Browsing by Author "Kira, Ernest Simon"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Integration of meteorology and environmental education in the certificate of secondary education geography syllabus in Tanzania
    (University of Dar es Salaam, 2014) Kira, Ernest Simon
    The purpose of this study was to explore the certificate of secondary education geography syllabus in order to address the opportunities and challenges regarding the integrated concepts of meteorology and environmental education. The study employed mixed methods approach where by both qualitative and quantitative data were collected. The respondents were 480 students and 24 teachers from 12 schools in Morogoro region including also an expert of geography curriculum development. The findings revealed that: The current geography syllabus for secondary schools introduces the basic concepts of meteorology and environmental education including the causes and effects of climate change. But issues of climate change are treated in isolation without linking them with the concepts of human activities. Problems observed during implementation of the geography syllabus were: teachers’ insufficient content and pedagogical knowledge, lack of textual and non- textual resources that address the relevant concepts comprehensively, and presence of some misconceptions in the most utilized school textbooks. Students could relate some aspects of environmental degradation with climate change but they had some misconceptions on the causes of climate change and in relating the same concepts with conservation techniques and power consumption. It was further observed that students from the urban schools were more knowledgeable on the surveyed concepts of meteorology and environmental education than rural students due to limited sources of information in rural areas. Also, boys were more knowledgeable than girls on the same concepts. This could be associated with girls’ negative attitudes towards science subjects. Based on these findings the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training should ensure that, concepts of meteorology and environmental education in both the geography syllabus and school textbooks focus on raising the students’ awareness on the issues of environmental management, vulnerability of the country to the effects of climate change, necessity of utilizing weather and climate information and the relationship between forest destruction and depletion of water resources under the influence of climate change. Also, the ministry should ensure that both in-service and pre-service teachers should be equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills so that they can effectively teach the concepts of meteorology and environmental education. However, Tanzania Institute of Education may combine other concepts of environmental management with relevant social-scientific concepts so that they can be more appropriately dealt with in a separate subject.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    A study of teachers' questioning techniques in advanceo level chemistry lessons''
    (Unversity of Dar es Salaam, 2007) Kira, Ernest Simon
    The study explored teachers questioning techniques during chemistry teaching at Advanced level secondary schools. The general aim of the study was to investigate the extent to which teachers questioning techniques and the way they handled students' responses facilitated students learning and also promoted their thinking skills. The study concentrated on three secondary schools in Dar es Salaam. It involved a tota] of 179 respondents out of whom 10 were teachers and 169 were students. Methods used for the study included mainly classroom observation. Other methods were; the use of questionnaires, reviewing written materials and unstnictured interview. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected. The findings showed that, above 80% of the observed teachers had at leal moderate ability of using questioning techniques to measure students understanding and communicate their questions to the students. The problem observed in all schools was that teachers interacted frequently with active students and bothered less with the least active ones. Above 80% of all teachers observed had problems of promoting students thinking by maintaining a balance between open ended and close ended questions or between convergent and divergent questions and also in guiding classroom discussion through effective questioning due to low ability to probe questions and to use various techniques in asking questions. However, teachers questioning approaches in school C assisted more students in mastering the lesson objectives whereas the least number of students were assisted in school A. Based on these findings, it is recommended that teachers should plan for both oral and written questions well in advance as a means of motivating both active and less active students in order to improve their learning behavior. It was further recommended that the Ministry of Education, the Tanzania Institute of Education, the Examination Council and the School Managers should organize in service training for teachers from time to time based on various aspects of classroom questioning