LECTURERS’ CHARACTERISTICS ANDTHEIR PERCEPTIONS OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF CHEMISTRY CURRICULUM IN COLLEGES OF EDUCATION IN SOUTH- WEST, NIGERIA
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Date
2018
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University of Ilorin
Abstract
The goals and objectives of a course at any level of education can be achieved if the
planned curriculum for such a course is properly implemented. Effective
implementation of chemistry curriculum is a function of lecturers’ characteristics.
Studies revealed poor performance of students in chemistry, which indicates that
implementation of chemistry curriculum, may be faulty. This study therefore
examined lecturers’ characteristics and their perceptions of the implementation of
chemistry curriculum in Colleges of Education in South-west, Nigeria. The objectives
of the study were to find out the influence of lecturers’ characteristics: (i) academic
qualifications; (ii) teaching experience; and (iii) gender on perceptions of the
implementation of chemistry curriculum. The study further investigated: (iv)
influence of school type; and also determined (v) whether significant differences exist
in lecturers’ perceptions of implementation of chemistry curriculum based on
qualification, experience, gender and school type.
Descriptive research method of the survey type was employed. The population
comprised all (107) chemistry lecturers from Federal, State and Private Colleges of
Education in South-west Nigeria. Total population sampling was employed for the
107 chemistry lecturers from 15 Colleges of Education that offered chemistry out of
33 Colleges of Education in south-west, Nigeria, during the field work. 87 lecturers
were qualified, 20 were unqualified, 28 were experienced, 46 were moderately
experienced and 33 were less experienced. 74 were males while 33 were females. The
instrument used was Lecturers’ Characteristics Questionnaire (LCQ) which was
validated by experts. Using test-retest method, LCQ reliability value was 0.81. Four
research questions were answered using mean scores while four hypotheses were
tested using t-test and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA).
Findings of the study were that:
(i) qualified lecturers had higher positive perceptions (x̄ =4.21) of the
implementation of chemistry curriculum than unqualified lecturers
(x̄ =4.05);
(ii) experienced lecturers had the highest positive perceptions (x̄ = 4.25)
of the implementation of chemistry curriculum followed by the less
experienced (x̄ =4.21), and moderately experienced lecturers (x̄ = 4.15);
(iii) male lecturers had higher positive perceptions (x̄ =4.42) of the
implementation of chemistry curriculum than female lecturers
(x̄ =4.12);
(iv) lecturers in State Colleges of Education had the highest positive
perceptions (x̄ =4.22) of the implementation of chemistry curriculum
followed by lecturers in Federal (x=4.17) and lecturers in Private
Colleges of Education (x̄ =4.13); and
(v) no significant difference existed in lecturers’ perceptions of the
implementation of chemistry curriculum based on qualification,
gender, experience and school type (p>0.05).
The study concluded that lecturers had high positive perceptions of the
implementation of chemistry curriculum. The implication of this study is that poor
performance of students in chemistry may not have anything to do with lecturers’
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characteristics and their perceptions, but could be caused by other factors. It was
recommended that teaching of chemistry should be limited to qualified and
experienced chemistry lecturers. However, further studies should look into other
factors that may cause poor performance of students in chemistry, in Colleges of
Education in South-west Nigeria.
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Keywords
LECTURERS’ CHARACTERISTICS, CHEMISTRY CURRICULUM, COLLEGES OF EDUCATION, SOUTH- WEST, NIGERIA