Relationship between secondary school student’s attitude and their performance in physics

Prospects of biology education in the development of tertiary education

CHAPTER ONE/INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND OF STUDY

The term biology is coined from two Greek words “bios” meaning life and “logos” meaning to study, and this simply defined as the study of life or the study of  plants and animals Michael (2015) . According to oxford Oxford Science Dictionary  biology is the study of living organisms, and these includes structure (gross and morphological), functioning, origin and evolution, classification, interrelationship and distribution. Biology as pointed by Nakano Nakona (2017)  is the science that deals with the study of living things, since it is the study of living things there are certain recognizable characteristics by which living things which includes; movement, death, respiration, growth, excretion, irritability, reproduction, and nutrition. Chukunyerenmuwa Chukunyerenmuwa (2013)  asserted that, biology remains one of the basic sciences whose teaching and learning is universally known to be efficient and successful, if only undertaken simultaneously with the help of adequate instructional resources and facilities. Biology plays a vital role in the field of biochemistry, genetics, physiology and anatomy, ecology, medicine Olutola et al., Olutola et al  (2016)  and molecular biology and as such biology has been made a central focus in some human activities including being a solution to the problem of food scarcity, health, hygiene, family life, poverty eradication, management and conservation of natural resources, biotechnology, ethics, various social vices and as well lack of appropriate infrastructural materials. Aina Aina (2013)  stated that, biology education is important to any growing economy like Nigeria. Many graduate of biology education are self employed and employers of labour; many owned schools for themselves where people works and earn their living while some are into fish business.

Science is an intellectual activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behaviour of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment. Merriam-Webster (2016) defines science as the knowledge about or study of the natural world based on facts learned through experiments and observation. The National Academy of Sciences (2008) cited by Hohenberg (2010) defined science as the use of evidence to construct testable explanations and predictions of natural phenomena, as well as the knowledge generated through its process.

Science, as taught in secondary schools, is divided into; natural science, physical science and social sciences. Sometimes, it is discussed under pure and applied science and covers such subjects as physics, chemistry, biology, etc. Of these subjects, biology is the only one that cuts across and concerns all students. Unlike physics and chemistry for instance, biology is the only science subject offered by all students in science class.

This implies that biology occupies a very sensitive position in medical science and other related disciplines. This informs several efforts geared towards studying biology at secondary school level of education. Hence, it is one of the science subjects a student must pass so as to offer some science courses at tertiary level of education (Akinfe, Olofinniyi & Fashika, 2012).

Science education comprises three subjects namely biology, chemistry and physics which are combined with education and over the year there has been low enrolment of these courses in our institutions as identified by ; causes of this low enrolment include society disdain, mockery of teacher and low prestige of teachers .Interestingly, as important as these courses are, students’ performance has not been encouraging in them and this is worrisome and called for investigation .

Biology education is very important for any growing economy like that of Nigeria. About 70 percent graduates of biology education are self employed and employers of labour (Okenyi, 2012). Many graduates of biology education also own schools of their own where people work and earn their living while some are into fishery business. These contributions of biology to the Nigerian’s economy will be highly improved through analyzing the challenges and prospects of biology education in Nigeria.

Biology deals with the study of many varieties of lives. It is a natural science concerned with the study of living organisms including their structure, function, growth, distribution and taxonomy (Magna, 2002). Biology is the study of the structure, function, heredity and evolution of all living things: micro-organisms, fungi, plants and animals. However, despite the broad scope of biology, there are certain general and unifying concepts within it that govern all the studies and researchers that consolidate it into simple and coherent field. In general, biology recognizes the cell as the basic unit of life, genes as the basic unit of heredity, evolution as the engine that propels the synthesis and creation of new species. It is also understood today that all organisms survived by consuming and transforming energy and by regulating their internal environment to maintain a stable and vital condition. Sub-disciplines of biology are defined by the scale at which organisms are studied, the kinds of organisms studied and the methods used to study them. For example Biochemistry examines the rudimentary chemistry of life, molecular biology studies the complex interactions among biological molecules:- Botany is the study of the biology of plants: cellular biology which examines the basic building-blocks of all life cells, physiology which examines the physical and chemical functions of tissues, organs and organ systems of an organism. Evolutionary biology, examines the processes that produced the diversity of life: Ecology examines how organisms interact in their environment: Zoology, the study of animals: Pathology the study of disease of plants and animals and methods of controlling them. Entomology, the study of insects: Algaelogy which is the study of algae, parastology, the study of parasites and microbiology the study of microorganisms. Biology Education therefore is education in biology which generally aims at training individuals to understand himself or herself, the parts of his or her body and how the body parts function. Hence, the application of principles of education in teaching and learning of biology is known as biology education. It is the art of teaching and training in order to inculcate or transfer the knowledge of biology to students .It is against this background that this study investigates the Prospects of biology education in the development of tertiary education

Impact of Digital Education on Student’s Learning Performance in Science Subjects

INTRODUCTION

A variety of names have been coined to describe the generation of students who have come of age in the digital age. He coined the term digital natives to describe the generation of learners who have been exposed to digital technology since they were children in his book Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants (2001). It has been estimated that the average college student has spent less than 5,000 hours reading in their lifetime, but they have played video games for more than 10,000 hours and watched television for more than 20,00. According to the National School Board Association (2007), kids spend nearly as much time on social networking sites as they do on television. Prensky (2001) observed, “Our students have profoundly transformed. Today’s students aren’t the folks our educational system was built to teach,” he writes (p.1). According to media entrepreneur Rupert Murdock, the current and future generations would never remember a world without “ubiquitous broadband Internet access,” as Prensky stated in 2005. “We may never become actual digital natives, but we may and must begin to assimilate to their culture and way of thinking,” he said, referring to himself as a digital immigrant. ” (Murdock, 2005, p. 1). An educational achievement gap between those who are most and least disadvantaged in Nigeria is one of Nigeria’s government’s goals. The Nigerian government is likewise concerned about reducing the number of young people out of work. A 40 percent reduction in the number of young people not in education, employment, or training is one of the goals of Curriculum for Excellence, which aims to help all children and young people acquire the essential skills they’ll need to succeed professionally and socially in the twenty-first century. There are a number of government efforts in Nigeria to support and encourage the use of digital technology in schools in order to help achieve the Nigerian government’s goal of “raising the achievement, ambition, and opportunity for everyone,” as stated in a statement from the Nigerian government. Glow, a Scottish Government-funded online learning environment that makes a variety of digital tools and materials available to all schools in Scotland, has been one of the most important components of this initiative to date. . 1 Education Curriculum for Excellence in Nigeria recently produced a report on digital technology, which stated that ICT is “used as an addition to learning,” but that it is “on the periphery of the core objective of tasks or lessons. Some schools examined for the report showed a greater impact on student motivation and career aspirations when ICT was implemented, but overall, the use of new technology in schools was “minimal at best,” according to inspectors. The study found that more needs to be done to put digital technology ‘at the heart of learning’ in Nigeria, and that it had confirmed ‘beyond doubt that our children and young people need digital skills and technologies to be given an absolutely central role in the learning process—no longer an enhancement or ‘bolt-on’, but a foundation and a primary consideration for any planned learning’. In order to better understand how digital technology may help teachers, parents, children, and young people in Nigeria, the Nigerian government has commissioned a literature review on the topic. There has been a lot of attention paid to the role of technology in education in the recent decade (Hatlevik et al., 2013). Second-year students in upper secondary education reported using computers at least once or twice a week during class in 2013. The Norwegian government unveiled its new school digitization strategy in August 2017, with the goal of improving student technological literacy so that they are better prepared for the future (Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research, 2017). The approach claims that educational institutions should be at the forefront of digitalization since digital literacy will lead to better employment outcomes, and early investments in technology can significantly increase returns to education. In the modern knowledge society, advancements in technology are exploited (Erstad et al., 2005). Because of this, it is critical that students have access to digital resources such as computers in the classroom. Students from nations that have spent a great deal in instructional technology (ICT) do not do better than students in other countries, according to the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) (OECD, 2015b). A contradiction exists in that significant investments have been made in digital infrastructure, but there is no clear advice on how to use digital devices in the classroom (Hatlevik et al., 2009). According to Hatlevik et al. (2013) in their report ICT in Norwegian Education 2013, about half of the second-year high school pupils are bothered by the use of laptop computers in class. At the same time, over two-thirds of students believe that a laptop (or tablet) takes time away from learning activities since they spend so much of their free time on them. Laptop use in the classroom must be used in conjunction with current teaching approaches in order to achieve its full potential (OECD, 2015b). Traditional inputs such as increased teacher training and better learning materials are sacrificed in favor of computer spending in schools (OECD, 2015b). In order to be cost-effective, the program’s educational outcomes must be superior than those of alternative investments. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have been a major investment for universities during the past two decades (ICT). The university setting, structure, and methods of instruction and learning have all been altered by technological advancements. The effectiveness of these technologies on student achievement and educational returns is an intriguing open subject. This question has been the subject of numerous academic investigations, both theoretical and empirical. They had two major obstacles to overcome. Students’ performance is difficult to monitor and there is still a lot of uncertainty about what it means. While ICT is a constantly growing technology, its impacts are difficult to isolate from the context in which they are used. There is no one-size-fits-all description of a student’s success. Achievement and curriculum are the norm in most schools. What pupils learn in school and how they get their diplomas or grades. In contrast, a more comprehensive definition focuses on the competences, skills, and attitudes that students acquire during their time in college or university programs. Any change in higher education can be observed because the term is so tight. An in-depth analysis of the labor market is required for a more comprehensive definition. Education’s value is largely determined by how well it prepares students for the workforce. Information and communication technology use in higher education does not appear to have a direct impact on students’ grades or test scores. There are conflicting findings in the literature. Research in the field of economics has failed to reach a clear conclusion on the impact on student achievement in the past.