RELATIVE EFFECTS OF TEACHER CENTRED AND STUDENT-CENTRED INSTRUCTIONAL METHOD ON STUDENTS’ ENVIRONMENTAL KNOWLEDGE IN BIOLOGY

RELATIVE EFFECTS OF TEACHER CENTRED AND STUDENT-CENTRED INSTRUCTIONAL METHOD ON STUDENTS’ ENVIRONMENTAL KNOWLEDGE IN BIOLOGY

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Humans and the environment have had a relationship since the dawn of time. Man has been dependent on the nature and reality of his surroundings since his birth on Earth. Man’s needs were initially limited and modest; as a result, his actions had little impact on the environment. However, man gradually became established, cultured, and learned to farm. Natural resource depletion and pollution have become major global challenges in recent decades (Larijani, 2021). Excessive use depletes natural resources, necessitating a more in-depth and comprehensive understanding of the problem. The environment encompasses all conditions and influences on the evolution of human and nonhuman life. The conditions or influences under which an organism or object exists, lives, or develops are referred to as its environment. All

These can be divided into three categories: physical conditions affecting and influencing an individual’s or community’s growth and development; social and cultural conditions affecting an individual’s or community’s nature; and the environment of an inanimate object of intrinsic social value (Gilpin, 2015). As a result, the environment includes all situations, events, and effects that surround and affect an individual or group of organisms (Trivedi & Raj 2022). As a result, it could be argued that the concept of environment in general is complex, with far-reaching implications that are difficult to comprehend.

Biology is an important scientific subject that serves as the foundation and prerequisite for other science courses such as medicine, nursing, pharmacy, genetics, biochemistry, and agriculture. As a less quantitative discipline than physics and mathematics,

Chemistry and biology are two of the most popular secondary school subjects. It has been observed that more students enroll in Biology for the Senior School Certificate Examination than in Chemistry and Physics. Despite the fact that a large number of students take Biology in the senior secondary school examinations administered by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) and the National Examination Council (NECO), reports from scholars and educators, supported by the Biology Chief Examiner’s report, show that students perform poorly in biology in these external examinations (Yemi 2022).

The use of traditional teaching methods such as lecture, demonstration, and debate has been linked to students’ poor performance on external Biology tests. Some educators have regarded these conventional ways of teaching biology as ineffective due to their emphasis on memorizing. These teaching methods involve a one-way flow of information/knowledge from teacher to student and do not promote the process skill development required for a thorough understanding of biological principles, concepts, and facts. Because the instructor is viewed as the source of information, these traditional teaching methods are known as teacher-centered approaches to learning (Olamide 2019). The unidirectional flow of information in traditional teaching methods renders students inert and incapable of constructing meaningful knowledge in biology teaching and learning. Teaching is an academic process that involves two groups of people: the teacher/instructor and the students/learners, as well as knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes transmission. Because of this aspect of teaching, the concepts of teaching and learning are best articulated as teaching and learning.

Teaching techniques include a variety of actions by the instructor and students, such as questioning, explanation, the use of examples and illustrations, and demonstration. The actions can be categorized as skills or methods. The application of these strategies is influenced by variables such as the type of learning objectives, the nature of the topic, the age of the student, and the number of students, among others. As a result, various teaching techniques exist, such as the lecture method, discussion, demonstration, games and simulations, project methods, problem-solving, inquiry method, and field trip, among others. Some educators have classified these various teaching strategies as either teacher-centered or student-centered.

The teachers-centered approach includes all teaching techniques in which the teacher directs the instructional procedure and coordinates classroom activities. should be carried out. However, because the student must strictly follow the teacher’s established approach, it is ineffective for science instruction. However, the instructor still chooses the material and questions and maintains control over the flow of information or knowledge; thus, they are known as teacher-centered educational approaches. All teaching approaches that de-emphasize the teacher as a decision-maker and problem-solver in the classroom in favor of viewing the instructor as a guide, facilitator, mentor, coach, or consultant in the teaching and learning process are considered student-centered. The terms student-centered, child-centered, and learner-centered are used interchangeably in the field of education to refer to teaching techniques that allow students to share responsibility and classroom decision-making. Festus (2022) defines a student-centered method as

founded on constructivism, with the epistemological perspective that students are the architects of their own individual meanings of concepts and natural events. However, in today’s educational discourse, the term “student-centered approach” refers to all new teaching approaches that are often activity-based and require students to observe, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate concepts or phenomena using resources or prior knowledge.

1.2 DEFINITION OF THE PROBLEM

Over the years, there has been a high rate of underachievement among biology students. This could be due to teachers using ineffective methods and strategies in science teaching, which has contributed to students’ poor performance in environmental knowledge in biology at the senior secondary level, among other things. Students are not given adequate information and comprehension of their surroundings. and the ecosystem as a whole by the prevalent conventional teaching technique used in secondary school biology, a scientific topic, and other subjects. Our school graduates, based on this reported deficiency, lack fundamental environmental understanding. Teaching and learning, according to Esekot (2020), are two sides of the same coin, as teaching is useless without learning. To be meaningful, teaching must effectively promote knowledge, skills, and value. The teacher-directed approach provides students with a step-by-step procedure for completing difficult tasks (Tanner, Bottoms, Ferragin, and Bearman, 2017). In this study, a combination of lectures and reading, recalling and linking prior knowledge, as well as developing and extending material with strong student engagement, is used to investigate the success or failure of the program.

The teacher-directed instructional technique. Student-centered learning, on the other hand, is based on the idea that active student participation in the learning process encourages both learning and motivation. Tanner, Bottoms, Ferragin, and Bearman (2017) define excellent student-centered learning as recognizing the student’s role in acquiring information and understanding. This method allows students to ask questions, seek answers, and strive to understand the world’s complexities. Although the instructor and students share responsibility for instruction and evaluation, students are more active participants.

1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The overarching goal of this study is to compare the effects of teacher-centered and student-centered instructional methods on students’ environmental knowledge in biology. Other specific goals include:

i. To determine which methods should be used

Biology teachers in secondary schools use a variety of teaching methods.

ii. To investigate the significance of using teacher-student-centered instructional strategies in secondary school biology teaching.

iii. To investigate the difficulties associated with using two method instructional strategies in secondary school biology teaching.

iv. Identifying solutions to issues that impede students’ environmental knowledge in biology.

1.3 QUESTIONS FOR RESEARCH

To guide the study, the following research questions were posed:

i. What are the methods of instruction used by basic science teachers?

ii. What is the significance of using teacher-student-centered instructional strategies in secondary school biology teaching?

iii. What are the challenges associated with using two method instructional strategies in biology teaching?

What about secondary schools?

iv. What are the solutions to the problems that impede biology students’ environmental knowledge?

1.5 THE STUDY’S SIGNIFICANCE

This research will benefit parents, teachers, the government, and society as a whole. If the findings of this study are properly applied, they will promote students’ environmental knowledge through effective and efficient Biology teaching. It encourages parents to provide basic practical lessons for their children in secondary schools. It will persuade teachers that both instructional strategies are critical for the effective teaching and learning of science subjects such as biology. It will help the government, through the Ministry of Education, recognize the importance of including and implementing these instructional strategies in secondary schools.

The Nigerian society is looking for ways to raise environmental awareness.

1.6 THE STUDY’S OBJECTIVE

The primary goal of this research is to compare the effects of teacher-centered and student-centered instructional methods on students’ environmental knowledge in biology. The study, however, is limited to a few senior secondary schools in Lagos State’s Ikeja Metropolis.

1.7 THE STUDY’S LIMITATIONS

The researchers encountered minor constraints while conducting the study, as with any human endeavor. The significant constraint was the scarcity of literature on the subject because it is a new discourse, so the researcher incurred more financial expenses and spent more time sourcing for relevant materials, literature, or information and in the data collection process.

collection, which is why the researcher resorted to a small sample size covering only a few senior secondary schools in Ikeja, Lagos State. As a result, the findings of this study cannot be generalized to other senior secondary schools in other Nigerian states. Furthermore, the researcher’s involvement in this study while also working on other academic projects will impede maximum dedication to the research. Nonetheless, despite the constraints encountered during the research, all factors were minimized in order to provide the best results and make the research a success.

1.9 DEFINITIONS OF TERMS

Gender; SS1 male and female students

Teacher-directed instruction is when the teacher initiates and guides the instructional strategies. It includes the lecture method that was used in the research. The teacher is presenting here.

a verbal discourse on the topic being taught to the SS1students. The teacher delivers a pre-planned lesson to the students with little or no instructional aide.

Student-directed instruction is based on ss1 students developing their own understanding of the lesson. Its origins can be traced back to constructivism. The cooperative learning instructional strategy is one of these strategies. The ss1 students are purposefully divided into small heterogeneous groups using the Cooperative learning instructional strategy. Each group collaborates to maximize the learning of the others. Heterogeneity in grouping can be achieved by combining students of different sexes, academicability levels, ages, religion, and so on, so that students can move past their initial stereotypes and treat each other as other science students’ and fellow group members. Place-based education focuses on using the local environment as a research site for nature. In placed-based education, ss1 students have the opportunity to conduct guided investigations into the environment and environmental issues, generating knowledge as well as developing observation, recording, and interpretation skills, which are important in understanding the environment (Stevenson, 2008; Van Kannel-Ray, 2006).