An evaluation of the quality of biology assignments in the secondary school programme in Tanzania
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Date
2012
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Publisher
University of Dar es Salaam
Abstract
This study aimed at determining the extent to which teachers give Biology Assignments; analyzing the extent to which Biology Assignments given to students cover all the levels of the Bloom’s cognitive domain; and evaluating the quality of Assignments done by students in terms of language used, item format, marking and comments given in Assignments. Nine schools from High, Middle and Low performing were included in this study. From these schools, 415 students’ Biology Exercise Books were analyzed using Checklists and 739 students from Form Two and Form Three completed the Rating Scale. The findings revealed that the High performing schools give Assignments to students at the end of each lesson, while the Middle and Low performing schools give Assignments to students once a week and at the end of each topic respectively. Most of the questions for Assignments given in all the schools, that is, the High, Middle and Low performing schools were mostly set to measure the Knowledge and Comprehension levels, while higher levels namely, Application, Analysis, Synthesis and Evaluation of Bloom’s cognitive domain were measured with very few questions. The findings also revealed that Assignments given in the Middle and Low performing schools had structural and grammatical errors than Assignments given in the High performing schools. All Assignments given in the High, Middle and Low performing schools lacked objective type items unlike the examinations by National Examination Council of Tanzania (NECTA), that they will do the Certificate of Secondary Education Examination (CSEE). Teachers in the Middle and Low performing schools mostly indicated scores in Assignments, while those from the High performing schools did not.It was recommended that teachers should give good quality Assignments to students at the end of each lesson. In order to prepare good quality Assignments, teachers should use clear language; use both objective and objective type items; and questions should cover all the levels of Bloom’s cognitive domain; mark all Assignments; and give constructive comments in Assignments. Finally, the study recommends the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MoEVT) to conduct and facilitate in-service teacher programme to equip teachers with knowledge and skills essential in preparing good-quality Assignments.
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Keywords
quality of biology, secondary school programme in Tanzania
Citation
Zakaria, C (2012), An evaluation of the quality of biology assignments in the secondary school programme in Tanzania, master dissertation, University of Dar es Salaam available at()