1. PEDAGOGY OF SCIENCE AT THE TERTIARTY LEVEL IN NIGERIA
PART 2 By
Binta Abdulkarim
Department of Science Education, A.B.U Zaria ;

2. Why Focus on the Pedagogy of Science?
Nigeria’s science curricular at Higher institutions were developed on the following values:
intellectual
vocational;
aesthetics;
utilitarian;
cultural and moral;
psychological,
adaptive and leisure time

3. Concept of Pedagogy Pedagogy is the Science (and Art) of teaching.
It incorporates array of teaching strategies that support intellectual engagement and connectedness of learners to the wider world
Its main foci are Pedagogical Content Knowledge ( PCK) and Engaged Pedagogy (EP)

4. Characteristics of PCK
PCK in Science teaching is a systematic presentation of course contents to learners.
It is a window to what makes learning easy or difficult
It is characterized with the knowledge of:
The subject matter
The students
The curricular and teaching techniques
Learning outcomes and assessment techniques

5. Matrix of PCK In Science Teaching

6. Engaged Pedagogy (EP)
Constitute teaching approaches that encourage student-student interactions guided by the teacher
Teacher is a facilitator NOT a lecturer
It facilitates Visualizations, Field-Based Instruction, Laboratory Engagements, and Problem Solving. (Appendix 1)
It facilitates students’ acquisition and use of Science Process Skills (SPS)

7. Science Process Skills
Set of broadly transferable abilities in science disciplines and reflective behaviour of scientists.
The basic (simpler) process skills provide a foundation for learning integrated (more complex) skills.
Common SPS are observation, classification, measuring, prediction, communicating, inferring among others
SPS are related

8. Matrix of SPS

9. Characteristics of effective science pedagogy
Knowledgeable teacher
Responsive to students’ difference
Dynamic and adaptive teaching strategies
Facilitates the acquisition and application of SPS among students
Facilitates measurement of learning outcomes
Applications in problem-solving

10. Desirable outcomes Building students’ scientific literacy
Developing students’ skills
Preparing students for a career using science.
General development of staff, students and Institutions 
Less dichotomy between science and non-scientific discourses

11. Alarming Statistics (2016)
217 teaching methods and 106 techniques
365 High Institutions of Learning (HEIs)
163 abandoned projects, 538 perpetual (Universities)
1,252,913 students in public universities
400 students/ Lab specified for 75
37,504 academic staff
Staff- Student ratio: 1:334
UNESCO ideal 1: 15 (Science); 1:25 (Non-Science)

12. Challenges of Science Pedagogy: Conceptual
Not every event in the universe is observable nor are they measureable
Some predicted events may not occur in man’s time for verification
Some hypotheses (assumptions) are indefinite, singularly narrow, semantically and logically faulty and thus cannot be applied to solve human crises
Not all scientific methods are explicit, non-ethical, empirical and theoretical.

13. Conceptual challenges cont----
Empirical evidences sometimes conflict with the social values
Scientific communities in Nigeria are few
Scientific communities hold on to the dynamism of science in solving societal problems, but non-scientists believe that it is static and cannot be trusted in solving human crises.
Science solves problems but leaves trails of bigger ones for non-scientist to grapple with

14. Institutional Challenges
What categories of science teachers?
Who are the students?
What contents? Spiral, dynamic or archaic?
What teaching method/s and strategies?
What kinds teaching conditions?
What learning outcomes?
What policy frameworks for HEIs and use of scientific outcomes in problem solving?

15. Way forward
Teachers to accept and adopt changes in development through training
University management to:
- facilitate staff training and re- training
- review all archaic curricular
- review criteria of academic staff employment
- mental test for all academic staff to ensure suitability to teach
- provide enabling conditions for teaching and learning
- enforce professional ethics

16. THANK YOU FOR LISTENING