RELATIVE EFFECTS OF TEACHER – DIRECTED AND STUDENT – DIRECTED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES ON STUDENTS’ ENVIRONMENTAL KNOWLEDGE IN BIOLOGY
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RELATIVE
EFFECTS OF TEACHER – DIRECTED AND STUDENT – DIRECTED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES
ON STUDENTS’ ENVIRONMENTAL KNOWLEDGE IN BIOLOGY
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.0BACKGROUND
OF THE STUDY
Mankind’s encounter with the
environment is as old as man himself. Since the evolution of man on the earth
he has been dependent on the very nature and reality of his environment.
Initially the needs of man were limited and small; therefore, his activities
did not really affect the environment. But slowly human being settled down and
civilized himself and learnt to cultivate. Over recent decades, global problems
relating to degradation of natural resources and pollution have increased
dramatically (Larijani, 2010). Natural resources are depleted by excessive use
which in fact begs for better and more understanding of it.
The Environment is the sum total of
all conditions and influences of the development of the life of human beings
and other organisms (Hema & Jamal, 2004). It includes air, water, land and
dynamically the interrelationship that exists between these and human beings;
other living creatures, plants, microorganisms and property (Hema & Jamal,
2004). The word environment embraces the conditions or influences under which
any organism or thing exists, lives or develops. All these may be placed into
three divisions such as the set of physical conditions affecting and
influencing the growth and development of an individual and community; the
social and cultural conditions affecting the nature of an individual or
community; and the surroundings of an inanimate object of intrinsic social value
(Gilpin, 1995). Therefore, environment includes all the conditions,
circumstances and influences surrounding and affecting an organism or a group
of organisms (Trivedi & Raj, 1992). So, it may be stated that the concept
of environment in its totality is a complex one, far ranging in its
implications and challenging to our understanding.
However, over the last 50 years,
environmental awareness, education or knowledge as the case may be, has been
one of the main interests of school organisations, local communities, the
private sectors and local governments (Monroe, Day, Grieser & Green, 2000).
These organisations have been demanding that schools should include such in the
curriculum of education. Many authors name the 1960s as the decade when Environmental
Education started to develop in response to the world’s growing awareness about
environmental problems (Monroe et al, 2000). Others believe that Environmental
Education grew from the movement that existed from the beginning of the last
century such as nature study, conservation and outdoor education (NACD,
1998).
One of the most widely accepted
definitions of Environmental Education was given in the Tbilisi Declaration
which was developed at the international conference of environment educators,
sponsored by UNESCO in 1977. Environmental education was defined there as
“learning process that increase people’s knowledge and awareness about the
environment and associated challenges, develops the necessary skills and
expertise to address the challenges, and fosters attitude, motivations, and
commitments to make informed decisions and take responsible action” (UNESCO,
1978). According to this declaration, environmental education is seen as a
life-long process that is interdisciplinary and holistic in nature and
application. It concerns the interrelationship between human and natural
systems and encourages the development of an environmental ethic, awareness,
understanding of environmental problems, development of critical thinking and
problem solving skills. MacGregor (2003) believes that the Tbilisi definition
was based on the definition developed by Stapp, Swan, Wall & Havlick.
(1969), because William Stapp influence in creating and shaping the Tbilisi
Environmental Education conference (Bartosh, 2003).
The term environmental awareness or
knowledge has a broad meaning. It not only implies knowledge about environment
but also values and necessary skills to solve environmental problems. Moreover,
environmental awareness is the initial step ultimately leading to the ability
to carry on responsible citizenship behaviour (Sengupta, Das & Maji, 2010).
Environmental education is a process of identifying values and clarifying
concepts in order to develop skills and added tools necessary to understand and
appreciate the inter-relationship among man, his culture and his bio-physical
surroundings.
A number of research works have
been taken up in this respect (Banerjee & Das, 2014). But being a location
specific issue, research on environmental education should be undertaken in
different parts of a country for developing a clear understanding and
perspective of the issues involved. Rajput et al. (1980), made an attempt to
identify the awareness of children of primary level, towards the scientific and
social environment. The study revealed that only one of the four group (2
schools X 2 Class) were significantly different on Environmental awareness at
pre-test stage, whereas at the post test stage two experimental group were
significantly better than the control group. Paramjit (1993)conducted a study
on “Environmental Awareness among the student of Different Socio-Economic
status”. The finding revealed that environmental awareness was more among boys
of better socio-economic status whereas among girl, it was observed that the
girls of lower socio-economic status had more environmental awareness as
compared with boys. Study of Sebastian & Nima (2005)showed that science
students have more awareness of biodiversity and its conservation than other
students. Fisman, (2005), Study Showed that the local environmental awareness
found only among students living in high socio-economic neighbourhoods.
As aforementioned environmental
knowledge is an ongoing process in our lives and is influenced by family,
school and societal factors. The major aim of environmental education is to
increase individuals’ environmental awareness and sensitivity; this can improve
one’s standard of living by fostering a healthier and safer environment (Altin,
Bacanli, & Yildiz, 2002).
There has been a variety of
research on environmental education. For example, Kuhlemeier, Van Den Bergh,
& Lagerweij (1999) studied more than 9,000 ninth grade students in 206
individual Dutch secondary schools about their environmental knowledge,
environmental attitudes and environmentally responsible behaviours. Students
were generally willing to make financial sacrifices and apply environmentally
responsible behaviour in their daily lives. While nearly half of the students
had a high level of positive attitudes toward the environment, all students had
incorrect and/or insufficient knowledge about environmental problems and
inadequate environmentally responsible behaviour in general.
Similarly, Pe’er, Goldman,
& Yavetz (2007) examined the attitudes, knowledge and environmental
behaviour of 765 first year students in three teacher training colleges in
Israel. They reported that students’ attitudes toward environment were
positive, but their environmental knowledge was limited.
Students environmental
attitudes may differ based on several variables such as grade level, gender and
socioeconomic level, though there does not appear to be a consensus (Sama,
2003; Erol & Gezer, 2006; Ulucinar Sagir, Aslan, & Cansaran, 2008;
Carrier, 2009; Coertjens, Boeve-de Pauw, De Maeyer, & Van Petegem, 2010).
For example, Sama (2003) stated that the university students’ grade levels,
whether their first year or final year, did not have any impact on their
environmental attitudes; yet, there was a significant difference in the
attitudes of the students in the department of foreign languages.
The study results of Uzun &
Saglam (2005) revealed that there was a significant difference in the average
environmental consciousness among the socioeconomic status of 258 high school
students: The middle socioeconomic group showed more environmental
consciousness than the high and low socioeconomic groups. Erol & Gezer
(2006) illustrated that 225 prospective elementary school teachers often had
weak attitudes toward the environment and environmental problems. Students’
environmental attitudes changed with age, and girls had better attitudes toward
to environment than boys. Students’ environmental attitudes did not change with
their fathers’ occupation, parent education level or their socio-economic status.
The study of Ulucinar Sagir et al. (2008) reported that there was no
significant difference between males and females or among the students’
environmental knowledge with regard to their parents’ education levels.
Toili (2007) found that few
students within 22 secondary schools in Kenya participated in civic activities
dedicated to improving the quality of their communities’ environments. Many
students expressed that insufficient environmental awareness contributed to
their lack of enthusiasm or even to their ability to make a difference.
Therefore, an environmental education curriculum that promotes environmental
knowledge and environmental issues and/or problems would be quite beneficial in
meeting the needs of its students and their communities.
An effective environmental
education requires qualified teachers with adequate knowledge. If the teacher
lacks sufficient knowledge and responsibility, then environmentally illiterate
students cannot be trained (Cabuk & Karacaoglu, 2003; Denis & Genc,
2007).
Campbell, Medina-Jerez,
Erdogan, & Zhang (2009) made a comparison among 171 seventh and twelfth
grade science teachers from the U.S., Bolivia and Turkey, according to their
attitudes toward environmental education and instructional practices. They
concluded that while the teachers’ knowledge about global environmental issues
and the teachers’ rationales related to environmental education in their
science classroom instruction showed a significant difference among three
countries, technological and/or environmental problems in science classroom
instruction did not show any significant differences among three countries.
Therefore, teachers should be well-trained regarding environmental issues as
they are a model to students of how to protect the environment for tomorrow; in
addition, it would be best to integrate the importance of education for
sustainable development in teaching of biology in schools (Noziran, 2010).
In order to raise environmentally-aware
individuals, who can take responsibility to overcome environmental problems,
students from the preschool level and above should be educated about these
issues. Students could acquire the necessary awareness and responsibility about
the environment by implementing instructional approaches, which make students
more active, saves them from an unnecessary knowledge burden and improves their
brain power (Sahin, Cerrah, Saka, & Sahin, 2004; Turkish Environmental
Atlas, 2009).
Students’ environmental
knowledge and/or attitudes could be increased by several instructional
techniques. For example, while instruction based on a conceptual change
approach increased students’ environmental understanding, it did not increase
students’ attitudes toward the environment and biology (Cetin, 2003).
Students’ environmental
knowledge and attitudes could be increased by computer-assisted instruction
(Aivazidis, Lazaridou, & Hellden, 2006). Paleoecology, the study of ancient
ecosystems as a teaching tool can be used in a science curriculum to teach
global environmental education quite effectively (Raper & Zander, 2009).
Outdoor activities can also be useful to increase students’ environmental
awareness (Carrier, 2009).
1.1 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The predominant conventional
teaching strategy adopted in teaching biology, a science subject and indeed all
subjects in the secondary school is devoid of giving Students adequate
knowledge and understanding about their immediate environment and the ecosystem
in general. Premised on this observed defect, our school leavers generally lack
the basic knowledge of their environment. Environmental knowledge is necessary
in our daily lives and students can start learning to know about it from a very
young age, this is necessary in knowing about their bodies, their environment,
people, animals et cetera. More so, knowledge about ones environment enables
him or her to be conscious of the pros and cons of the ecosystem – for instance,
a knowledgeable student who has basic knowledge of his or her environment would
immediately know how to keep it clean and the repercussions if he or she does
not. This and many more forms the basic necessity behind the rationale for
students to have adequate knowledge of their environment through biology. But
as it is students barely know what goes on in their ecosystem. However, this study investigated the relative
effects of Teacher – Directed and Student – Directed Instructional Strategies
on Students’ Environmental Knowledge in Biology. The teacher-directed approach
provides students with a step-by-step process for tackling complex tasks.
(Tanner, Bottoms, Ferragin and Bearman 2007). In this study, a combination of
lectures and reading, recalling and relating prior knowledge, with elaborating
and extending information involving high participation by students are used to
investigate the effectiveness or otherwise of the teacher-directed
instructional strategy. Student-directed learning on the other hand, is based
on the belief that active students’ involvement in the learning process
increases learning and motivation. According to Tanner, Bottoms, Ferragin and
Bearman (2007), good student-centred learning values the students’ role in
acquiring knowledge and understanding. This approach empowers students to ask
questions, seek answers and attempt to understand the world’s complexities. The
teacher and students share the responsibility of instruction and assessment but
the students are more actively involved.
1.2 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The purpose of this study is to
investigate the Relative Effects of Teacher – Directed and Student – Directed
Instructional Strategies on Students’ Environmental Knowledge in Biology. The
specific objectives of this study are as follows:
1. To determine the relative effects of the
teacher’s instructional strategies on students’ environmental knowledge in
biology
2. To examine the influence of gender on
students’ environmental knowledge in biology.
3. To examine the adequacy of the
teacher-directed, student-directed
instructional strategies used in the teaching of biology in
Secondary schools
4. And also identify solutions to the
problems that hinder students’
environmental knowledge in biology.
1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The following research
questions were raised to guide the study:
1. Is there any significant difference in
students' environmental
knowledge in SSS biology based on treatment?
2. Does gender influence students'
environmental knowledge in SSS biology?
1.4 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES
Ho1: There
is no significant main effect of treatments on students’ environmental
knowledge in Senior Secondary School Biology.
Ho2: There
is no significant main effect of gender on student’s environmental knowledge in
Senior Secondary School Biology.
Ho3: There
is no significant interaction effect of treatment and gender on students’
environmental knowledge in Senior Secondary School Biology.
1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This
research work will benefit the parents, teachers, government and the entire
society. If the result of this research is properly utilized, it will.
(i). Promote
students environmental knowledge through effective and efficient teaching of
Biology.
(ii).
Motivate the parents to provide basic requirements of practical lesson for
their children in secondary schools.
(iii).
Convince the teachers that both instructional strategies are mostly essential
for effective teaching and learning of science subjects like biology.
(iv). Make
the government through the ministry of education realize the need for the
inclusion and implementation of these instructional strategies in secondary
schools.
(v). Help
the Nigeria society in the quest for the need to promote environmental
awareness.
1.7 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The essence of this research
work is to primarily study the Relative Effects of Teacher – Directed and
Student – Directed Instructional Strategies on Students’ Environmental
Knowledge in Biology. The research intends to focus on Senior Secondary
Students in selected private and public Senior Secondary schools in Alimosho
Local Government area of Lagos state.
This population of study would
comprise of Six (6) selected senior secondary schools in Alimosho Local
Government Area of Lagos State. The scope is also limited to SS1 biology
student as regards knowledge of their environment. The contents of SS1 biology
scheme of work are Living Things, Classification of Living Things, Ecosystem,Population
Studies, Functioning Ecosystem et cetera and shall be considered in the
research instrument for this study.
1.8 LIMITATION OF STUDY
Although the researcher tried as
much as possible to reduce a number of limitations during the course of the
research but factors like time, schools being on holiday and also at resumption
trying to quickly meet up and cover their syllabuses as a result of time made
delayed the experimentation process. Nevertheless, the researcher was able to
create time for the experiment.
1.9 DEFINITION OF TERMS
Gender; Male
and Female students of SS1
Teacher-directed
instruction; the teacher directed instructional strategies is initiated and
guided by the teacher. It’s includes the lecture method used in the study.
Here, the teacher presents a verbal discourse on the topic being taught to the
SS1students. The lesson is delivered pre-planned to the students by the teacher
with little or no instructional aide.
Student-directed
instruction; is based on having ss1 students construct his\ her own
understanding of the lesson. It has its roots in constructivism. And, among
these strategies is the cooperative learning instructional strategy. Using
Cooperative learning instructional strategy, the ss1 students are deliberate
grouped into small heterogenous groups. Each group work together to maximize
each other’s learning. Heterogeneity in grouping can be achieved by combining
students of different sexes, academicability level, ages, religion among
others, so that students can get beyond their initial stereotypes and be able
to treat each other as other science students’ and fellow group members.
Place-based
education; its focuses on the use of
the local environment as the place to investigate nature. In placed-based
education, the ss1 student are provided with the opportunity to carry out
guided investigations into the environment and environmental issues, they
generate knowledge and also develop observation, recording and interpretation
skills, which are important in understanding the environment (Stevenson, 2008;
Van Kannel-Ray, 2006).
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