Teachers and Students Understanding of the Nature of Science as Predictors of Students Achievement in Biology in Senior Secondary Schools of Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study focuses on the teachers and students understanding of the nature of science as predictors of students’ achievement in biology in senior secondary schools of Oyo State, Nigeria. To guide the study three research questions were raised. The study adopted an ex-post facto design. A sample of 400 students and 20 teachers were used for the study (420). The schools used were stratified into public and private and a purposive sample technique was used to select 20 schools. Simple random sampling was used to select 20 students from each class in senior secondary school (SS II) and 1 biology teacher was used per school. Three validated instruments were used in the study, these were; Teachers Understanding of Nature of Science Scale (TUNSS), Students Understanding of Nature of Science Scale (SUNSS) and a Biology Achievement Test (BAT). From the findings of this study, it is evident that there was a significant relationship between teachers understanding of nature of science and that of their students and their achievement in biology. Teacher’s improper application of their understanding of nature of science will lead to poor performance of student. Therefore, we recommend that government should make efforts to provide adequate and necessary training, re-training, seminars and workshops focusing on teachers and students understanding of nature of science.

Keywords: Achievement in biology, Nature of science, Nigeria, students understanding, Teachers