Browsing by Author "Ogunjimi, Mayowa Olurotimi"
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Item Analysis of the dimensionality of Nigerian Senior School Certificate Examination June/July 2013/2014 Objective Tests in Government(Department of Science Education, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Nigeria, 2017-12) Adewuni, David Adebayo; Owolabi, Henry Olumuyiwa; Ogunjimi, Mayowa Olurotimi; Akinboboye, Joseph Taiwo; Bamidele, Samuel TundeThis study examined and analyzed the dimensionality of the Nigerian Senior School Certificate Examination Multiple-choice Objective Tests in Government. Exploratory research design was adopted for the study. A representative sample of 1,348 out of 3,034 Senior Secondary School Three (SSS III) students from 49 schools participated in the study through multi-stage sampling technique. The June/July series of NECO Senior School Certificate Examination June/July Multiple-choice Objective Tests in Government for the years 2013 and 2014 were adopted as instrument for the study. Data collected were analyzed using Principal Component Analysis and Proximity Matrix Method of the HCA Approach. The findings of this study revealed that 56 items representing 93.33% of the total of 60 items in NECO SSCE June/July Multiple-choice Objective Tests in Government for the two years were unidimensional and no significant difference was observed between the two tests. In conclusion, the two tests were unidimensional. The study recommended that efforts should be intensified toward improving the standard of the tests items, that all examining bodies using multiple-choice test instruments should be encouraged to use the Hierarchical Cluster Analysis Approach in test development process.Item Assessing the Impact of School Environment on Academic Performance of Senior Secondary School Students in Economics(Department of Vocational Education, Faculty of Education, University of Uyo, Uyo, Nigeria, 2017-07) Daramola, Dorcas Sola; Olutola, Adekunle Thomas; Ogunjimi, Mayowa OlurotimiThe study assessed the impact of school environment on academic performance of senior secondary school students in Economics. The researchers adopted survey research design for the study. Two hundred and fifty (250) senior secondary school Economics students were randomly selected for the study. A researcher’s designed questionnaire titled “School Environment Questionnaire” (SEQ) with Cronbach’s Alpha reliability coefficient of 0.89 was used to collect data for the study. Also, the senior secondary school students’ second term scores were collected with profoma. The researcher used mean and standard deviation to answer research question one, while Pearson Product Moment Correlation statistics was used to test all the four hypotheses formulated at 0.05 level of significance. Finding revealed that there is no significant relationship between school environment and students’ academic performance in Economics in senior secondary school in Ilorin (p-value 0.981 > 0.05). Also, the findings revealed that there is no significant relationship between school facilities and students’ academic performance in economics in senior secondary school in Ilorin (p-value 0.796 > 0.05). In addition, there is no significant relationship between classroom condition and students’ academic performance in economics in senior secondary school in Ilorin (p-value 0.734 > 0.05) and there is no significant relationship between school location and students’ academic performance in economics in senior secondary school in Ilorin (p-value 0.923 > 0.05). Based on these findings, it was recommended that conducive learning environment should be created for the students so that they wouldl be able to perform academically. Moreover, schools should be provided with adequate teaching aids, as this will also enhance the academic performance of students in economics.Item Assessing the Management of Motivational Needs and Career Aspirations of In-Service Teacher Trainees of Lagos State Junior Secondary Schools(Faculty of Education, University of Benin, Benin-City, Nigeria, 2018-11) Ogunjimi, Mayowa Olurotimi; Olujuwon, Tola; Udofia, Imoh GodwinMotivation is understood as a concept of management practice used to enhance productivity at work place. Therefore, this study examines the motivational needs and career aspirations of in-service teachers of Lagos State junior secondary schools. The study is a descriptive survey research design. the population of the study consists of all in-service teachers of Lagos State junior secondary schools that are undertaking sandwich degree programmes while a sample of 240 in-service teachers was selected purposively across each of the six educational districts in the State. A self-constructed questionnaire titled "In-Service Teachers' Motivational Needs and Career Aspirations Questionnaire" (ITMNCAQ) was used for data collection. The Cronbach Alpha reliability value of the instrument is 0.73. The data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions while the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient was used to test the stated hypothesis. The findings of the study revealed that counselling by people around and family members is the most significant motivational needs of in-service teachers while the highly rated career aspiration is finding stable economic security in teaching. A significant relationship was established between motivational needs and career aspirations of in-service teachers. It was recommended that in-service teachers motivational needs in the teaching profession should influence the way schools prepare and plan their curricula. The school management should increase the number of developmental programmes and develop career counselling strategies to enhance in-service teachers self-efficacy in several aspects of the teaching profession.Item Assessment of Academic Performance of Public and Private Primary Schools in Lagos State, Nigeria(Common Ground Publishing LLC, Illinois, USA, 2012) Lapite, Akolade Olubunmi; Ogunjimi, Mayowa OlurotimiIn recent time in Nigeria, privately owned primary schools have been on the increase against the government owned schools. The study therefore was carried out to compare the academic performance of private and public primary schools in Lagos State, Nigeria. A sample of 480 pupils were randomly selected from 24 primary schools in the six (6) education district zones in Lagos State. Achievement test adapted from past common entrance examination questions were administered to the selected samples. From the three hypotheses generated, it was found that the academic performance of private primary school pupils was significantly different from that of public schools. It was recommended that government should make public education to be of high standard by giving proper attention to the facilities and activities that will enhance academic performance of the pupils in public primary schools.Item Attitude and Competency Skills of Undergraduate Students towards ICT: A sine qua non of CBT as an innovation in testing(Department of Educational Foundations, Faculty of Education, University of Benin, Benin-City, Nigeria, 2015-11) Sheu, Adaramaja Lukman; Owolabi, Henry Olumuyiwa; Ogunjimi, Mayowa OlurotimiComputer-Based Test (CBT) is being adopted for assessment by many institutions in Nigeria due to increase in students’ population, expansion work demands on academic staff, and advances in Information and Communication Technology (ICT). The successful implementation of any innovation in education depends largely on the attitude and the competency skills of educators, who eventually determine how they are used in the teaching and learning process. The purpose of this study therefore was to examine the attitude and competency skills of undergraduate students toward ICT, the basic skills of which required in CBT. The study adopted descriptive survey design. The population of this study comprised all undergraduate students of University of Ilorin. One thousand and twelve (1,012) undergraduate students were randomly selected for the study. A questionnaire measuring students ICT competence and attitude to ICT was used for data collection. The instrument had acceptable validity and had test-retest reliability coefficient of 0.82 and 0.84 for both student’s ICT competence and attitude to ICT respectively. Data collected were analyzed with percentages, mean, standard deviation, skewness and kurtosis. The findings of the study revealed that undergraduate students have positive attitudes towards ICT; and moderate competence in ICT. Based on the findings, it was recommended that the university system should provide adequate opportunity for all students to learn relevant computer skills and develop more positive attitude to complement their existing competence and attitude.Item Cohorting Exercise and Socio-Economic Performance of Students in Tertiary Institutions(Triumph-Providential Publishers, 2011) Aletan, Sola; Ogunjimi, Mayowa OlurotimiThe usefulness of cohorting exercise to students in tertiary institutions cannot be overstressed. The study aimed at determining the relationship between cohorting exercise and socio-academic performance of students in University of Lagos. Four research questions and four corresponding hypotheses were generated for the study. Descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study where 100 students and 20 cohort advisers across faculties in the University of Lagos were randomly selected. Two sets of questionnaires titled “Cohorting Exercise and Socio-academic Performance Questionnaire” and Perception of Students and Staff on Cohorting Exercise” were used in collecting information from the students and members of staff. The questionnaire had two section each. Section one elicited the bio-data of the repondents while section two measured the variables in the study. The data generated were analysed using t-test statistics for independent sample to test hypotheses one and two while Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient was used to test hypotheses three and four. The result findings showed that cohorting exercise can make or mar socio-academic performance of students and that personal dispositions of cohort advisers could make or mar the entire cohorting exercise. It was also revealed that there was a positive and high relationship between cohorting exercise and socio-academic performance of students. It was recommended that cohort advisers should be adequately compensated by school authority so as to be motivated to do the work judiciously.Item Effects of Convergent Learning and Divergent Learning Strategies on Students Academic Performance in Biology in Ilorin, Nigeria(Department of Publishing and Web Development, University of Education, Winneba, Ghana, 2017-12) Olutola, Adekunle Thomas; Ogunjimi, Mayowa Olurotimi; Daramola, Dorcas Sola; Sheu, Adaramaja LukmanThe study examined the effects of convergent learning and divergent learning strategies on students’ academic performance in Biology in Ilorin, Nigeria. Three senior secondary schools in Ilorin metropolis were randomly chosen and intact science class of senior secondary schools two in each of the chosen schools was selected for the study. Students’ in the first and second schools were taught and assessed using convergent learning and divergent learning strategies respectively. In addition, students’ in the third school were taught and assessed using conventional teaching method. The researchers’ designed Biology Performance Test 1 (BPT 1) and Biology Performance Test 2 (BPT 2) with Cronbach’s Alpha reliability coefficient of 0.85 (Pre-test) and 0.88 (Post-test) were used to obtain data for the study. The data collected were analysed using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). Findings revealed that there is significant effect of convergent and divergent learning strategies on secondary school student’s performance in biology. In addition, there is no significant effect of convergent and divergent learning strategies on secondary school students’ performance in biology based on gender and there is no significant interactive effect of gender and learning strategies on secondary school students’ performance in biology. It was recommended that Biology teachers should make use of both the convergent and divergent learning strategies during their lessons and Biology students should be encouraged to serve as a tutor to teach their colleagues’, which is one of basis for divergent learning strategy.Item Emerging Human Capital Needs and Modification of Training Programmes by Nigerian Tertiary Institutions(National Association of Educational Researchers and Evaluators, 2011) Ogunjimi, Mayowa Olurotimi; Sheu, Adaramaja Lukman; Owolabi, Henry OlumuyiwaIt is commonly believed that while the early graduates of tertiary institutions in Nigeria tend to demonstrate competence at work and life skills while many of the present day graduates show opposite tendencies. The pace of development around the world places a demand on education to optimally contribute to human development by instilling competence and creativity in school products. The demand is heavier on tertiary institutions. The study therefore investigated how tertiary institutions in Nigeria cope with the emerging human capital development needs. Specifically, empirical evidences of the steps taken by academic departments of tertiary institutions to obtain information about current needs of employers of labour, whether they embark on periodic review of academic programmes to cope with demands of the work place and their level of satisfaction with the employment prospects of graduates produced by them were sought. Interview of selected departmental heads in tertiary institutions in Lagos and Kwara State was carried out. With the use of frequency counts and percentages, it was found that majority of the academic departments review their academic programmes following guidelines provided by regulatory bodies like NCCE and NUC. Most of the departments also have forum through which they interact with employers of their products but a fairly large proportion of the academic departments expressed dissatisfaction with the employment prospects of their products. In view of these findings, it was recommended that institutions of higher learning in Nigeria should keep developments at work in view and reform curriculum to cater for needs represented. Also, it is recommended that research based policy initiatives should be instituted to achieve improvements in the contributions to human capital development.Item Exploring the Parenting Style and Truancy Behaviour of Primary School Pupils in Lagos State, Nigeria(Department of Psychology and Education, Faculty of Educational Studies, University of Education, Winneba, Ghana, 2018-12) Effrim, Paul Kobina; Lapite, Akolade Olubunmi; Ogunjimi, Mayowa OlurotimiEducationists have long been interested in how parents affect child’s behaviour in school. Research is required to establish the links between specific actions of parents and truancy behaviour among primary school pupils. Hence, this study examined the parenting styles as determinant/predictor of truancy behaviour among primary school pupils in Lagos State, Nigeria. The study population is all primary school pupils in Lagos State, while a sample size of 300subjects were purposively selected from five primary schools in each of the six local education districts in the State. The age of the subjects ranged from 9 to 13 with mean of 10.7. Data was generated with questionnaires by the researchers, and analysed with descriptive statistics and inferential statistical method. Three hypotheses were generated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. All the hypotheses were not accepted. The findings revealed that there was significant relationship between parenting style and truancy behaviour of pupils. The study also revealed that poor and ineffective parenting styles were adopted by parents. The researchers however, suggested that concerted efforts should be made by parents to ensure their children are adequately provided for and morally groomed. The implications of these findings were discussed and recommendations made.Item Formative Assessment as Motivational Strategies for Learning: Perceived Impact and Challenges by Senior Secondary School Teachers in Ilorins(Department of Arts and Social Sciences Education, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria, 2012-03) Owolabi, Henry Olumuyiwa; Sheu, Adaramaja Lukman; Ogunjimi, Mayowa Olurotimi; Olutola, Thomas AdekunleFormative assessment is used by teachers and students during instruction to improve students’ achievement of intended instructional outcomes and motivation. However, the impact of formative assessment by the secondary school teachers is regrettable. Hence, this study aimed at investigating the teachers’ perception of impact and challenges of using formative assessment in improving students’ achievement motivation. Three research questions were generated and descriptive survey research design was used in the study to collect data from a sample of one hundred and fifty Senior Secondary School teachers in Ilorin, Kwara State. The instrument for data collection was a validated questionnaire on teachers’ perception of formative assessment (QTPFA). The result of the data analysis showed that the most perceived impact of formative assessment allows students to receive feedback about the quality of their work and what they can do to make it better. Also, the study revealed that poor time allocation and teachers’ resistance to further the testing of students is the most perceived challenge of using formative assessment in the classroom. It was recommended that teachers should be motivated to design how best to adapt formative assessment to their needs and the needs of their students and that assessment guidelines and monitoring committee should be set up by the government in order to ensure high quality formative assessment practicesItem Funtionality of Tertiary Institutions and the Development of Generic Graduate Outcomes(National Association of Educational Researchers and Evaluators, 2014) Owolabi, Henry Olumuyiwa; Ogunjimi, Mayowa Olurotimi; Sheu, Adaramaja LukmanThis study describes the attributes of functional tertiary institutions in relation with the attributes of generic graduate skills. Three graduate outcome variables (discipline-knowledge and skills, communication and problem solving, and ethical and social sensitivity) were discussed to be influenced by four attributes functional tertiary institutions (Teaching Quality, Programme Quality, Good Teaching and Learning Community). A sample of four hundred and fifty students randomly selected from three cohorts (First year students, Final year students and Post-Graduate course work students) of three randomly selected federal universities were used for the study. An adapted instrument tagged “Students’ Experience Survey Questionnaire” with Cronbach’s alpha reliability value of 0.74 was used to collect data from the sample. Using Analysis of Variance and Pearson Product Moment Correlation Co-efficient, the result revealed that there is no significant difference in the functionality of learning across all the institutions of learning selected. However, a significant difference was found in the generic graduate attributes among the cohort of the students. The result further revealed a significant relationship between functional learning institutions and generic graduate outcomes. It was recommended that the interactive, social and collaborative team teaching, capture in the notion of learning community are the most determinant of graduate outcomes and so should be included in the focus of attempts at enhancing the quality of student learning.Item Impact of Opon-Imo on Senior Students' Academic Performance in Osun State, Nigeria.(Department of Educational Management, Faculty of Education, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria, 2015) Daramola, Dorcas Sola; Owolabi, Henry Olumuyiwa; Jimoh, Mohammed Idris; Ogunjimi, Mayowa Olurotimi; Olorunlero, Iyabode; Olutola, Adekunle ThomasIn 2013, Osun State Government launched a tablet programme called “Opon-Imo” (Tablet of Knowledge). This tablet provides senior school students with the learning materials required to essentially, prepare them for external examinations. The question then is after two academics sessions of implementation, has students improved academically? The study therefore investigated the impact of Opon-Imo on senior school students’ academic performance in Osun State. Specifically, the study investigated the impact of Opon-Imo on senior students’ academic performance in English Language after the use of Opon-imo. Also, relationship between gender, senatorial district, subject combination and students’ performance were investigated. Ex-post facto design was adopted for the study. Multi-stage sampling techniques that included stratified and purposive were used to sample 440 SS3 students. Students’ second term scores in English Language before and after Opon-imo was given to them were collected and standardized. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the collected data. Findings revealed below academic performance of senior school students in English Language and negative significant impact of mobile tablet on senior school students’ academic performance in English Language. Also, the use of mobile tablet did not significantly have impact on students’ academic performance in English Language based on gender and senatorial district, but it does base on subject combination. Based on these findings, it was recommended among others that students should be properly monitored to ensure that the tablet is appropriately utilized so as to achieve the intended objectives.Item Impact of School Conservation Club Membership on Secondary School Students' Behaviour in Ojo, Lagos State, Nigeria(Serials Publications, New Delhi, Indian, 2009-10) Owolabi, Henry Olumuyiwa; Aletan, Sola; Ogunjimi, Mayowa OlurotimiThe study aimed at determining the impact of school conservation club membership on students’ behavior. The study was designed to compare the behavior of members and non-members of school conservation club in the area of knowledge of environmental conservation, attitude to environmental conservation and involvement in environmental conservation. The impact of school type, gender and stream on environmental conservation behaviour of students were also investigated. A sample of 575 secondary school students consisting of 275 of the school conservation club members and 300 non-members, was drawn from six randomly selected private and public secondary schools with functional conservation clubs in Ojo Local Government Area of Lagos State. Data analysis shows that there is a significant effect of club membership, stream of class and school type on students’ knowledge, attitude and involvement in environmental conservation. Members of school conservation club performed significantly better than non-members on all the three aspects of environmental conservation behaviour investigated. It was also observed that gender does not significantly affect students’ knowledge, attitude and involvement in environmental conservation. Since establishment of a functional school conservation club has been linked to positive environmental conservation behaviour, all schools should be encouraged to have it. Other States should take a cue from Lagos State as this is a significant way of promoting learning outside the classroom.Item Issues in Mushrooming and Standards in Private Early Childhood Education in Nigeria(Department of Social Sciences Education, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria, 2018) Ogunjimi, Mayowa OlurotimiEducation as an essential key for human & nations development, hence the need to maintain every level of education especially the early childhood stage. The paper presents the origin of early childhood education in Nigeria and the development of private investment in early childhood education. However, the privatisation of early childhood education is subjected to effects which serves as shortcomings in the implementation of the national policy of the early childhood education programme. This can be connected to the fact that the establishment of schools by the private individuals and groups are for commercial and economic gain or interest. Also, the structures of some of these private nursery/primary schools are saddening to write about, they are not just in a very bad state, they are scary. Some of the buildings look like some old houses in a forgotten land somewhere in a forest. Hence, there is need for a reform of in the childhood education sector. For early childhood education to serve as great values, it requires government involvement by enforcing the regulations laid down by the Federal Ministry of Education regarding the provisions of early childhood education and the establishment of private schools. The issue of standards in early childhood education was presented and it was recommended among others that effective quality monitoring units should be set up by the Ministry of Education and government should provide necessary logistics support to ensure that minimum standards are maintained.Item Level of Parental Involvement on Choice of Course and Academic Achievement of Undergraduate of Selected Faculties, University of Ilorin(Department of Human Kinetics Education, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria, 2016) Daramola, Dorcas Sola; Ogunjimi, Mayowa Olurotimi; Olaniyan, Joseph OlatunjiIn order to adjust with the evolving socio-economic conditions of present day Nigeria, one has to make exhaustive career research and plan before making a career choice. Career choice is very central in a students’ academic pursues. This study adopted expost facto design. This is because the data were collected after the event had taken place. All the undergraduates of the selected faculties of University of Ilorin (Unilorin) constituted the population, while 300 level students constituted the target population. The sample size was drawn from three purposively selected Faculties (Social Sciences, Sciences and Law). A total of 322 undergraduates from three purposively selected Departments from these faculties, namely economics, law and physics participated in the study. A researcher developed questionnaire was used to elicit responses from the participants. Also, a profoma was developed to collect the respondents’ CGPA for 2014/2015 academic session. The reliability of the instrument was determined using test retest method and reliability coefficient of 0.78 was obtained. The data collected in this study were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings from the study revealed that a very good percentage of University of Ilorin Undergraduate had their parent chose their course of study for them and more of literate parents are involved, also parents were more involved in choosing courses for their male than the female children. A significant difference was found in the academic achievement of undergraduates of Unilorin whose course was chosen by their parents and those who chose course for themselves. It was recommended among others that Parents should allow their children freewill on their choice of course to enhance better academic achievement as this could have positive implication for national development.Item A Meta-analysis of Researches on Secondary School Student's Attitude to and Achievement in Science Subjects(Department of Science Education, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Nigeria, 2013-08) Owolabi, Henry Olumuyiwa; Sheu, Adaramaja Lukman; Ogunjimi, Mayowa OlurotimiResults from studies on secondary school students’ attitude to science subjects are varied and there is need to aggregate their outcomes and identify its direction. A meta-analysis of studies on Nigerian secondary school students’ attitude to science subjects were carried out to find out whether they generally have positive or negative attitude to science subjects. Gender influences on students’ attitude and relationship existing between their attitude to and achievements in science subjects were also studied. Out of 78 published research reports as well as supervised dissertations and theses on attitude to and achievement in science subjects reviewed, the survey method was adopted to purposively sample 18 research reports. These summarized and meta-analyzed with the use of percentage, t-test and Pearson Product Moment Correlation coefficient to answer the three research questions raised. It was found that more than 50% of Nigerian secondary school students have negative attitude to science subjects while a greater percentage of male students demonstrated positive attitude to these subjects than their female counterparts. The result also revealed a mean Pearson’s correlation coefficient of 0.71 between respondents’ attitude to and achievement in science subjects. Based on these findings, it was recommended that teachers should demonstrate greater resourcefulness in science teaching while parents and teachers should be encouraged to be more aware of the importance of the attitude of students toward science subjects with the aim of promoting positive attitude.Item Option Functionality of English Language Tests for Candidates' Selection and Placement into Tertiary Institutions in Nigeria: A pilot study(Association for Educational Assessment in Africa (JEAA), 2017) Owolabi, Henry Olumuyiwa; Onuka, Adams; Ogunjimi, Mayowa Olurotimi; Mustapha, Yusuf; Sheu, Adaramaja Lukman; Daramola, Dorcas SolaEffectiveness of options supplied to an objective test item is reflected by the number of examinees selecting them. West African Examinations Council (WAEC), National Examinations Council (NECO) and National Business and Technical Examinations Board (NABTEB) conduct Senior School Certificate Examinations (SSCE) and its equivalents for the certification of school based and private candidates while the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) conducts the Universities and Tertiary Institutions’ Matriculation Examination (UTME) for selection and placement of candidates into tertiary institutions across Nigeria. Although examination bodies ensure the functionality of items used by them, it has become necessary for researchers in psychometrics to carry out confirmatory tests to determine the extent to which options supplied in certification and placement tests are functioning. This pilot study was therefore designed to determine the functionality of options in the 2015 SSCE English Language multiple choice test items used by two examination bodies in Nigeria – WAEC and NECO. A total of nine hundred and sixty final year senior secondary school students presented for school certificate examinations in 2017 were sampled across the country. Item analysis statistics revealing percentage of examinees selecting each option to multiple choice items were computed. It was found that all options supplied by WAEC to 2015 SSCE English Language were either fairly or highly functional while 4.4% of those supplied by NECO were not functional. WAEC had larger proportion of highly functional options compared with NECO. Presence of nonfunctional options implies that sufficient attention has not been given to careful supply of options during the test development process. A need for further investigation was identified. It was thus recommended that a countrywide study in all the subjects examined at the school certificate level by each of the examination bodies should be conducted. More attention should also be given to issues of quality of options supplied to test items before they are administered to improve public examinations used for selection and placement of candidates into tertiary institutions.Item Paradigm Shift in Assessment: From Assessment of Learning to Assessment for Learning in Nigeria Schools' System(Faculty of Science and Education, Federal University, Dutsima, Katsina State, Nigeria, 2016-06) Olutola, Adekunle Thomas; Daramola, Dorcas Sola; Ogunjimi, Mayowa OlurotimiAssessment is an indispensable tool in the school system for determining students’ academic performance. The paper examines paradigm shift in assessment from assessment of learning to assessment for learning in the Nigerian schools’ system. Paradigm shift in the field of educational evaluation and assessment in Nigerian educational system is to ensure that assessment achieves its basic purpose and objective, which to improve students’ learning. The paper reviews the concepts, types and shift in assessment. The paper recommends that school administrators, teachers and other educational stakeholders should not rely solely on the data derived from assessment of learning which basically categories students into brilliant and dull individuals but maintain balance in two forms of assessment so as to achieve quality and basic purpose of assessment in Nigerian schools and to conform with the best practices by school teachers worldwide. The effective use of assessment for learning must be mandatory for all teachers in Nigerian schools.Item Perceived Challenges encountered by Undergraduate Students in Conducting Research in Tertiary Institutions in Imo State(Faculty of Education, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria, 2013-12) Adaramaja, Sheu Lukman; Ogunjimi, Mayowa Olurotimi; Daramola, Dorcas SolaThe study investigated the perceived challenges encountered by the undergraduate students in conducting research in tertiary institutions in Imo State. Two hundred and fifty undergraduate students that were randomly selected from five (5) tertiary institutions in Imo State participated in the study. A validated researcher designed questionnaire was used for data collection in the study. Data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation. The result indicated that insufficient time allocated to research project and practical skills in designing, analyzing and interpreting research data are students challenges in conducting formal research. It also revealed that students’ conduct of research in tertiary institutions is to satisfy institutional requirement rather than knowledge extension and societal transformation. Hence, it was recommended that students should be equipped with reflective and action research skills for them to see the connection between emphasis in their degree programme and their research work in the field.Item Re-Conceptualization of Education Benchmarks and Standards: The Starting Point for School Reforms(National Association of Educational Researchers and Evaluators, 2014) Ogunjimi, Mayowa Olurotimi; Owolabi, Henry Olumuyiwa; Sheu, Adaramaja LukmanThis paper examined education standard for defining what all students should know and be able to do to live and work in the 21st century. The absence of clearly defined skills expected at every stage and level of education which will guide what all students should learn in school was identified. A need to re-conceptualize goals of minimum standard by all stakeholders in education was identified as the major starting point for reform. It was reasoned that this will enable the country to meaningfully harness human capital development resources through the school system and produce citizens who are able to participate successfully in the global, technology-driven economy for the country. Two types of standards were discussed as the foundation of standard-based reform: content standards and performance standards. Paradigm shift from “access for all” to “high quality learning for all” in the educational system was also canvassed. Standard-based reform seeks to establish clear attainable standard at internationally competitive levels for the entire students’ population. An evaluation system that supports achieving the learning standards in a culturally diverse school system as enunciated in the NPE 2004 for Nigeria was proposed. The role of educational evaluators in setting and ensuring compliance to benchmarks and standards were also spelt out. The paper concluded by suggesting that evaluators in Nigeria should constitute a council or bureau of benchmarks and standards which will coordinate with the Federal Ministry of Education and other agencies operating in the system.