An Evaluation of the Implementation Synergy between NCE-Integrated Science and the 9-Year Basic Science Curricula in Nigeria

Abstract

The Curriculum of the Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) has implications for the Curriculum of the 9-yearBasic Education (BEC) programme in Nigeria. Hence the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE)came up with a vision of producing well motivated teachers with high professional integrity and competence. Boththe in-service and pre-service teachers need to be conversant with the content of the 9– year Basic EducationCurriculum (BEC). Are there implementation synergies in the topics, laboratory exercises and nature of assessmentin the NCE integrated Science and the 9-year basic science curricula as perceived by the in-service and pre-serviceteachers who are recipients of the NCE-integrated science curriculum and who also implement the 9-year basicscience curriculum? 4 research questions and 4 research hypotheses guided this study. A sample of 180 pre-serviceand in-service basic science teachers who are recipients of the new 2012 NCCE Curriculum in Integrated-sciencefrom the South – South Geo-political zones in Nigeria were used. A 4-point Likert scale ’24-item questionnaire’called the Curriculum Implementation Synergy Questionnaire was used to obtain data. A cronbach alpha reliabilityco-efficient of 0.75 was obtained. Results showed that a larger proportion of both pre-service and in-service teachersagreed that there was high level of synergy in both curricula. It is recommended that the few topics and laboratoryexercises not found in both curricula should be added and the present basic science teachers who are not recipient ofthe present curriculum should be trained in line with the present curriculum.

Cognitive Science and Learning Environment in Rural Areas of Punjab

“…Nevertheless, despite these drawbacks, lecturing has been found to be an effective way for teaching pupils scientific principles (Atomatofa & Ewesor, 2008).…”