Volume 8 · Issue 1 — 2020

Supportive mathematics topics are those mathematics topics, learned earlier by senior secondary two (SS II) science students, that can help them succeed in their science subjects and courses. Studies revealed that secondary students have poor mathematical skills. This study therefore investigated students’ proficiency in some supportive mathematics topics as it relates to their gender and the location of their schools. Descriptive research design was adopted. Simple random sampling and stratified sampling were used to select1652 students from 15 rural and 15 urban coeducational public secondary schools in Rivers State. Supportive mathematics Test (r=0.80) was used for data collection. Descriptive statistics and t-test were used to analyse the data at 5%level of significance. The result revealed that the highest mean score in supportive mathematics topics was in Decimal Fraction and Approximation (
? =42.65)        which is below average, meaning that, their performance in supportive mathematics was poor. There was no significant difference between the mean proficiency scores of male and female students in all the supportive mathematics topics (p>0.05). The mean proficiency scores better than that of rural students. It was recommended among others that students should take their mathematics lessons seriously at all levels of education because the proficiency they acquire from their junior mathematics classes may positively or negatively influence their success in most science subjects and even science courses in higher institutions. of supportive mathematics topics of urban students were significantly

This study investigated Science Teachers’ Level of Computer Literacy and perceptions toward the Use of Computer Devices in Teaching in Oyo State. Descriptive survey research design was used for the study. The population for the study comprised all junior secondary school teachers in Ibadan North Local Government Area, Oyo State. A sample of 203 Mathematics and Science teachers from 20 schools selected through purposive and simple random sampling techniques participated in the study. The research instrument for the study was a questionnaire entitled: Science Teachers’ Level of Computer Literacy and Teaching Questionnaire (STLCLTQ). The instrument was validated by four experts in the areas of Science Education and Educational Measurement and Evaluation. A reliability coefficient of the instrument was 0.76 using Cronbach’s Alpha statistic. Frequency counts, percentages and the mean were adopted for the result analysis. The findings showed that most of the teachers were computer literate and they showed positive perceptions and attitudes towards the use of computers in teaching and learning. It was recommended that teachers should be encouraged to attend more computer oriented workshops and seminars to update their knowledge in computer based instructions for effective teaching and learning in order to meet up with the changing trends in the global society and for national development. 

Differentiation is a teaching philosophy that helps in addressing the needs of students in heterogeneous classrooms. These are classrooms with students from different backgrounds, learning disabilities, quick learners, slow learners, special needs, gifted and others. With such diversity, something must be done to meet the needs of all learners, not just the “one size fits all” approach so that each student may learn and none is left behind. This study therefore investigated teachers’ perspectives and implementation of differentiated instruction in selected secondary schools in two local government arrears in Ede, Osun State. The study used a survey type of descriptive research design. The population consisted of all the 197 teachers in six secondary schools and simple random sampling was used to select 112 teachers. Inferential statistics of frequency counts and percentages were used to analyze the data using SPSS version 20. Results showed that 67% of the respondents have a clear and correct knowledge of the definition of differentiated instruction. About 60-84% of respondents have a positive attitude towards the different variables used to measure teachers’ perspectives. Only 9% of respondents actually implemented differentiated instruction in the classroom. In conclusion, findings revealed that many of the teachers sampled have knowledge of what differentiated instruction is, but very few of them implemented it in their classrooms. It is therefore recommended that differentiated instruction should be tackled during professional development workshops and teachers should be encouraged to differentiate their instructions consistently so all the students may learn without leaving any one behind. 

HIV/AIDS has become one of the most devastating disease humanity has ever known. The Study investigated HIV/AIDs awareness among students of Kwara State College of Education Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria. The descriptive research design of survey type was adopted for the study. Two hundred (200) respondents were selected for the study with the use of purposive and simple random sampling techniques. A validated questionnaire developed by the researcher was used for data collection. Test-retest method was used to establish the reliability of the instrument and the result of 0.75r obtained. Inferential statistics of chi-square was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 alpha level.The results revealed that unsafe sexual intercourse and blood transmission had a significant influence on the causes of HIV/AIDS disease (151.340 > 16.92, 221.40 > 16.92) among College of Education Students in Kwara State. The researcher concluded that unsafe sexual intercourse and blood transmission causes HIV/AIDS among Kwara State College of Education students. The researcher recommended that the school authority should organize enlightenment campaign programme for the students to educate them on the danger inherent in premarital or unsafe casual sex so as to protect themselves against sexually transmitted infection (STI) including HIV which has no cure yet. 

Every secondary school leaver that is intended to study any science course in an institution of higher learning is expected to have passed physics subject at credit level as one of the prerequisites. However, the number of those who fail physics subject at West African Senior School Certificate Examination (W.A.S.S.C.E.) is on the rise yearly, thereby, leaving parents and guardians worried. On the premise, this study investigated the influence of students’ learning readiness and teachers’ classroom management on senior secondary school three students’ academic achievement in physics in Oyo State. The study adopted the descriptive survey research design and made use of a sample of 590 selected through a multi-stage sampling procedure. Data collected were analysed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC). The independent variables had significant relationship with the academic achievement of students in physics. These were self-efficacy (r = 0.733; P < 0.05), self-directed learning (r = 0.549; P < 0.05), verbal instruction (r = 0.871; P < 0.05) and corporal punishment (r = 0.658; P < 0.05). The study concluded that students’ learning readiness and classroom management have been adjudged to have contributed immensely to the academic achievement of students in physics. It is recommended that students should throw themselves fully into what they want to achieve in their careers. In other words, they should be committed to their goals. Also, teachers should employ corporal punishment to instil discipline among students if need be. 

This paper emphasizes the contributions of school pedagogy to national development. It stresses the fact that a nation develops in relation to its achievements in education with reference to school pedagogical variables such as instructional materials and educational facilities. In as much as the attainment of education goals and national development cannot be divorced from one another, the form, art and practice of teaching-learning activities is important to human capital development and societal development. Hence, this paper explains the state of school pedagogical variables and the need to improve on its condition in Nigerian secondary schools. The study therefore suggests, among other, an improved funding for education to enhance adequate supply of educational facilities and instructional materials, deliberate efforts at practical teaching by teachers, good maintenance culture by schools, seminars and workshops to improve teacher competences. 

For service organizations like banks, the interaction between bankers and the customers is crucial as it can enhance the quality of service encounter and minimize service breakdown. Using four purposively sampled banks and Chandler’s framework for code types, the study explores physical appearance as social code explored by bankers in commercial banks during service encounters in Ibadan, Nigeria. Still life photographs were taken of appearance codes employed during banker- customer service encounters and discussed along the framework of Chandler’s typology of social codes. Findings reveal that appearance as non-verbal social code is used by commercial banks as a way of projecting the credibility, professionalism, trust worthiness and authority of the service provider which is particularly important in the corporate banking sector. This is done through the use of formal attire, same colour code, bank logo lapel badges and visual uniformity. 

Entrepreneurship, a process of planning, launching and running new Businesses, is in many ways the history of great wealth and of great failure. Some entrepreneurs have been very successful and have accumulated vast fortunes from their efforts. Long-term success of any entrepreneurial effort cannot be accidental but by doing the right thing at the right time. This paper therefore discusses research, innovation and total quality management (TQM) as essentials and the right approach and philosophy that entrepreneurs must adopt in order to succeed in an era of one-world market (globalization). The paper recommended that entrepreneurs should study, understand and adopt the principles, tools and techniques of TQM in their operations in order to succeed and become key players in the global market.

In every woman’s life, pregnancy is the greatest period where nutrition is the main significance for ideal pregnancy result. During this period, there is high demand of nutrients from the mother to the growing foetus. This paper focused on review of nutritional status and factors affecting dietary practices among pregnant women. Based on review, findings revealed that adequate dietary practices is crucial during pregnancy in order to ensure that correct energy and nutrient is provided to the developing foetus. Similarly, steady diet during pregnancy is essential for the well-being of both mother and the foetus. Pregnant women’s nutritional status and health influence the foetus health and survival due to the biological relationship between mother and child. Poor dietary practices result to insufficient maternal nutrition which leads to problems such as low birth weight, pre-term birth, Intra Uterine Growth Restriction (IUGR) and infant mortality. Furthermore, socioeconomic status, household food security status, maternal and cultural factors affect dietary practices among pregnant women. During pregnancy, consumption of suitable nutritional food diet is important for women in order to supply the energy and nutrients required to the foetus. Moreover, pregnant women need to be enlightened on significance of dietary practices to their health and unborn child. Likewise, awareness needs to be created on importance of consumption of adequate food diet and sustaining healthy life during pregnancy. 

The study was aimed at assessing the psychometric qualities of gender in Mathematics multiple choice test items in Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in Oyo State. Four research questions and one hypothesis guided the study and was tested at 0.05 level of significance. An instrumentation research design was adopted. The population of this study consisted of all Junior Secondary class three students in Ibadan, Oyo State. The multistage sampling technique was employed to sample out 750 students from the population. The instrument used for data collection was the 2017 BECE Mathematics multiple choice test items. The reliability value of the items using KR20 was 0.78. DIF measure statistics of Winsteps was used to assess the difficulty indices of both the male and the female involved in the study and also tested the stated hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. The finding revealed that there were incidences of gender variance in the test scores. Reliability with IRT of .98 showed high representativeness of the items but lack local independence of item, hence, it lacked unidimensionality. The test contained 19 bad items and 41 good ones, therefore it was concluded that the 19 items should either be deleted, reviewed, removed or restructured. It was therefore recommended that examination bodies should be mindful of the existence of ‘item noise’ which could cause bias in gender performance in an examination. It was equally recommended that government should developed calibrated MAT items Bank. 

In-service training is one of the ways of improving the skills of workers, yet many female civil servants do not participate in such training programmes. Researchers have tried to identify reasons for low participation of women in in-service training programme. However, despite the importance of physical, psychological and sociological conditions of workplace environment and tendency of going for in-service training, there is dearth of information on how workplace environment explains this phenomenon. This study therefore examined the extent to which workplace environment influences participation of female civil servants in in-service training. Survey design was adopted. Purposive sampling was used to select female civil servants who had participated in in-service training programme. Instrument for data collection was validated, and the Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient was r = 0.91. The data was analysed using descriptive statistics and multiple regression. The result showed that workplace environment did not correlate significantly with women participation in in-service training ? = 0.024, t (1026) = 0.76, p = 0.05. There should be cordial workplace environment which will encourage the females to participate in in-service training programme. 

In all establishments, workers are the agents that implement the objectives, plans and policies of the organization, likewise in educational sector, the teachers implement the educational policies and plans. Stress sets in during implementation. Stress occurs when one perceives that demands placed on him or her, such as work exceed one’s ability to cope. The study examined stress management: a tip for business educators in tertiary institution for national development. The business educators are the lecturers teaching students in business education. Business Education involves teaching students the fundamentals, theories and processes of business. Business education program involves the training of students in relevant to the business world. The business educators are not only involved in academics duties but also engage in administrative functions. The paper defined the meaning of stress; various types of work place stress were stated. The paper highlighted the symptoms of stress or how to discover stress. Work related stressors were given, the paper analyzed unhealthy ways of coping with stress. Strategies for stress management for workers were also given. It was recommended that Mentoring new teachers/lecturers for an extended period of time can promote camaraderie. New lecturers should not be left alone, to just sink or swim, among other recommendations, communication lines must be wide open and make the flow of information transparent. Lecturers should be encouraged to attend a national and international conferences or workshops, it is a stress-buster, these conferences help to update their knowledge, and a form of relaxation. 

This study investigated the interference features in the standard spoken Yorùbá of Èkìtì-speaking junior secondary school (jss) students in Èkìtì, Èkìtì State. Due to the multilingual nature of the Nigerian society, language usage problems that tend to occur include interference from the mother tongue and inadequate mastery of the rules of the standard Yorùbá language. Hence, the identification of features that interfere in the standard spoken Yorùbá of Èkìtì-speaking Junior Secondary School Students necessitated this study. This study adopted a descriptive research design. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 100 jss E?ki?ti?-speaking students from five schools in I?ko??le? Local Government Area in Èkìtì State. The instrument adopted for this study was a researcher-designed Test of Interference Features (TIF) which was administered to the participants to obtain data. The data were analysed using percentage and the t-test statistic. Findings of the study revealed that there were interference features in the standard spoken Yorùbá of Èkìtì-speaking jss students. In other words, the Èkìtì dialect interferes with the standard spoken Yorùbá of the students. It was also revealed that there was no significant difference in the Yorùbá consonant sounds and Yorùbá vowel sounds which reflect interference features in the spoken standard Yorùbá of Èkìtì-speaking male and female jss students. Among others, it was recommended that teachers of Yorùbá language should pay more attention to the various Yorùbá consonant sounds which tend to reflect interference features in the spoken Yorùbá of male and female Èkìtì-speaking jss students.