Awareness and Utilization of Library Services among Secondary School Students in Yenagoa LGA of Bayelsa State

Library services are vital services that form an integral part of the learning and training process of children. Despite its integral role in the education of an individual, there have been reports of poor utilization of library services around the world. This study thus set out to determine the level of awareness of library services, the utilization of library services as well as the factors affecting utilization of these services among secondary school students in Yenagoa LGA of Bayelsa State. The descriptive research design was employed in conducting this study among junior secondary two and senior secondary one and two students of government secondary schools located within the Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State. A sample size of 391 was used. The study instrument was a semi-structured, self-administered questionnaire that consisted of four sections. Data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 and relationships between variables were statistically tested using the chi-squared bivariate analytical test. Statistical significance was set at the 0.05. The overall level of awareness regarding library services in this study was found to be low with a grand mean of 2.01 out of 4. The level of use of library services was found to be low (mean: 2.29). Certain factors both affected library services utilization to both high and low extents. The respondents’ gender as well as the level of provision of library services was significantly related with the utilization of library services. It was concluded that awareness of library services as well as the utilization of these services by secondary school students was low. It was recommended that the provision of required books, reading materials and lacking resources in these schools be made to foster library usage among students in these schools.

Leadership Styles of Social Studies Teachers and Academic Achievement of Junior Secondary School Students in Social Studies in Calabar Metropolis, Cross River State Nigeria

This study was carried out to determine leadership styles of Social Studies teachers and academic achievement of junior secondary school students in Social Studies in Calabar Metropolis, Cross River State-Nigeria. Ex-post facto research design was adopted. The simple random sampling technique was used in selecting the six public secondary schools used for the study. A sample of two hundred junior secondary school three students (JSS 3) was drawn from the population and used for the study. Three research questions and hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. Data were collected using two researcher made instruments tagged “Social Studies Teachers Leadership Styles Questionnaire (STLSQ) and Social Studies Achievement Test (SOSAT) The Data Collected was analysed using the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and the Fisher Least Square Difference (SLD) was used in the multiple comparism. The findings of the study revealed significant differences in the academic achievement of students based on their teachers’ leadership styles. Students taught by teachers with autocratic and laissez-faire leadership styles had a lower LSD value compared to students taught by teachers with democratic leadership styles. Students taught by teachers with democratic styles performed academically higher than those taught by teachers with either autocratic or laissez-faire leadership styles. Based on this, it was recommended amongst other things that Social Studies teachers imbibe more of democratic rather than autocratic or laissez faire leadership styles in their classroom and that educational administrator should organize workshop and seminars for teachers on proper classroom management.

Exploration On Definition And The Components of Food And Nutrition Literacy Among Junior Secondary School Students: A Qualitative Study

Background: Food and nutrition literacy (FANLit) has been proposed to promote healthy diet behaviour and is believed to decrease the prevalence of overweight, obesity and chronic disease. However, the perspective of junior secondary school students, aged 12-15 years and stakeholders on FANLit is not well-defined. This study aims to explore the definition and the components of FANLit.Methods: This qualitative study were carried out in Health region 2 includes Phitsanulok, Sukhothai, Tak, Uttradit and Pethchboon province. 49 participants were recruited from national and regional levels of Thailand. Data were collected by in-depth interview and focus group discussion using semi-structured questionnaire. Interview data were transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis.Results: FANLit is defined as an individual’s level of knowledge and skills (fundamental, interactive and critical) that relates to food and nutrition to make appropriate food selection and nutrients. Four themes of FANLit were identified as follows: 1) food and nutrition knowledge (Subthemes: food knowledge, food understanding, nutrition knowledge, and nutrition understanding), 2) functional food and nutrition literacy (Subthemes: accessing to food and nutrition information, food selection, food preparation, daily food and nutrition planning and management), 3) interactive food and nutrition literacy (Subthemes: communication with others, sharing and discussion), and 4) critical food and nutrition literacy (Subthemes: information used in decision making, healthy food selection, effective budgeting.Conclusions: The results provide beneficial information regarding FANLit definition which is the initial stage to develop the assessing instrument and the intervention to improve FANlit in the adolescent group.

The Food and Health Environment in Junior Secondary Schools in Urban Burkina Faso: A Cross-Sectional Study of Administrators, Food Vendors and Early Adolescents

School enrolment rates have increased globally, making the school environment a unique setting to promote healthy nutrition and eating outcomes among early adolescents. In this cross-sectional study, we describe the food and health environment of junior secondary schools in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso, West Africa). We evaluated the food and health environment using three components: (1) the implementation of health-related policies or guidelines in the schools, (2) the provision of health, nutrition and water, sanitation & hygiene (WASH) services in the schools, and (3) the quality of the school food environment, including foods sold by vendors. We used stratified random sampling to recruit 22 junior secondary schools from the five Ouagadougou districts in 2020. Trained fieldworkers collected standardized questionnaire data from 19 school administrators, 18 food vendors, and 1059 in-school adolescents. We report that only 7 out of 19 school administrators were aware of existing health-related policies and guidelines at their school and only 3 schools had a school health and nutrition curriculum in place. The overall provision of health, nutrition and WASH services was low or inadequate. Likely because of the lack of school canteens, 69% of the students bought snacks and unhealthy foods from food vendors. There is a critical need to improve the food and health environment of junior secondary schools in urban Burkina Faso.

Self-Concept, Self-Efficacy and Self Esteem as Predictors of Academic Performance in Mathematics among Junior Secondary School Students in Edo State

This study examined Self-Concept, Self-Efficacy, and Self-Esteem as Predictors of Academic Performance in Mathematics among Junior Secondary School Students in Edo State. The main purpose of the study is to determine the relationship between self-concept and academic performance in mathematics of Junior Secondary School students in Edo state. The study adopted the correlation research design. A sample of 3,639 was drawn from a population of 36,615 junior students in Edo state. The data generated for the study were obtained through a self designed questionnaire. Pearson Product Moment Correlation and Multiple Regression were used to analysed the data collected. The result obtained revealed the following: there was a positive relationship between self-concept and academic performance in mathematics among junior secondary school students, there was also a negative relationship between self-efficacy and academic performance in mathematics among junior secondary school students in Edo state. The study thus concluded that self-concept and self-efficacy are not only significantly related to academic performance, they significantly predict academic performance of students. It was therefore recommended that adequate and sufficient attention must be given to sustain the development of positive self-concept and self-efficacy of students in the school system, while deliberate efforts should be made to build up the self-esteem of the students and Teachers should be offered professional guidance by educational authorities on these self-constructs in students as an avenue to improve on students’ academic performance.

Exploring the development of biological literacy in Tanzanian junior secondary school students

<p>Internationally, scientific literacy is a major goal of science education in the twenty first century. In Tanzania, where there is a widespread lack of public understanding about major health issues, biological literacy is needed so that people can make decisions about the socio-scientific issues that confront them. To that end, the Tanzanian school curriculum aims to connect students’ understandings of Biology to their everyday lives but few studies have been conducted that show whether these aims have been achieved, especially in junior secondary school. This ethnographic case study investigates the ways in which the junior secondary school Biology curriculum in Tanzania supports or constrains the development of biological literacy and how institutional context, particularly as it relates to urban and rural schools, influences the delivery of the Biology curriculum. Teachers’ and Year Four students’ of secondary schools views about school Biology were sought in the course of this study and the issues that emerged were analysed using social constructivist and social constructionist theoretical frameworks. Data were collected through student questionnaires, student focus group interviews, teacher interviews, and classroom observations. The research sites included rural and urban schools, and government and private schools. The findings suggest that the Biology curriculum and the ways it is delivered do not adequately address the students’ needs and therefore is unlikely to enable them to become biologically literate. Rural schools are less well equipped than urban schools to deliver the curriculum and teachers and students face bigger challenges. A key finding was that Tanzanian young people have a strong desire to learn more about reproductive Biology and health issues but these are not prioritised in the current curriculum. In light of these findings, curriculum changes are recommended to provide learning opportunities for students to gain biological knowledge and skills that are relevant to their daily lives.</p>