Assessment in Nigerian schools: a counsellor’s viewpoint

Assessment is aimed at finding out how much a child has acquired in terms of learning skills but also takes into consideration the personal-social development of the child. In Nigerian schools, assessment, most often than not is concentrated on cognitive achievement to the detriment of affective and psychomotor development of learners. This paper reports the findings of a year long survey examining the implementation of Holistic Assessment Measure (WAM) among secondary school teachers in Ilorin, Nigeria. In WAM, a student is assessed as a total entity using all the psychometric devises such as test and non-test techniques. Data were gathered through interviews and focus group with 500 randomly selected teachers. Results suggested that WAM was perceived as useful by 90% of the teachers to clarify assessment expectations. However, only 5% of the respondents admitted to employing WAM in the assessment of their students. 95% of the respondents do not factor affective and psychomotor measure into the overall performance of their students while 10% of the respondents claimed ignorance and incompetence in the use of non-test devises. It is recommended, that in-service training be organised for secondary school teachers in Nigeria, to educate them more on the need for WAM in the attainment of the overall educational goals. Key words: Assessment; holistic; secondary schools, Nigeria

Locus of Control as Determinants of Online - Dating Behaviour Among Graduates in Kwara – State

This study investigated locus of control as a determinant of online dating among university students in Kwara State. A descriptive survey design with a correlational approach was adopted. The study's respondents were 380 university students from four universities in Kwara State. Instruments for data collection were the Online Dating Behaviour Scale adapted from the Tinsel (2019) Survey and the locus of control scale adapted from Rotter (1966). Three null hypotheses were generated and tested at .05 alpha levels. Pearson Product Moment Correlation was used. Result showed a significant relationship between online dating and internal locus of control of university students in Kwara State (r. calculated = 0.41, df = 378 and p < 0.05); a significant relationship between online dating and powerful others locus of control of university students in Kwara State (r. calculated = -0.62, df = 378 and p < 0.05); a significant relationship between online dating and chance locus of control of university students in Kwara State (r. calculated = -0.26, df = 378 and p < 0.05). Recommendations based on the findings of the study were proffered

Strategies for managing deviant behaviour among in-school adolescents as expressed by secondary school counsellors in Kwara State, Nigeria

This study investigated strategies for managing deviant behaviour among in-school adolescents as expressed by secondary school counsellors in Kwara State. The study adopted the descriptive survey research design method. The target population for this study consisted of secondary school counsellors in the state. Purposive sampling technique was used to select 70 respondents from each of the three senatorial districts in Kwara State. The questionnaire titled “Strategies for Managing Deviant Behaviour Questionnaire” was administered to the school counsellors. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used for the data analysis. The findings revealed that deviant behaviour is caused by a lack of effective parental upbringing. Also, the major strategy employed by counsellors in handling behavioural problems is the reinforcement technique. The findings revealed that there were no significant differences in the counsellors’ perception on the strategies for managing deviant behaviour among in-school adolescents on the basis of years in service, religion and type of school. To this end, counsellors should continue to provide right information to in-school adolescents about the negative effects of deviant behaviours. The findings of this study will be of benefit to school administrators, teachers and counsellors as it will give them an insight into handling deviant behaviour exhibited among in-school adolescents.Keywords: deviant behaviour; in-school-adolescents; counsellors; secondary schoo

Exploring UK medical school differences: the MedDifs study of selection, teaching, student and F1 perceptions, postgraduate outcomes and fitness to practise

BACKGROUND: Medical schools differ, particularly in their teaching, but it is unclear whether such differences matter, although influential claims are often made. The Medical School Differences (MedDifs) study brings together a wide range of measures of UK medical schools, including postgraduate performance, fitness to practise issues, specialty choice, preparedness, satisfaction, teaching styles, entry criteria and institutional factors. METHOD: Aggregated data were collected for 50 measures across 29 UK medical schools. Data include institutional history (e.g. rate of production of hospital and GP specialists in the past), curricular influences (e.g. PBL schools, spend per student, staff-student ratio), selection measures (e.g. entry grades), teaching and assessment (e.g. traditional vs PBL, specialty teaching, self-regulated learning), student satisfaction, Foundation selection scores, Foundation satisfaction, postgraduate examination performance and fitness to practise (postgraduate progression, GMC sanctions). Six specialties (General Practice, Psychiatry, Anaesthetics, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Internal Medicine, Surgery) were examined in more detail. RESULTS: Medical school differences are stable across time (median alpha = 0.835). The 50 measures were highly correlated, 395 (32.2%) of 1225 correlations being significant with p < 0.05, and 201 (16.4%) reached a Tukey-adjusted criterion of p < 0.0025. Problem-based learning (PBL) schools differ on many measures, including lower performance on postgraduate assessments. While these are in part explained by lower entry grades, a surprising finding is that schools such as PBL schools which reported greater student satisfaction with feedback also showed lower performance at postgraduate examinations. More medical school teaching of psychiatry, surgery and anaesthetics did not result in more specialist trainees. Schools that taught more general practice did have more graduates entering GP training, but those graduates performed less well in MRCGP examinations, the negative correlation resulting from numbers of GP trainees and exam outcomes being affected both by non-traditional teaching and by greater historical production of GPs. Postgraduate exam outcomes were also higher in schools with more self-regulated learning, but lower in larger medical schools. A path model for 29 measures found a complex causal nexus, most measures causing or being caused by other measures. Postgraduate exam performance was influenced by earlier attainment, at entry to Foundation and entry to medical school (the so-called academic backbone), and by self-regulated learning. Foundation measures of satisfaction, including preparedness, had no subsequent influence on outcomes. Fitness to practise issues were more frequent in schools producing more male graduates and more GPs. CONCLUSIONS: Medical schools differ in large numbers of ways that are causally interconnected. Differences between schools in postgraduate examination performance, training problems and GMC sanctions have important implications for the quality of patient care and patient safety

The Analysis of Teaching of Medical Schools (AToMS) survey: an analysis of 47,258 timetabled teaching events in 25 UK medical schools relating to timing, duration, teaching formats, teaching content, and problem-based learning

BACKGROUND: What subjects UK medical schools teach, what ways they teach subjects, and how much they teach those subjects is unclear. Whether teaching differences matter is a separate, important question. This study provides a detailed picture of timetabled undergraduate teaching activity at 25 UK medical schools, particularly in relation to problem-based learning (PBL). METHOD: The Analysis of Teaching of Medical Schools (AToMS) survey used detailed timetables provided by 25 schools with standard 5-year courses. Timetabled teaching events were coded in terms of course year, duration, teaching format, and teaching content. Ten schools used PBL. Teaching times from timetables were validated against two other studies that had assessed GP teaching and lecture, seminar, and tutorial times. RESULTS: A total of 47,258 timetabled teaching events in the academic year 2014/2015 were analysed, including SSCs (student-selected components) and elective studies. A typical UK medical student receives 3960 timetabled hours of teaching during their 5-year course. There was a clear difference between the initial 2 years which mostly contained basic medical science content and the later 3 years which mostly consisted of clinical teaching, although some clinical teaching occurs in the first 2 years. Medical schools differed in duration, format, and content of teaching. Two main factors underlay most of the variation between schools, Traditional vs PBL teaching and Structured vs Unstructured teaching. A curriculum map comparing medical schools was constructed using those factors. PBL schools differed on a number of measures, having more PBL teaching time, fewer lectures, more GP teaching, less surgery, less formal teaching of basic science, and more sessions with unspecified content. DISCUSSION: UK medical schools differ in both format and content of teaching. PBL and non-PBL schools clearly differ, albeit with substantial variation within groups, and overlap in the middle. The important question of whether differences in teaching matter in terms of outcomes is analysed in a companion study (MedDifs) which examines how teaching differences relate to university infrastructure, entry requirements, student perceptions, and outcomes in Foundation Programme and postgraduate training

The Analysis of Teaching of Medical Schools (AToMS) survey: an analysis of 47,258 timetabled teaching events in 25 UK medical schools relating to timing, duration, teaching formats, teaching content, and problem-based learning

Background What subjects UK medical schools teach, what ways they teach subjects, and how much they teach those subjects is unclear. Whether teaching differences matter is a separate, important question. This study provides a detailed picture of timetabled undergraduate teaching activity at 25 UK medical schools, particularly in relation to problem-based learning (PBL). Method The Analysis of Teaching of Medical Schools (AToMS) survey used detailed timetables provided by 25 schools with standard 5-year courses. Timetabled teaching events were coded in terms of course year, duration, teaching format, and teaching content. Ten schools used PBL. Teaching times from timetables were validated against two other studies that had assessed GP teaching and lecture, seminar, and tutorial times. Results A total of 47,258 timetabled teaching events in the academic year 2014/2015 were analysed, including SSCs (student-selected components) and elective studies. A typical UK medical student receives 3960 timetabled hours of teaching during their 5-year course. There was a clear difference between the initial 2 years which mostly contained basic medical science content and the later 3 years which mostly consisted of clinical teaching, although some clinical teaching occurs in the first 2 years. Medical schools differed in duration, format, and content of teaching. Two main factors underlay most of the variation between schools, Traditional vs PBL teaching and Structured vs Unstructured teaching. A curriculum map comparing medical schools was constructed using those factors. PBL schools differed on a number of measures, having more PBL teaching time, fewer lectures, more GP teaching, less surgery, less formal teaching of basic science, and more sessions with unspecified content. Discussion UK medical schools differ in both format and content of teaching. PBL and non-PBL schools clearly differ, albeit with substantial variation within groups, and overlap in the middle. The important question of whether differences in teaching matter in terms of outcomes is analysed in a companion study (MedDifs) which examines how teaching differences relate to university infrastructure, entry requirements, student perceptions, and outcomes in Foundation Programme and postgraduate training

Globalization and the challenges of human resource development: the counsellor's factor

This paper discusses the challenge of human resource development as it relates counseling in Nigerian schools in the face of globalization of world economy with its attendant changes in every facet of life. It traces the origin of human resource development Iin Nigeria up to the coming of the missionaries who spiritually colonized Africa and also educated their adherents. The National Policy on Education of 1997, which was a Nigerianised product, however introduced a new impetus in education vis-à-vis human resource development. The resultant 6-3-3-4 system of education was seen as a panacea for the training of marketable, self-employed individuals in technical and vocational education with guidance and counseling entrenched as the Nigerian system of education shows that counseling has taken off in most schools but counselors do not have necessary infrastructures with which to carry out their duties effectively. The paper thus advocates proper funding of guidance and counseling programmes as this will go a long way in enhancing human resource development in Nigeria. The Nigerian Journal of Guidance and Counselling Vol. 9 2004: 71-8

A cross-ethnic study of the attitude of married women in Nigeria towards female genital mutilation

No Abstract.African Journal for the psychological studies of social issue Vol. 10 (1&2) 2007: pp. 114-12

Efficacy of Self-Instructional Talk and Multicomponent Techniques in Reducing Occupational Stress among Teachers in Command Schools in Nigeria

There exists a substantial body of literature relating the ravaging tendency of occupational stress, therefore, the need to train teachers on effective stress management strategies. This study examined the efficacy of self-instructional talk (SIT) and multicomponent techniques (MCT) on occupational stress reduction of Command Secondary School teachers in the Nigerian Army. The study adopted a quasi-experimental approach using a 3x2 factorial design. The multi-stage random sampling technique was used to select 120 teachers (60 males and 60 females) who participated in the study. The treatment groups were exposed to eight weeks of training sessions while the participants in the control were not exposed to any treatment, Teacher Stress Scale was used to collect data. Three hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. Participants were post tested after eight weeks of treatment. Data were analysed using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) and Duncan Multiple Range Test. Findings revealed significant difference in the occupational stress reduction of participants in the treatment groups and those in the control group (F(2,119)=1.61; p&lt;.05). Multicomponent technique was found to be more effective for occupational stress reduction (F(1,79)=91.37; p&lt;.05). There was no interaction effect of gender on treatment as the males were constant in their stress reduction after treatment in the three groups. The study concludes that self-instructional talk and multicomponent techniques were effective in reducing stress of teachers in Command Secondary Schools. It is therefore recommended that counsellors should use the two therapies in helping teachers to manage stress at work

Assessment in Nigerian schools: a counsellor's viewpoint

Assessment is aimed at finding out how much a child has acquired in terms of learning skills but also takes into consideration the personal-social development of the child. In Nigerian schools, assessment, most often than not is concentrated on cognitive achievement to the detriment of affective and psychomotor development of learners. This paper reports the findings of a year-long survey examining the implementation of wholistic assessment measure (WAM) among secondary school teachers in Ilorin, Nigeria. In WAM, a student is assessed as a total entity using all the psychometric devises such as test and non-test techniques. Data were gathered through interviews and focus group with 500 randomly selected teachers. Results suggested that WAM was perceived as useful by 90% of the teachers to clarify assessment expectations. However, only 5% of the respondents admitted to employing WAM in the assessment of their students. 95% of the respondents do not factor affective and psychomotor measure into the overall performance of their students while 10% of the respondents claimed ignorance and incompetence in the use of non-test devises. It is recommended, that in-service training be organised for secondary school teachers in Nigeria, to educate them more on the need for WAM in the attainment of the overall educational goals.student assessment; wholistic; secondary schools; Nigeria; learning skills; personal development; social development; assessment measures; in-service training; teacher training.