Objectives of the Module
By the end of this module the teacher will be able to;
- Set appropriate teaching objectives for every stage of teaching
- Adopt suitable teaching strategies
- Develop daily lesson plans
- Prepare schemes of work
- Demonstrate understanding of effective planning for teaching
- Assess and evaluate students progress and provide adequate and timely feedback
Introduction
The most important factor in any education system are the teachers and how they teach. It is their competence, knowledge, skills and dedication that will determine the quality of the lessons. One of the factors affecting the quality of science education in secondary schools is the fact that background in methodology and innovativeness among the science teachers is quite low. This added to the inadequacy of science facilities has resulted to theoretical teaching of the subject.
For effective teaching and learning, teachers should vary their teaching methods. They should know how to;
get the participation of pupils that child centred methods
include demonstrations and experiments in their teaching
utilize and use apparatus and equipment effectively
improvise when need arises
Teachers need to make the teaching of science more interesting, comparatively easy to learn and understand and thus more effective. A thorough understanding of scientific phenomena and processes cannot be achieved by theoretical explanations alone nor by visualization that is restricted to chalk and blackboard. It is essential that students learn to observe and interpret scientific phenomena by watching demonstrations. Understanding and interest will be further increased if students are given an opportunity to carry out their own experiments either individually or in small groups.
Although the ideal situation as far as science equipment does not exist in most secondary schools, it is important that teachers think of alternative ways of solving the problem.
Methodology refers to a set of methods used in presenting the subject matter to achieve specific objectives. In this module the various methods are covered. Key features of each method and how best it can be used are discussed. Practical activities are provided to enable the teacher develop competence in selection and use of appropriate methods in given situations. The importance of a learner-centred and practical approach to teaching Biology is stressed.