Do Teachers’ Qualifications and Experience Influence Academic Performance of Students in Basic Science in Junior Secondary Schools in Nigeria?

Abstract

This study investigated the influence of teachers’ qualifications and experience on students’ academic performance in basic science in junior secondary schools in Nigeria. The study was a descriptive survey type of research. Simple random sampling was used to select eight Junior Secondary Schools (J.S.S.) in the Ogun East senatorial district of Ogun State. It included 18basic science teachers and 540 junior secondary school students. The data were collected using a questionnaire and a basic science achievement test. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, one-way analysis of variance and Pearson Product-Moment Correlation. The findings of this study revealed that most of the basic science teachers at the J.S.S. level were not trained as basic science teachers; science teachers’ qualifications influenced students’ academic performance in basic science; basic science teachers’ years of teaching experience did not have a positive correlation with students’ academic performance in basic science.

Keywords: Qualification, academic performance, problem-solving