CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR EFFECTIVE TEACHING AND LEARNING IN UNIVERSITIES IN RIVERS STATE, NIGERIA

The study investigated classroom management strategies teachers in Universities implement for effective teaching and learning. Five objectives, research questions and hypotheses respectively guided the study. The descriptive survey research design was adopted with the sample of the study consisting of 59teachers and 394students drawn from three public universities in Rivers State. The multi-stage sampling technique was used to draw the sample and a questionnaire designed in line with the 4-point Likert scale of ‘Strongly Agree’ to ‘Strongly Disagree’ was administered. The reliability of the instrument was ascertained by use of Cronbach Alpha technique and are liability index of 0.92 was obtained, indicating a high consistency of the instrument. Mean and Standard deviation were used to answer the research questions while the hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance using t-test. The finding showed that teachers and students acknowledged the strategies delineated as those implemented by teachers with respect to: classroom arrangement, expectations from students, and strategies to promote appropriate use of consequences. The researcher concluded that teaching and learning is being carried out effectively in Rivers State Universities and therefore recommended that teachers be encouraged to sustain the adoption of classroom management strategies by recognizing and rewarding hardworking teachers

Knowledge Synergy Among Lecturers in Public Universities in Rivers State

Knowledge synergy refers to a continuous knowledge creation process which fuses people with diverse capabilities from diverse places, departments, organizations, institutions and facilities to share, exchange, integrate, combine and transfer their knowledge as they work together to achieve the same goal rather than individuals working independently. Knowledge synergy is pivotal in the achievement of university goals because it kindles productivity. The researchers examined knowledge synergy among lecturers in public universities in Rivers State. Three research questions were answered and three corresponding hypotheses were tested in this study. The study adopted a descriptive research design. The population of the study comprised all the 2330 lecturers in the three public universities in Rivers State, Nigeria. The sample size was 746 lecturers. The stratified randomsampling technique using 32% of the population gave the sample size. The researchers made instrument titled Knowledge Synergy among Lecturers in Public Universities Questionnaire (KSLPUQ), was used for data collection. The instrument contained 43 items that addressed the three research questions. Face and content validities were ensured. The reliabi1ity coefficient of 0.92 was obtained with the help of Cronbach alpha. Descriptive statistics: mean and standard deviation was used to answer the three research questions while the z-test statistics was used to test the three null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. It was found out among others that lecturers practice knowledge synergy to a very great extent in the three public universities in Rivers State. Again, the types of knowledge synergy practised are academic conferences, workshops, seminars, joint authorship, general staff meetings and one-on-one discussions. It was recommended among others that; heads of department should always pair senior and junior lecturers in the discharge of teaching and non-teaching activities to enrich their knowledge level. Universities’ Vice Chancellors, Deans and Provost should also be able to make knowledge synergy a prerequisite for promotion in the university system

Lecturers’ Compliance with Quality Assurance Mechanisms in Public Universities in Delta State

The study investigated the extent to which lecturers’ complied with quality assurance mechanisms in public universities in Delta State. Two objectives, two research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. The descriptive survey research design was adopted. The population of the study consisted of 1,299 lecturers and 6,826 students from the public universities in Delta State. A sample of 260 lecturers and 409 students representing 20% and 6% respectively, of the population was obtained using the proportionate random sampling technique. The instrument used for data collection was a researchers’ made questionnaire titled “Compliance with Quality Assurance Mechanisms Questionnaire (CQAMQ). The Cronbach Alpha method was used to determine the internal consistency of the items and it yielded a result of 0.76 and 0.97 for A and B respectively. The researchers and two assistants distributed 669 copies of the questionnaire and successfully collected 628 copies of the questionnaire administered. The research questions were analyzed using the mean, standard deviation and rank order statistics, while the hypotheses were tested using z-test at 0.05 level of significance. It was found that lecturers in public universities in Delta State complied with measurement and evaluation of students learning outcome and the use of interactive teaching and learning method in the classroom to a high extent. The findings revealed that lecturers’ compliance with measurement and evaluation of students learning outcomes in public universities in Delta State is high. Based on the findings, it was concluded that lecturers complied with the quality assurance mechanisms to a high extent, it was therefore recommended that the university management should formulate a policy that will make lecturers sustain the strategy of assessing the learning outcome ofstudents and organize more lectures and seminars on how lecturers can sustain the strategies in the use of interactive teaching and learning methods in the classroom