Browsing by Author "Meena, Alfred Salema"

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    A survey of present trends in the teaching and learning of biology in Tanzanian secondary schools with proposals for improvement
    (University of Dar es Salaam, 1978) Meena, Alfred Salema
    The purpose of this study was an attempt to determine the attitudes/opinions of teachers and pupils toward the objectives and practices of biology curriculum in their respective schools. The study therefore, was to examine whether or not some of the instructional objectives and the biology education practices of the modern trends as perceived by curriculum designers were being observed. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which selected teachers and pupils in a number of Tanzanian secondary schools accepted the objectives and practices of the biology curriculum. More specifically to determine the opinions of teachers and pupils on the biology teaching strategies, biology resources in their schools, academic assessment of biology in relation to the philosophy of the biology curriculum and constraints which affected the efficient implementation of the biology curriculum in general. The sample of the study was selected by a stratified random sampling consisting of 795 Form II and 799 Form IV pupils made up of 931 boys and 633 girls. The teachers sample consisted of 70 teachers of whom 28 were graduate and 42 were non-graduate teachers. The data were collected through a questionnaire instrument designed and tested by the researcher. In addition, supplementary information was collected through structured interviews with 37 teachers. The research was carried through a period of one year (September 1975 March 1977). The main findings were as follows: 1. The current biology curriculum (syllabus) was acceptable to the majority of the secondary school teachers surveyed. 2.The biology teachers surveyed knew the aims and objectives of studying biology in this country. 3. The teaching and learning resources were found to be quite deficient in the majority of the schools surveyed. 4. The methodology used was mostly teacher-centred rather than pupil-centred/society centred which involves pupils in active learning. 5. The current academic assessment practices of the biology curriculum were acceptable by both the pupils and the teachers. 6. Both the teachers and the pupils perceived some problems that tended to affect the effective implementation of the biology curriculum. It is the hope and the recommendation by the author that constant formative evaluation should be carried out from time to time until there is a stable and an agreeable formula to these problems.