Developing a Constructivist Model for Effective Physics Learning

The paper considered developing a constructivist model for effective physics teaching. The model is imperative because of the increasing difficulty in learning physics and the resulting poor academic performance in the subject. The paper reviewed two types of constructivism which are the social and cognitive constructivism. Highlights of correlations between the constructivist learning and the authentic learning were revealed. To applying the model to physics learning, it was argued that constructivist teachers should give serious attention to the prior knowledge of the students. This will determine the mode of teacher instruction. The teacher content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge are central to excellent teaching. The paper concludes that physics teacher should promote student interactions and respect student ideas being the kernel of the constructivist learning. Aina, Jacob Kola "Developing a Constructivist Model for Effective Physics Learning" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-1 | Issue-4 , June 201

Peer Instruction Dialogical Argumentation Model (PIDAM) for Authentic Learning of Science

The research is a pretest-posttest experimental design that integrated peer instruction into the dialogical argumentative instruction to investigate the authentic learning experience among College students. The participants were pre-service physics students of a College of Education in Nigeria. The mixed-method approach was adopted to obtain data for the study. The research instruments were Electromagnetism Physics Test (EPT) and Semi-structured interviews. The ANOVA and thematic coding were used to analyse the data obtained. The outcome of the research shows that students' authentic learning was enhanced with the integration of PI into the dialogical argumentation instruction. It also shows that the gender difference in academic performance was not significant. The study makes some recommendations; one of them is further studies on PIDAM because this is the first study on PIDAM in a College

Authentic Science Learning Experience in Nigerian Schools: A Desirable Education Reform in the 21st Century

The paper looked at the reform in the teaching and learning of science in Nigeria educational system because the present system lacked the authentic learning experience. The inability of the students to transfer theory to practice makes the system inadequate. The paper criticized the teaching strategies most Nigerian teachers employed in classes and put forward a more research-based pedagogy. Nine fundamental authentic learning elements were highlighted in the article. In other to achieve some of the elements the paper recommended peer instruction (PI) as a better method of teaching already implemented in many developed countries. The paper suggested a revision of the curriculum along the line of some of these authentic learning elements

The Effectiveness of peer instruction (PI) in enhancing pre-service teachers’ understanding of electromagnetism I in a Nigerian college of education

Philosophiae Doctor - PhDThis research study investigated the effectiveness of Peer Instruction (PI) in enhancing preservice teachers’ understanding of Electromagnetism I in a Nigerian college of education. PI as a research-based pedagogy was invented for the teaching of introductory science courses to large classes. Lectures in PI is made of short presentations on the main points, each followed by short conceptual questions known as ConcepTest, posed in a multiple-choice format, on the subject under discussion. Electromagnetism is a branch of Physics where students perform poorly at Colleges of Education in Nigeria. Electromagnetism I covers electrostatics, magnetostatics, current electricity, electrolysis, and capacitance. Each of these themes has different topics under it. Most students studying Electromagnetism I, cannot relate or connect what they learned in the classroom to real-world situations because they often learn by memorization (rote learning)

Correlation between Continuous Assessment (CA) and Students’ Performance in Physics

This is a descriptive survey study. Ninety-two physics students from Kwara State College of Education Lafiagi, participated in the study. Physics results in electromagnetism of these students were analyzed using frequency counts, percentages and Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient to find out correlation between continuous assessment and students’ performance in physics. Results indicated that there was a strong correlation between continuous assessment and students’ scores in examination and also in student final grade in electromagnetism. It was concluded that continuous assessment influenced students’ performance in physics. It was recommended that compilation of students’ final grade in physics should not be based on only examination scores but should be addition of examination scores and the scores of students’ in continuous assessment. Keywords: Correlation, continuous assessment, electromagnetism, summative and formative assessment

Analysis of Gender Performance in Physics in Colleges of Education, Nigeria

The paper employed descriptive survey study of male and female performance in physics in four Colleges of Education in Kwara state, Nigeria. One hundred students were sampled for the study. Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient, frequency counts and percentages were used to analyse the data collected. The results showed no relationship between male and female performance and male students performed better than female in physics. The paper concluded that Students’ performance in physics in College of Education is no gender bias; however, male students are better in performance than female students. Some recommendations were suggested at the end of the study. Keywords: Gender, academic performance, science enrolmen

THE NIGERIAN CERTIFICATE IN EDUCATION (NCE): SCIENCE GRADUATES' EMPLOYABILITY

This reviewed paper focused on the Nigerian Certificate in Education (NCE) and the problem of science graduates' employability as a bane for unemployment in Nigeria. The script discussed the challenges facing the NCE graduates and attributed it to the teacher education programme's issues. Some sources of these problems are inadequate curriculum, government policy, and others. The article conceptualized Application, Creativity, and Employability (ACE) to explain the unemployment challenge among the NCE science graduate in Nigeria. An ACE framework to solve this problem was formed and highlighted some benefits of the ACE for colleges of education programme. The article discussed some implications the ACE may have on the Nigerian colleges of education science

The lack of good governance in Nigeria and its impact on functional science education

The paper reviewed the importance of science education in the development of every nation of the world including Nigeria. However, it argued that the science education in Nigeria as studied in the Universities, Polytechnics, and Colleges of Education could not be functional. It is not functional because it only produced graduates who are not creative. The paper attributed this to the lack of the good governance in the country. The pinnacle of bad governance was summarized to be corruption in the nation. Visionary leaders, total war against corruption, Youth Scientific Collaboration Programme (YSCP) and much more are some of the solutions recommended by the authors

Lecturers’ Perception of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge in Nigerian Colleges of Education

The study investigates lecturers’ perception of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) in Nigerian Colleges of Education. This is a survey method of research, where a questionnaire was used to obtain data from teachers in three public Colleges of Education in a state. The questionnaire is a five-point Likert scale containing 29 items on technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK). The data obtained were analysed using descriptive statistics. Results show that teachers possess the technological knowledge required for their teaching profession and use various teaching pedagogies to teach. Besides, teachers integrate technologies to teach subject content using suitable teaching methods. Finally, teachers employed minimal technologies for their teachings, and only a few lecturers own personal technologies. One of the implications of the outcome of this research is the teacher’s challenge to e-learning. This research indicates that Nigerian Colleges of Education teachers have not been adequately engaging students in online teaching during COVID-19

Pre-Service Science Teachers' Training: The Case of Colleges of Education in Nigeria

Abstract Colleges of Education are teacher training institutions established to train teachers for primary and junior secondary schools in Nigeria. Research shows that science teachers trained in these colleges are not performing well in classrooms after their graduation. This is due to problems associated with Colleges of Education such as lack of science equipment, bad leadership, lack of committed lecturers and bad admission policy. These problems make teachers trained in these colleges to be incompetent in teaching science. The resultant effect of this is poor students' academic performances in science subjects both in primary and secondary schools. The paper suggested some recommendations for stakeholders in education to solve the problems