Department of Early Childhood Care and Development

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Browsing Department of Early Childhood Care and Development by Advisor "Iipinge, Sacky M."

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    Investigating the effects of using improvised instructional materials on grade 11 learners’ achievement in biology at a selected remote school in Omuthiya circuit
    (University of Namibia, 2025) Shipepe, Johannes; Iipinge, Sacky M.
    The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of using improvised instructional materials on Grade 11 learners’ achievement in Biology at a selected school in Omuthiya circuit, Oshikoto region. The study also sought to uncover how improvised instructional materials contribute to learners’ achievement in Biology and the views of the learners in the experimental group on the effect of using improvised instructional materialsin the teaching and learning of Biology. The study employed a mixed-method approach which used a qualitative case study and a quasi-experimental design. The population of this study was all nine (9) secondary schools in Omuthiya circuit with a population of about 758 learners. Purposive sampling method was used to select one secondary school that offers Biology from nine secondary schools in the circuit. The selected school had one Grade 11 class with thirty (30) learners doing Biology, which were then further randomly divided into two groups (Experimental group and Control group). This was done by picking pieces of papers mixed up in jar written their names. The first fifteen names picked were placed in group A, while the remaining fifteen were placed in group B. A Biology Achievement Test (BAT) of a pre-test and post-test was used to gather quantitative data, while focus group discussions were used to collect qualitative data. Furthermore, data were analysed using Microsoft Excel and thematic data analysis. Triangulation was also used to allow validation of data through a cross verification of findings from qualitative and quantitative approaches. The key findings of the study show that using improvised instructional materials in the teaching and learning of Biology has a positive effect on Grade 11 learners’ achievement in that subject. In addition, it was established that improvised instructional materials help learners to understand the content easily because it brings fun to the lessons and learners are familiar with the materials being used. The findings ii further revealed that improvised instructional materials provide learners with an opportunity to visualise the subject content being taught, which then makes it easy for learners to remember the content. However, the study revealed that some of the improvised instructional materials can be dangerous depending on the materials they are made from. The study recommends that the Ministry of Education Arts and Culture invest more in procuring the usual traditional instructional materials as well as acquiring and supplying more raw materials that teachers can use at schools to make improvised instructional materials. In addition, the Biology Senior Education Officers should facilitate workshops to train teachers on the needed skills in setting up improvised instructional materials and precautions that teachers need to be aware of when dealing with such materials