Teachers’ Knowledge And Utilization Of Ict Resources For Teaching Vaporization In Senior Secondary School Chemistry In Oruk Anam Local Government Area
Chapter One
Introduction
This chapter is discussed under the following sub-headings, background of the study, statement of the problem, purpose of the study, research questions, research hypothesis, significance of the study, delimitation of the study, limitation of the study, and definition of terms.
Background of the Study
Chemistry is one of the three main branches of pure science, the other two being biology and physics. Chemistry deals with the composition, properties and uses of matter. It probes into the principles governing the changes that matter undergoes, (Ababio, 2014). Chemistry is a central science that involves broad-based experiences in its field of studies. Anne (2014), defined chemistry as the science that studies the composition, properties and activities of organic and inorganic substances composed of matter, the investigation of their properties and the ways they interact, combine and change and the use of these process to form new substances. Chemistry is the science that is concerned with the composition and structures together, (Odesina,2011). Chemistry is the science that describes the structure and composition of the material in the universe, the changes in structure and composition, this material undergoes and the energy relations involved in these changes (Sharma & Sharma, 2009).
Chemistry education refers to the study of teaching and learning of chemistry in all school, college and universities, (Taber,2012). The education system of every country must have set goals relevant to the citizen’s needs and national aspirations. Its major task lies in the process of how to ignite the latent talents in its citizen’s, prepare and thoroughly equip them with relevant knowledge and skills for viable functionality and ability to cope with any intellectual or cultural challenges which the rapidly changing environment may demand in future, (Eya, 2011). An effective chemistry teacher should be selective in the use of different approaches in chemistry teaching depending on the subject matter and level of content knowledge and development of the learner.
The pedagogical knowledge base of teachers includes all the required cognitive knowledge for creating effective teaching methods, knowing when and how to apply each method in teaching. (Guerriero, 2016). Conceptualizing teacher knowledge is a complex issue that involves understanding phenomena such as the process of teaching and learning, the concept of knowledge, as well as the way teachers’ knowledge is put into action in the classroom. The following is a short over view of these issues.
What do we know about the process of teaching and learning? Several models exist that capture the complex process of teaching and learning. Some model see learning as a change in the learners’ experience or knowledge that results from a change in the learner’s environment some approaches consider the teaching process only from the perspective of teaching while other take into account the students input to the process as well. The latest models indicate that student factors are part of, and interdependent with the teaching-learning process. These models imply that teachers’ knowledge goes beyond mere knowledge of content and classroom management, and should also include knowledge of learners and learning (Blomeke & Delaneney, 2012).
What do we understand by teacher knowledge? This is all the required cognitive knowledge for creating effective teaching and learning environments, (shulman,2014). Research suggests that this knowledge can be studied. Identifying the content of this knowledge base however is a complex issue. Most studies use the distinction between declarative (knowing that) and procedural knowledge (knowing how) from cognitive psychology as a theoretical basis. This approach is relevant as it focuses on understanding how knowledge is related and behaviour, or in other words, the quality of teaching performance. The latest key study on teacher knowledge, Shulman (2014) categorized teacher knowledge into seven categories, among which where the concept of:
General pedagogical knowledge (principles and strategies of classroom-curricular) and
Pedagogical content knowledge (the knowledge which integrates content knowledge of a specific subject and the pedagogical knowledge for teaching that particular subject). This later was considered as the most fundamental element of teachers’ knowledge and has been studied widely since. In contrast, general pedagogical knowledge has not been the object of many research studies even though several studies indicate that it is essential for developing quality teachers. Some models of general pedagogical knowledge combine pedagogical and psychological aspects explicit. Psychological components account for the fact that learning occurs in a social context and learning success depends on the general cognitive and effective characteristics of individual students.
How does teacher knowledge work in the classroom? Investigating the knowledge of teacher as ‘learning specialist’ involves understanding how this knowledge functions in the teaching-learning process; more specifically, how teachers apply their knowledge in making decisions, for example, about lesson design or making on-the-spot, judgment in the classroom. A set of research studies conceptualizes, the teaching profession as a ‘clinical practice’ and compares it to the medical profession. Some argue that decision-making is actually a basic teaching skill. Decisions are made regularly by teachers while processing cognitively complex information about the student in order to decide alternatives for increasing their understanding.
A review of the different models describing teachers’ decision-making shows that factors influencing teachers’ decisions include antecedent conditions such as students, the nature of the instructional task, the classroom and the school environment, which combine with teacher’s characteristics and cognitive processes to impact the pedagogical decision made. Decision-making is a cydic process as pedagogical decisions in turn impact antecedent conditions. Thus, making good pedagogical decisions hinges on the quality of the pedagogical decisions hinges on the quality of the pedagogical decisions hinges on the quality of the pedagogical knowledge held by the teachers (Darling-Hammond, 2014).
ICT stands for information and communication technologies. ICT refers to technologies that provide access to information technology (IT). But primarily focuses on communication technologies. This includes the internet, wireless network, cell phones and other communications medium” (Rouse, 2015). The infusion of ICT in educational institutions as part of the new social structure has great implications for teaching and learning. This has resulted in transforming the traditional face to face teaching where the teacher was central in the teaching and learning environment. Tedla (2014) and Makgato (2014) reveal that the successful integration of ICT in teaching and learning largely depends on the availability of ICT infrastructure an teacher’s adoption and embrace of ICT in education. Science teachers need to know exactly how ICT is used as a teaching and learning tools for their own purpose and o help students to use them. In this new social dispensation, the teacher’s role is still to help learners to develop their skills and fulfill their potential for personal growth. The change due to the pressure and prominence of ICT has led to a situation where the teacher is no longer the central figure who impacts knowledge to the learner. The envisioned education system is learner-centred where learners are in control of their learning, use the digital tools especially the internet to acquire and share knowledge with other learners in the network. Learner centredness does not imply that teachers are relegated to the background. However, teachers still have the responsibility to facilitate teachings and learning and to improve their professional development by means of using various ICT tools. As facilitators and key figures in the classroom, teachers are expected to be digital competent in order to cope with the 21st century skills that will enable them to produce learners who are problem solvers, have higher order thinking skills, can collaborate with other learners, can manage and control their learning. Castells (2014) calls for learners with these qualities “the self programmable force” which is indispensable for personal, social an economic development. This research is about the investigation of ICT as a tool in teaching chemistry/science concept like vaporization in classroom with the overall aim of increasing the effectiveness of teaching and improving student’s learning.
Vaporization is a change of phase of a substance from the liquid state to the gaseous state (Ababio, 2014). In senior Secondary School chemistry, vaporization is a concept taught alongside other phase changes like condensation, freezing and sublimation. While other phase changes can easily be observed, vaporization is not quite observable since it involves micro-particles in the gaseous state. The need for the teacher to foster students understanding and visibility by use of ICT tools in teaching the concept therefore becomes necessary.
Gender differences are one aspect of the overall cultural differences that exist between human beings Gender differences found across a wide variety of disciplines apply equally well to emerging computer-based technologies. Socio linguistic literature on gender differences show that, to some extent, women and men mean and understand similar messages quite differently, (Gefen, 2015). Gender differences and the use of ICT have been in several studies. Their research has shown that men tend to focus discourse on hierarchy and independent while women focus on intimacy and solidarity. This provides a solid grounding for conceptual extensions to the Information Technology (IT) diffusion research and the Technology Acceptance Model. Testing gender differences that might relates to beliefs, acceptance and the use of computer-based media, the study of Grefen (2015) indicated that women and men differ in their perceptions but not use of technology. The ways in which men and women respond in different ways to information and communication technology (ICT). In their findings on individual variables, the study of Wilkowska and Ziefle (2013) regarding the attitudes towards commonly used technology disclosed that a highly significant gender effect was found which reveals that men show distinctly more positive biases towards technology than women. Women tend to use the internet and cell phones more for personal and social use in the West African countries, while men use them more for professional or work-related reasons. Men in West Africa tended to feel threatened when women used cell phone and accessed the internet, seeing it as destabilizing to relationships and viewed such supervised activity by women as inappropriate. A few more empirical studies showed that gender difference in information and technology do exist; Yuen (2015) found significant gender differences in beliefs while applying the technology acceptance model to a group of pre-service teachers. Houtz and Gupta (2015) found that males generally are more interested in information technology; this research reports suggested that there is an association between gender and attitudes of information technology, (Will and Allan, 2013). Based on gender disparities in the diffusion and use of technology in various spheres of human life most especially in teaching and learning activities, it is also important to investigate the difference between male and female teachers’ knowledge of ICT resources for teaching the concept of vaporization. Also the difference between male and female teachers on their utilization of ICT resources for teaching the concept of vaporization.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
The role of chemistry in the development of the scientific base of a country cannot be over emphasized and Nigeria is not an exception. Yet with the increasing importance of chemistry to the unfolding world, the performance of Nigerian students in the subject at the secondary school remains a dismal failure and it is disappointing to note that the students’ performance in chemistry at internal and external examinations has remained considerably poor despite the relative importance of chemistry (Saage, 2013). Several factors have been advanced to affect students’ poor performance. Koran (2012) reported that such includes; the students factor teacher factor, societal factor, home related variables, poor and inadequate media and technology and teachers’ knowledge in effectively using information and communication technology while teaching the subject. The problem of the present study is on teachers’ knowledge of ICT resources and how their knowledge affect their utilization of ICT tools for teaching the concept of vaporization in senior secondary schools in Oruk Anam Local Government Area.
1.3 Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of teachers’ knowledge and utilization of ICT resources for teaching vaporization in chemistry in senior secondary school. The study sought to achieve the following objectives;
To determine the extent of knowledge of ICT resources for teaching vaporization.
To determine the extent of utilization of information and communication technology resources for teaching vaporization.
To determine the extent of teachers’ knowledge on ICT resources for teaching the concept of vaporization.
To determine the extent of male and female teachers’ knowledge on utilization of ICT resources for teaching the concept of vaporization.
1.4 Research Questions
The following research questions were raised to guide this study;
What is the extent of teachers’ knowledge of ICT resources for teaching vaporization?
To what extent do chemistry teachers utilize information and communication tools for teaching vaporization concept?
To what extent do male and female teachers differ on their knowledge of ICT resources for teaching vaporization?
To what extent do male and female teachers differ on their utilization of ICT resources for teaching vaporization?
1.5 Research Hypotheses
The following null hypothesis were formulated for the study;
There is no significant difference between male and female teachers’ knowledge of ICT resources for teaching vaporization.
There is no significant difference between male and female teachers’ on utilization of ICT resources for teaching vaporization.
1.6 Significance of the Study
The result of this study guide; student; to develop their cognitive ability and knowledge in learning of skill for the development of science and technology through the proper utilization of various ICT tools and resources of learning.
Teachers, to adopted proper teaching approach and utilized ICT resource for their teaching and learning process. School administrators, to ensure their effective job performance. As the world, changes, information and knowledge changes rapidly, teaching and learning process as well as the management of school also have to change. This study will make school administrators or leaders to encourage teachers to integrate ICT in teaching and learning process.
Curriculum planners, on the teaching skill and method that will positively improve students’ level of academic performance and the pedagogic practice of teachers.
Examination agencies, to encourage computer based examination in teacher education and also for students to make them familiar with the use of ICT tools in solving problems. Researcher, to concur and recommend the use of ICT resources in teaching for teachers. Textbook manufacturers; to publish books that will help teachers and students to learn how to use ICT effectively in teaching and learning process.
Parent Teacher Association (PTA); to support the government to provide e-library and I am building ICT resource centres.
Federal, state and Local Government; to provide enabling environment for the teaching of chemistry. It will help government to provide e-library, computers and laptops for students and teachers and also to provide practical apparatus. The result of this study will make government to finance educational agencies to organize seminars, workshops and symposium to update, validate teaching and learning through the use of ICT resources.
1.7 Delimitation of the Study
This study was delimited to schools in Oruk Anam Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. It was also delimited to senior secondary school chemistry teachers because vaporization is taught in senior secondary school one (SS1).
1.8 Limitation of the Study
Time slated for carrying out the research was very brief and the research was done for senior secondary school chemistry teachers only and restricted to schools in Oruk Anam Local Government Area. Cost of transportation also put constraint on this study.
1.9 Definition of Terms
Vaporization: This is a phase transition from the liquid phase to vapour.
Teachers’ Knowledge: This is all the required cognitive knowledge for creating effective teaching and learning environments.
ICT Resources: ICT stands for information and communication technology. It is an umbrella term that includes any communication device encompassing radio, television, cell phones, computer and network hardware, satellite systems and so on, as well as the various services and applicate with them such as video conferencing and distance learning.
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