Effect of Existing Teaching of Chemistry on Ninth Graders&apos; Achievement in Sindh, Pakistan
Author: Bhutto, Muhammad Ilyas
Date: 2018-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Chemistry,Science Instruction,Foreign Countries,Educational Quality,Teacher Effectiveness,Student Attitudes,Grade 9,Science Achievement,Outcomes of Education,Class Activities,Formative Evaluation,Single Sex Schools,Coeducation,Rural Schools,Urban Schools,Teaching Methods,Audiovisual Aids,Prediction,Science Tests,Scores,Family Income,Gender Differences,Family Characteristics,Secondary School Students

Multiple studies have studied and hinted towards different flaws in teaching and learning: limited resources (Dahar &amp; Faize, 2011; EdQual, 2007; Naseer-ul-Din, Iqbal, Khaleeq, &amp; Rehman, 2010; Soomro, 2009); low/poor quality teaching and teachers and lack of proper professional teaching standards/accreditation (Government of Pakistan, 2009a, 2009b), corporal punishment (Government of Pakistan, 2007; Sarwar, &amp; Hussain, 2010; The Express Tribune, January 14th, 2012), ineffective professional trainings (Ahmed, Azeem, Khalid, Farrukh, Ahmed, &amp; Ahmed, 2012; Gujjar, Bajwa, Shaheen, &amp; Rehman, 2011; Mehrunnisa,1998; Saeed, 2007; UNESCO, 2011- 12), uncompetitive traditional teaching (Hussain, Ahmed, Muben, &amp; Tariq, 2011; Nazir &amp; Naqvi, 2012), erroneous examination system (Hoodbhoy as cited in Christie &amp; Afzaal, 2005), no difference between trained and untrained teachers (Khurshid, 2008) etc. Therefore, we empirically investigated the assumption whether existing teaching fails to inculcate the required knowledge and comprehension of the curricula among learners. This study, from learners' perspective, assessed the effects of professional teaching of chemistry on students' learning outcomes against the criteria of B.Ed. at public secondary schools in Pakistan. They professional teaching aspects were: general professional teaching skills, lesson planning, teaching methods, audio-visual aids, students' classroom activities and formative assessment, and course coverage of theory and practice. We collected quantitative data through self-developed questionnaire of 70 items using stratified sampling of 350 students from boys-only, girls only, boys in co-education, and girls in co-education across rural and urban schools. A panel of experts and pilot testing refined the tools. The overall Cronbach alpha value was 0.9 and 0.8 for professional teaching and test-items respectively. Descriptive statistics revealed the failure of existing professional teaching of chemistry because chemistry teachers mostly used dictation of questions and answers and somewhat lecture method; they did not plan for their lessons; they used only black-board as audio-visual aid; copying or writing questions and answers remained dominated as students' classroom activity; seldom question-answer remained formative assessment tool; and practical component remained untouched mostly. Multiple linear regression analyses revealed that the laboratory experimentation, audio-visual aids, chemistry theory, and teaching methods strongly predicted students' test-scores (R= 0.645) with 41.7% surety. however, demographic variables: students' favorite subject, home study, parents' income and students' gender weakly predicted learners' test-scores. Independent samples t-test and ANOVA analyses revealed that students devoting more time to home-study and tuition especially in natural sciences, students from separate boys-only and girls-only schools, and from parents with higher earning and rank got significantly different and better test-scores; however, gender and parents' education had no significant differences. We presented feasible and realistic recommendations.