scholarly journals Pre-service Science Teachers’ Integration of Constructivist Ideas in the Lecture Method

Author(s):  
Rose Atieno Mutende ◽  
Rosemary K Imonje ◽  
Winston Akala

The teaching and learning of science subjects at secondary schools in Sub-Saharan Africa is currently dominated by application of the lecture method in delivering learning material. In the Lecture Method, the teacher discusses and shows the learning material. Studies showed that the lecture method can be made interactive, and, hence, more effective if teachers appropriately integrate constructivist ideas in the method. Therefore, this study aims to examine the BEd (Science) students’ integration of constructivist’s learner-oriented instructional practices in the lecture method during teaching practice (TP). Data were collected from 107 BEd(Science) students, their Head of Subjects in the TP schools and the university supervisors at the onset and towards the end of a 14-week TP. The instruments used to collect data were questionnaires and interview schedules. The data were analysed descriptively and inferentially. Descriptive statistics focused on frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviation which summarised the variables in terms of demonstration of instructional practices, supervision and assessment practices. Findings revealed that the BEd(Science) students faced difficulties in their attempt to integrate constructivist ideas in the lecture method. T-test showed a positive effect of teaching practice on the integration of constructivists’ ideas in the lecture method. The study provides several recommendations based on the findings.

Author(s):  
John Njoroge Mungai

This chapter clearly illustrates that emphasis on preparation of teachers to integrate ICT is gaining momentum in the education sector. Arguably, underpinning this emphasis is the convergence of assertions that ICT integration has the potential to enhance the quality of teaching and learning. Nonetheless, considering that the debate about effective teaching has overtime existed between two tensions, namely learner-centered and teacher-centered approaches, the additional concern now is how best to prepare teachers to integrate ICT. It is shown in this chapter that the best teaching approach is context specific since it facilitates the teachers' capacity to enhance student learning through quality teaching. The chapter reviews Teacher Professional Development programs in Sub-Saharan Africa and discusses what constitutes learner-centered education, ICT integration, and provides findings of a case study on preparation of science teachers using ICT.


Author(s):  
Rose Atieno Mutende ◽  
Winston Akala ◽  
Rosemary K Imonje

This study examined adoption and implementation of the demonstration method by Bachelor of Education (BEd) Science students’ during teaching practice (TP), which lasted 14 weeks. Data were collected using questionnaires and interview schedules. The data analysis techniques comprised descriptive and inferential analysis. Findings indicated that i) the school-based experiential learning as designed and implemented is not sufficient to modify the Bed (Science) students’ prior frame of reference for the integration of interactive instructional practices in the demonstration method; ii) despite pedagogical supervision, the pedagogical knowledge and repertoire of skills learnt was not sufficient to effect a major increase in the instructional practices implemented; iii) the Bed (Science) students’ developmental needs persisted to the end of teaching practice because the pedagogical support provided on TP was not sufficient to address them; iv) although pre-service teachers have the potential for immediate improvement of their adoption and implementation of interactive instructional practices, they require a clear frame of reference before exposure to the context of their professional work without which they cannot effectively leverage a significant paradigm shift. The study provides several recommendations based on the findings.


Author(s):  
John Njoroge Mungai

This chapter clearly illustrates that emphasis on preparation of teachers to integrate ICT is gaining momentum in the education sector. Arguably, underpinning this emphasis is the convergence of assertions that ICT integration has the potential to enhance the quality of teaching and learning. Nonetheless, considering that the debate about effective teaching has overtime existed between two tensions, namely learner-centered and teacher-centered approaches, the additional concern now is how best to prepare teachers to integrate ICT. It is shown in this chapter that the best teaching approach is context specific since it facilitates the teachers' capacity to enhance student learning through quality teaching. The chapter reviews Teacher Professional Development programs in Sub-Saharan Africa and discusses what constitutes learner-centered education, ICT integration, and provides findings of a case study on preparation of science teachers using ICT.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 329
Author(s):  
Ni Wayan Rusniati

The process and student learning outcomes in science learning material properties of light is a problem faced by class IV SD Negeri 3 Mengwi. Student activity and learning outcomes have not been maximized because the teacher delivered science learning materials using the lecture method. This is the background of the researchers to conduct research with the aim of improving the process and learning outcomes of science with material properties of light with learning models Contextual Teaching and Learning. This research is a type of classroom action research conducted in SD Negeri 3 Mengwi. The subjects of this study were fourth grade students, amounting to 27 students consisting of 14 female students and 13 male students. The implementation of this study used 2 cycles. Instruments used to collect data are observation sheets, interviews, documentation and test questions. The results of this study indicate that science learning outcomes with material properties of light using the Contextual Teaching and Learning model in SD Negeri 3 Mengwi have increased in two cycles with quite satisfactory values. There was an increase in learning outcomes from cycle 1 an average value of 68.51 to 75.37 in cycle 2. In addition, there was an increase in the learning process of students in science learning carried out by teachers using the Contextual Teaching and Learning model. Keywords: Learning process, learning outcomes, Contextual Teaching and Learning


Author(s):  
Chijioke J. Evoh

This study presents the rationale for policy and institutional frameworks in the development of ICT in secondary education in countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). As the adoption of modern ICTs slowly gain momentum, various stakeholders in education have recognized the importance of leveraging these technological tools for the improvement of teaching and learning. To a large extent, the application of modern ICTs in education remains uncoordinated in many countries. This study identifies the institutional framework as the dominant approach to ICT in education policy process in the region. This involves the participation of broad-based interest groups in the policy process. Using South Africa as a case study, the study presents elements of ICT in education policy as well as policy lessons that would enable African countries use ICTs for productive educational outcomes.


2017 ◽  
pp. 107-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vinayagum Chinapah ◽  
Jared O. Odero

Information and communication technology (ICT) has emerged as a tool that can enhance flexible learning pathways. ICT has the potential to increase equitable access to quality learning, which is essential for skills development. Skills are required in technology-related nonfarm activities so as to improve livelihoods and achieve sustainable rural transformation. However, slow pace of the developing countries to utilize the benefits of the ongoing technological revolution in the North has resulted in the ‘digital divide’. Besides, it is still problematic to implement ICT programmes for educational development. The current and future challenges of providing ICT-based learning desperately call for the reengineering of education to move out of the formal structure of teaching and learning, towards building a more practical and realistic approach. By means of a literature review, this paper examines and discusses why it is important to provide inclusive, quality ICT-based learning, particularly in the rural areas of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It recommends that diverse ICT-based solutions be adopted to promote skills development and training within non-formal and informal settings. More comparative studies are also required to understand the impact of ICT-based learning in rural areas. 


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alcardo Alex Barakabitze ◽  
Anangisye William-Andey Lazaro ◽  
Neterindwa Ainea ◽  
Michael Hamza Mkwizu ◽  
Hellen Maziku ◽  
...  

This paper presents the role of ICTs in transforming Africa’s Education Systems (AES) in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects/courses. The paper highlights on a positive shift across Africa in using ICT to improve the quality of teaching and learning through activities such as intensive ICT skills training to teachers, increase in ICT equipments and applications in schools, and emergence of living labs (LLs) and innovation spaces/centres (InnoSpace). We first provide some of the challenges of integrating ICTs in education followed by a description of key past and current ICT initiatives supporting the adoption of ICTs in schools using a number of case studies in sub-Saharan Africa. We further present various ICT-based models for education, as a transformational approach towards integrating ICTs in AES. Moreover, we provide various ICT platforms deployed for education service delivery in disadvantaged African society (e.g., rural areas) including LLs and InnoSpace across the continent. Finally, we highlight our main findings and observations in terms of opportunities and future ICT for education research directions in Africa. Our aim is to provide some guidelines and ensure that Africa uniformly meet the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goal number 4, which is to ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning, particularly using ICTs.


Author(s):  
Nwachukwu Prince Ololube ◽  
Kennedy E. Umunadi ◽  
Peter James Kpolovie

This chapter explains the need to better design blended teaching and learning curricula, the need to address infrastructural problems, and the need to organise programmes so that faculty and students can better plan for unanticipated and unintended situations that confront them in the teaching and learning processes. Improving the quality of education through the diversification of content and methods and promoting experimentation, innovation, the diffusion and sharing of information, and best practices are among UNESCO’s recent strategic objectives in education. Discussions in this chapter centre on (1) the contexts of blended teaching and learning, (2) the barriers to blended learning usage, integration, and diffusion, and (3) the need to consider policy outcomes when evaluating blended teaching and learning resources. This study uses a qualitative research method, as both document materials and observation were an essential part of this chapter. This study concludes that the great enthusiasm around blended teaching and learning in sub-Saharan Africa has been dampened by inadequacies in essential services and infrastructures, such as electricity and telecommunication services, and institutional, socio-cultural, and economic barriers. Nonetheless, the development of blended teaching and learning resources continues.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (16) ◽  
pp. 9082
Author(s):  
Blanka Klimova ◽  
Marcel Pikhart ◽  
Anna Cierniak-Emerych ◽  
Szymon Dziuba

Teaching and learning have radically changed in the COVID-19 era and highlighted many novel aspects of online teaching and learning. Based on a qualitative content analysis of central European university students’ responses, the aim of this study is to discuss their reflections on the use of digital media in foreign language classes during the COVID-19 pandemic. The key method of this qualitative study includes focus group interviews. The results reveal both advantages and disadvantages of online foreign language teaching and their impact on students’ second language (L2) acquisition. The positive aspects involve satisfaction with being able to study a foreign language from the comfort from their homes, avoidance of commuting to school, ample opportunities to review the learning material, or improvement of listening skills. On the contrary, the negative aspects included a striking lack of social contact in the form of face-to-face classes, absence of collaboration between the teacher and students and between the students themselves in order to share and build on their knowledge and experience, health issues associated with a frequent exposure to technologies, or a lack of possibility to develop speaking skills. In conclusion, the authors of this study provide several implications for teaching practice, technology experts, and other stakeholders, which must be considered very seriously, as they represent the opinion of the users of online learning.


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