Enhancing Problem Solving Skills in Trainee Teachers through Constructionist-Based Teaching Approach
Keywords:
Problem Solving Skills, Problem Based Learning, Constructionist Teaching ApproachAbstract
This study investigates the Physics lecturers and the application of constructionist-based teaching approach in selected tertiary institutions in South-South/ South-East, Nigeria. The population consisted of 76 physics education lecturers in the selected tertiary institutions. The study posed 1 research question and 1 hypothesis. Survey research design was adopted for the study. Census sampling technique was adopted to select seventy-six (76) sample size. Self-structured questionnaire titled: Constructionist-Based Approach and Physics Education Lecturers Questionnaire (CAPELQ) was used for the data collection. The research supervisor and two lecturers in department of Curriculum Studies and Instructional Technology validated the instrument, while Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) was used for the test of reliability, which yielded reliability of 0.85. Out of the 76 distributed questionnaires, 65 respondents completed and returned the questionnaire, yielding 85.53% response rate, which includes 47 males (72%) and 18 females (28%). Mean and Standard Deviation were used to answer the research questions while Factorial Design ANOVA was used in testing the hypotheses at 0.05% level of significance. The findings showed that project-based and collaborative learning make the trainee teachers to learn better. Also, Physics education lecturers do not differ significantly in terms of qualification (F=0.42, p=0.959) and experience (F=0.214, p=0.808), but they differ significantly in terms of gender (F=10.700, p=0.002) over the utilisation of the constructionist-based teaching approach in teaching Physics. It is therefore recommended that the constructionist-based teaching approach should be adopted in preparing Physics teachers.
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