits interaction between students-students, and teacher-students’ interaction(Usman, 2007). During the course of such interactions, students’ fears and anxieties are not addressed in the class. For effective teaching and learning of Basic Science, it is expected that students participate actively in the process by asking questions, hold discussions, carry out class activities and make generous intellectual contributions. The biasness of teachers does not encourage interactions couple with high population of students in classrooms.

Situations where teachers work as colleagues to share and develop professional practices together (collegial learning) have been found to check the effects of subject biases which often leads to teachers skipping some concept and may enhance academic performance of students (Aronson, 2014). It is against this background that collegial teaching and verbal interaction were experimented on their impact on, students’ performance and attitudes towards Basic Science.

1.3         Objectives of the Study

The objectives for this study are to;

1. investigate the impact of Collegial Teaching on students’ academic performance when taught Basic Science concepts by teachers using high, medium, and low levels of verbal- interaction and their counterparts taught the same concepts employing Lecture Method.

• determine the impact of Collegial Teaching on academic performance of male and female students taught Basic Science when taught by teachers using high, medium and low levels of verbal- interaction
• investigate the impact of Collegial Teaching on academic performance of students taught Basic Science concepts when taught by teachers using high level verbal-interaction and those taught the same concepts employing low level verbal – interaction
• examine the impact of Collegial Teaching on students’ attitude towards learning Basic Science when taught by teachers using high, medium and low levels of verbal- interaction and those taught the same concepts employing lecture metho

v             investigate the impact of collegial teaching on male and female students’ attitudes towards Basic Science when taught by teachers using high, medium and low levels of verbal- interaction.

1.4         Research Questions

The following research questions  are formulated  for this study:

1. what is the difference in mean scores of students taught Basic Science by teachers using high, medium and low levels of verbal- interaction employing collegial teaching strategy and their counterparts taught employing Lecture Method?
2. What is the difference in mean academic scores of male and female students taught Basic Science by teachers using high, medium and low levels of verbal-interaction employing Collegial Teaching?

• Find out the difference in mean scores of students taught Basic Science concepts by teachers who taught using high level verbal-interaction employing Collegial Teaching and those the same concepts using low level verbal- interaction.

1. Is there any difference in the mean rank of students’ attitudes towards Basic Science when taught by teachers using high, medium and low levels of verbal- interaction employing Collegial Teaching and their counterparts taught the same concepts using Lecture Method?
2. What is the difference in the mean rank of male and female students’ attitudes towards

Basic Science when taught by teachers using high, medium and low level of verbal – interaction employing Collegial Method?

1.5         Null Hypotheses

On the basis of the research questions, the following null hypotheses were formulated for testing at p≤ 0.05 level of significance.

H01:      There  is  no  significant  difference  in the mean academic scores of students taught

Basic Science by teachers using high, medium and low levels of verbal-interaction employing Collegial Teaching and their counterparts taught the same concepts using Lecture Method.

There is no significant difference in the mean academic scores of male and female students taught Basic Science by teachers using high, medium and low level of verbal- interaction employing Collegial Method.

There is no significant difference in the mean academic scores of students taught Basic Science concepts by teachers using high level verbal-interaction employing Collegial Teaching and those taught the same concepts using low level verbal-interaction.

There is no significant difference in mean rank in attitude of students taught Basic Science concepts by teachers using high, medium, and low level verbal-interaction employing Collegial Teaching and those taught the same concepts using lecture Method.

HO5: There is no significant difference in the mean rank in attitude of male and female students’ towards Basic Science when taught by teachers using high, medium and low level of verbal interaction employing Collegial Method?

1.6         Basic Assumptions

The following assumptions  were made for this study:

1. Basic Science teachers are familiar with collegial teaching and learning of Basic Science at Junior Secondary School.
2. Teachers and students alike relate freely using verbal interaction during Basic Science teaching/learning and there are positive attitudes toward the subject.
3. All concepts in Basic Science can be taught using collegial teaching.
4. There will be adequate time to teach the Basic Science concepts.

1.7         Significance of the Study

The findings of the study will hopefully benefit the following groups of people in the following ways.

Science Teachers: collegiality will lead to developing an effective educator force that is responsive to the diverse academic needs and cultural backgrounds of all students. In addition ongoing training will provide practical tools for new teachers and administrators, such as guidance, troubleshooting, observation and quality feedback, with the goal of supporting teachers in their profession. Also it will lead to higher quality instructions and in turn increase students’ academic performance.

Curriculum Planners: Collegial teaching provides professional development and program innovation to build capacity for school and to guide education reform by curriculum developers as it affects schools.

Professional Bodies and Associations: bodies such as Science Teachers Association of Nigeria (STAN), National Education Research Development Council (NERDC), and National Teachers Institute (NTI) will benefit from this study by way of production of Basic Science course materials in schools to reflect the culture, and tradition of Nigerians. Through courses, seminars, conferences and workshops that shall be organized from time to time, teachers will improve in their pedagogical approach to teaching Basic Science. Fear, and anxiety commonly observe among teachers will be reduced if not removed totally. Teachers will receive necessary training to overcome trouble shooting areas in teacher classrooms practices and so become more confident in what they do.

Basic Science Students; it is hoped that students’ academic performance will improved greatly since teaching methods are enhanced through professional development of teachers. When teachers work together in harmony there are greater chances of success than doing it alone. Students’ academic needs will be attended to promptly.

Textbook Publishers; new teachers’ guide books will be produced in line with the new approach to teaching and learning science. Also text books to support and provide adequate information will be produced.

Researchers: Will benefit from the findings of this study by getting new information that will be added to the existing literature. The findings of this study will also be a foundation for further studies on Collegial Teaching.

1.8         Scope of the Study

This study investigated the impact of Collegial Teaching and verbal-interaction on attitudes and academic performance of Basic Science students among junior secondary school students in Kafanchan Education Zone of kaduna State Nigeria.

There are thirty five (35) co-educational junior secondary schools in the zone with a population of seven thousand two hundred and sixty four students (7264).

The samples for the study were drawn from the public secondary schools of the Zone. The need to carry out the study with students who were stable in school was considered to avoid likely barriers to successful work. In this regard, the Junior Secondary II class was selected because Junior Secondary I students were newly introduced to Basic Science at this level, while J.S. III students were busy preparing for their final examination and did not concentration well. The topics taught were drawn from the Basic Science syllabus for JSS II. Under Theme I:

You and Environment  which have the following units:

1. Family health diseases
2. Environmental pollution of water, air and soil

• Drug abuse II

1. Changes in matter.

These units are part of the junior secondary school II syllabus. Some teachers from the sample schools have complained of the difficult nature of the topics and the report of Junior Secondary School Certificate Examination (JSSCE 2015) also revealed that Basic Science teachers consider these concepts to be difficult. In addition these topics were treated using the three levels of verbal-interaction namely; high, medium and low level interaction.

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