BULGARIAN JOURNAL OF SCIENCE AND EDUCATION POLICY

5-18

Authors: O.C. Falode, M.F. Sobowale, R.M. Saliu, H. Usman, M.E. Falode

The study was carried out to determine the effectiveness of Computer Animation Instructional Package (CAIP) on academic achievement of senior secondary school agricultural science students in animal physiology in Minna, Nigeria. Influence of gender was also examined. Quazi-experimental procedure of pretest, post-test, and non-randomized, non-equivalent design was adopted. Two research questions were raised while two null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The sample of the study was made up of 88 senior secondary school students selected from intact classes of two co-educational public schools within the study area. The two schools were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental group which comprised 48 students (30 male and 18 female) was taught through CAIP while their counterparts in the control group which comprised 40 students (26 male and 14 female) was taught using lecture method. A 30-item animal physiology achievement test which was validated by experts and whose reliability coefficient of 0.85 was obtained was administered as pretest and post-test on both groups. Data gathered were analyzed using t-test statistics. Findings revealed that there was significant difference between the mean achievement scores of the two groups in favour of those taught with CAIP. Also, the package improved the achievement of both male and female students taught. It was therefore recommended among others that, computer animation instructional package should be adopted in secondary schools to complement lecture method of teaching in order to improve students' achievement in agricultural science.

39-52

Authors: A.A. Yusuf, C.O. Fashiku

The study was on Professional Development programme: a tool for improving teachers productivity in junior secondary schools in North Central Geopolitical Zone of Nigeria. The design of the study was a descriptive survey carried out ex-post factor. The population of the study comprised all the teachers and principals in public junior secondary schools of the studied Geo-political Zone. The sample of the study was made up of 975 principals and teacher respondents who were randomly selected from 75schools in the studied area. Two research questions were raised and two hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. A self-designed questionnaire titled Professional Development Programme and Teachers Productivity (PDPTP) as well as interview scheduled titled Approaches to Professional Development (APD) were used to elicit information from the respondents. The instruments were validated by six experts from two Departments in Faculty of Education of Obafemi Awolowo University. The reliability of the questionnaire was ensured through test re-test method which yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.72. This was considered high enough for use. The data collected was analyzed using percentage and Pearson Product Moment Correlation statistical method of data analysis. The study revealed that; cluster type seminar, mentoring, on-the-job training and in-service training approaches among others, were used by the government in teachers' professional training programme. Also, teachers were found to be selected for professional development programme based on their; qualifications, years of experience, subjects taught and areas of specialization. A significant relationship existed between professional development programme and teachers productivity in junior secondary schools of North Central geo-political Zone of Nigeria (r tab=0.785,r cal.0.195) at 0.05 level of significance. In view of the findings of the study, it was concluded that, teachers professional development programme improved teachers productivity in junior secondary schools of North Central geo-political Zone of Nigeria. It was therefore recommended that government should not relented efforts in Professional Development Programme of every teacher as it is germane to their productivity in the geo-political Zone.

69-89

Authors: F. Aravena, M. Quiroga

In our modern society, governments, civil society and private sector are concerned about education as it is a key to build a successful community. This paper seeks to analyse, through one particular country, how the education system can change when neoliberalism is implemented as a framework in educational terms. This paper focuses on Chile and its education system adopting an international comparative perspective, using empirical examples and cases within a Latin America scenario. Chilean education system has created a controversial, complex and unique relationship between neoliberalism and education. This relationship has configured a complex social context increasing the gap between rich and poor. At the same time, Chilean education system has reproduced social classes in discourse and practice trough of a dramatic social stratification. In this particular case, we confirm that neoliberalism has generated an education system that is highly segregated and selective. Improvisation has been utilised as a political strategy to reduce neoliberal impacts on education.

106-123

Authors: S. Tayo Subair

Teaching is the act, practice and occupation of a teacher. A teacher is a person who provides education for learners at a school or other place of formal education. The use of teacher in this study is conceptualized to involve all cadres of instructors and teaching team from primary and junior secondary (basic education) to senior secondary school. The study examined the areas of job dislikes among teachers with their attendant implications for practice. Using a self-designed and pilot-tested questionnaire, data were collected from a random sample of 3,000 teachers drawn from Lagos, Ogun, and Osun states in the Southwestern geopolitical zone of the country. Specifically, 400 primary and 600 secondary school teachers were drawn from each state. The data were analyzed using simple percentage. It was found that teachers job dislike areas though differ but were within seven areas thus: writing lesson notes (98.5%), marking subject attendance register (98%), disciplining of students in school (90%), and serving as members of committees (78.9%). Other dislike areas include taking students out of school for extramural activities (73.3%), partaking in co-curricular activities in the school (60.3%) and examination invigilation (59.1%) as areas of common dislike and capable of inhibiting the satisfaction levels of teachers.Furthermore, it was found that differences exist in job dislikes between male and female teachers. The common job dislikes among male were non-interest in marking of scripts and invigilation of examinations whereas the female showed dislikes for serving as committee members and as year tutors.Thus, it was recommended that: some modifications in the operational approaches of classroom teachers (such as deemphasizing lesson note writing and marking of subject attendance register) would be required. Teachers should also be financially encouraged via allowances for all other activities outside teaching.

142-155

Authors: O.C. Falode, H. Usman, S.C. Ilobeneke, H.A. Mohammed, A.J. Godwin, M.A. Jimoh

This study investigated effectiveness of computer simulation instruction on the attitude of geography students towards map reading in Bida, Nigeria. It also examined the influence of gender on students attitude. The research was a quazi-experimental design. Intact classes of 160 senior secondary school class two students were drawn from two purposively selected secondary schools within Bida and were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental group (82 students) was exposed to computer simulation instructional package (CSIP) while their counterparts in the control group (78 students) was taught the same concept of map reading using lecture method. Attitude questionnaire named QGSAMR was used for data collection. The releaibility coefficient of 0.83 was obtained using Cronbach alpha formula. The QGSAMR was administered to students as pretest and post‐test. The students pretest and posttest attitude scores were analyzed using t‐test statistics. The results indicated that there was significant difference between the attitude scores of the two groups in favour of students exposed to computer simulation instructional package. The result however indicated that there was no significant difference between the attitude of male and female students exposed to the package. It was therefore recommended among others, that, computer simulation instructional package should be adopted in teaching and learning of geography as the package would help to improve students attitude towards geography and in turn leads to improved performance.

174-190

Authors: A.A. Akinrefon, O.C. Ikpah, A.O. Bamigbala, O.I. Adeniyi

Examination malpractice has become an epidemic in the nation educational system. This study seeks to assess the pattern of examination malpractice in higher institutions in Nigeria, their causes, effects and also proffer solutions. The sample size of the study was calculated using Yaro Yamane formula. The instrument used for the study was a questionnaire titled Causes and Effects of Examination Malpractice (CEEMQ). The data collected were analyzed using Factor analysis and Principal component analysis. The findings from the factor analysis in factor loading 1 revealed that items 13 (0.5998), 29 (0.6785) and item 8 (0.5062) are the major causes of examination malpractice. Factor loading 2 revealed that item 26 (0.6594) and item 25 (0.6342) are the major solutions and effects of exam malpractice. Analysis from factor loading 8 revealed that factor 15 (0.5154) is also a major cause of exam malpractice.

169-184

Authors: I.B. Ado, A.O. Akinbobola, G.B. Inyang

This study investigates the status of human resources in Bayelsa State of Nigeria and its implications for the implementation of upper basic of the Universal Basic Education (UBE) programme. A total of 181 teachers were involved in the study. The results of the study show that there are qualified human resources for the implementation of upper basic of the UBE programme in Bayelsa State of Nigeria but they are inadequate in all the three basic subjects (English Language, Mathematics and Integrated Science). Also, there is no significant difference in the availability and adequacy of human resources in the three subjects. It is recommended that adequate human resources should be provided by the government for effective teaching and implementation of the UBE programme.

202-215

Authors: Z. Birknerova

Rapid and deep changes in economics and business environment along with the dynamic development of computer art and communication technologies represent the main factors identifying the development in the area of simulation business games. These games may be considered a strange, content-determined group of simulation games. The description of their content specialties, basic elements, and possibilities of their use are the essence of our report. In the conclusion we present a short research carried out at the Faculty of Management of the University of Prešov in Prešov where we made an investigation of the students´ opinions on the use of business games in the university educational process.

236-247

Authors: L. Sagbansua

In this study, information technologies, one of the biggest enablers of the modern supply chain management (SCM), are discussed. Types and ways of information technologies related to supply chain management are analyzed. Material Requirement Planning (MRP), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), and electronic trade are discussed to provide an example.

275-310

Authors: M.S. Hamzah, A.N. Md Zain

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of Cooperative Learning with a Dual Situated Learning Model (CLDSLM) and a Dual Situated Learning Model (DSLM) on (a) conceptual understanding (CU) and (b) scientific reasoning (SR) among Form Four students. The study further investigated the effect of the CLDSLM and DSLM methods on performance in conceptual understanding and scientific reasoning among students with different motivation levels. A quasi-experimental method with the 3 x 2 Factorial Design was applied in the study. The sample consisted of 240 students in six (form four) classes selected from three different schools, i.e. two classes from each school, with students randomly selected and assigned to the treatment groups. The results showed that students in the CLDSLM group outperformed their counterparts in the DSLM group who, in turn, significantly outperformed other students in the traditional instructional method (T) group in scientific reasoning and conceptual understanding. Also, high-motivation (HM) students in the CLDSLM group significantly outperformed their counterparts in the T groups in conceptual understanding and scientific reasoning. Furthermore, HM students in the CLDSLM group significantly outperformed their counterparts in the DSLM group in scientific reasoning but did not significantly outperform their counterparts on conceptual understanding. Also, the DSLM instructional method has significant positive effects on highly motivated students: (a) conceptual understanding and (b) scientific reasoning. The results also showed that LM students in the CLDSLM group significantly outperformed their counterparts in the DSLM group and (T) method group in scientific reasoning and conceptual understanding. However, the low-motivation students taught via the DSLM instructional method significantly performed higher than the low-motivation students taught via the T method in scientific reasoning. Nevertheless, they did not perform significantly higher in conceptual understanding. Finally, the results showed that there were no significant interaction effects between student motivational levels and instructional methods for the scientific reasoning and conceptual understanding scores.

332-353

Authors: V. Lamanauskas, L. Railiene

Various changes are taking place in Lithuanian comprehensive schools in recent years. Not all of them can be considered positive and making the system's work effective. The changes taking place encourage natural interest in them. It is necessary not only to fix the current state, but to search for the ways how to optimize the changes taking place and to control them. Education is a complex, manifold phenomenon, the researches of which are complicated and complex as well. In this article Lithuanian comprehensive school senior class pupils' position on current education questions is analysed: preparation and teaching/learning process evaluation, the identification of advantages and disadvantages of education system and other. It is revealed how Lithuanian comprehensive school pupils value current education system, teacher provided knowledge quality and ability to prepare students for further studies at universities and other higher schools.

5-31

Authors: H.M. Kayuni

Since the democratic dispensation of 1994, the education sector seems to be in perpetual transition with numerous facets of policies being introduced against a background of alleged poor management, understaffing and a poorly paid cadre of teachers. The situation was at one time "likened to a patient on a resuscitation bed in a hospital". Despite this seemingly chaotic and complex scenario, the education system has managed to survive. Using the Malawi Community Day Secondary Schools (CDSS)' policy, the paper intends to draw some insights from public policy's Chaos and Complexity theory to explain why the education sector still manages to survive and show resilience (on the "edge of chaos") despite the apparent overwhelming challenges.

48-61

Authors: Z. Peteva, B.V. Toshev

History and philosophy of chemistry belongs to the humanities more broadly than to science. The inclusion of humanitarian elements in chemistry education can increase students'interest to chemistry. School subject curriculum, however, largely depends on what is included in the state educational requirements for learning content. The U.S. educational standards include the history and philosophy of chemistry both in curriculum and training of future teachers as an overriding obligation. In the Bulgarian standards no such obligation is presented. This article advocates the humanization of the course in chemistry in high school and highlights the benefits of this, and mentions some of the ways to implement such a change.

99-118

Authors: B. Akarsu

At least four factors affect pupils' understanding of the nature of science: teachers' specialization in different science areas (physics, chemistry, and biology), gender issues, teaching experience in elementary school environments, and the perspectives of acquiring necessary knowledge. This study is the introduction part of a research project which will be initiated soon. Four elementary science teachers participated in the study. The results reveal that participants' views of the aspects of nature of science are not solely diverged, based on their major disciplines, but there exist significant distinctions according to gender differences.

131-164

Authors: B. V. Toshev

All publications, written by Prof. Dr. Alexei Scheludko (1920-1995), are listed. Prof Scheludko, f. head of the Department and Physical Chemistry, University of Sofia, and an active member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, is a founder of the scientific school of colloid science in Bulgaria. He is among the most eminent Bulgarian scholars.

153-172

Authors: N. Remziye Ergul

This study investigates how pre-service teachers would like to teach science. For this purpose, they are asked about their beliefs on how they can teach science better; which methods they would like to employ; what they think about labs, making experiments and the features of experiments; their suggestions on recalling what is being learned. This subject is considered as important and investigated as the obtained results will give clues to the edu-cators working in this field by reflecting both the quality and effectiveness of the program and training the students receive in order to become teachers and the quality of the opinions and suggestions of the pre-service teacher.

195-215

Authors: E. Fleszar, S. Gwardys-Szczesna

Field classes are indispensable in education of biology and environment protection students, as they allow a future teacher to carry out teaching material bringing together theory and practice through activity. In the framework of Biology Didactics classes the biology students of the Faculty of Natural Sciences at the University of Szczecin participate actively in the works on didactic nature trail in the Arkoñski Woods prepared by Dr. Ewa Fleszar. During the work on didactic natural path the students make themselves acquainted with: field class objectives; field class tasks; field class programmes, e.g. concerning phenology; flora and fauna species. Writing synopsis of field classes for selected lesson units at different teaching levels they acquire sound knowledge based on the ecological contents. Contacts with nature as well as gaining the experience during field classes allow them to obtain competences for working in the field and to understand the objectives of carrying out such classes. Field classes have an effect on developing interests of participants in the subject, and affect the improvement of teaching performance. Visit to the field forms ecological awareness, which leads to obtaining an ecological culture.

233-252

Authors: A.O. Akinbobola, F. Afolabi

The study investigated constructivist practices through guided discovery approach and the effect on students’ cognitive achievement in Nigerian senior secondary school Physics. The study adopted pretest-posttest control group design. A criterion sampling technique was used to select six schools out of nine schools that met the criteria. A total of 278 students took part in the study; this was made up of 141 male students and 137 female students in their respective intact classes. Physic Achievement Test (PAT) with the internal consistency of 0.77 using Kuder-Richardson formula (21) was the instrument used in collecting data. The data were analyzed using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) and t-test. The results showed that guided discovery approaches was the most effective in facilitating students’ achievement in physics after being taught using a pictorial organizer. This was followed by demonstration while expository was found to be the least effective. Also, there exists no significant difference in the achievement of male and female physics students taught with guided discovery, demonstration and expository teaching approaches and corresponding exposure to a pictorial organizer. It is recommended that physics teachers should endeavor to use constructivist practices through guided discovery approach in order to engage students in problem solving activities, independent learning, critical thinking and understanding, and creative learning, rather than in rote learning and memorization.

7-28

Authors: B.V. Toshev

There are two professions in education – teachers who do it and researchers who study it. Teachers and researchers both write papers but those papers are quite different. In addition there exist other people who attempt to write on educational topics: mentors, involved in teachers training, popularizers of science, publicists. The paper stresses in the peculiarities of these literature works. The problems of the professional identification of teachers and educational researchers are also considered in detail. Who is the successful teacher, who is the successful researcher – the paper gives answers of such questions.

39-46

Authors: E. Boiadjieva, A. Tafrova-Grigorova, J.E. Hollenbeck, M. Kirova

This investigation sought understand of the pedagogical philosophies of Bulgarian secondary science teachers in public schools in Sofia, Bulgaria, using the instrument that derived information for this study was an interview protocol consisting of six open-ended questions, with a numerical scoring analysis: the Teachers Pedagogical Philosophy Interview (TPPI). A review of literature shows there is no research on the pedagogical philosophical basis of teacher’s beliefs on teaching or on the effect of integrating constructivist teaching methodology in Bulgarian secondary science classrooms.

68-95

Authors: C. Katansky

The article describes the basic results of a study dealing with the problem of quality and effectiveness of vocational training of adults in Bulgaria. Why is it retrospective? Because the subject of study is previous author’s andragogical investigations on the vocational qualification system, adults learners, training process and principals. The author uses the andragogigal methodology and results in order to develop a new approach to the problem and original definitions of vocational training quality and effectiveness.

109-127

Authors: S. Birisci, M. Metin, M. Karakas

The aim of this study is to determine prospective elementary teachers’ attitudes towards computers. This research was carried out in fall semester of 2007 at a small university in northeastern Turkey with 248 prospective elementary teachers. In order to get general results about the sample survey methodology was used. Results show that computer attitudes of pro-spective elementary teachers are at medium level. No significant differences were found between gender, high school type and monthly family income independent variables and computer liking, computer anxiety and use of computers in education/instruction subscales. However, a significant difference was found between high school type and computer anxiety and computers in education/instruction subscales.