PROBLEM FACING TEACHING AND LEARNING GENETICS IN HIGHER INSTITUTION (EDUCATION PROJECT TOPICS AND MATERIALS)
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Biology is seen as a natural science subject whose scope ranges from microscopic organism to the biosphere that is ecosystem (Okusoand Tartiyus, 2004).Biology is described “as the scientific study of life”.It is a discipline with different branches ranging from genetics evolution, ecology and so on and is therefore recognized as broad (Campbell, 2008).
Teaching is a professional art of imparting knowledge from one person (teacher) to another (learner) using various methods or skill (methodology).Hence, teaching and learning go hand in hand as of two sides of a coin. Thus, there is no how teaching is discussed with exclusion of learning(Campbell, 2008). Learning on the other hand is seen as permanent relative change in behaviour as a result of experience(Falk, 2012).
Genetics is a branch of biology or study of genes, its characteristic and properties (Akanni, 2016). Genetics is a branch of science that deals with the scientific study of behaviour of genes, heredity and variation in living organism. It is also an aspect of biology that studies nature and mechanism of inheritance in living organism (Akinnubiet. al., 2012). Genetics as the scientific study of heredity and hereditary variations. The inclusion of genetic (study of how character are transmitted from parent to offspring) in secondary and tertiary institutions biology curriculum shows the importance of the course to the society (Campbell, 2009).However, with the great importance that the course offers student academic performance continues to dwindle for many years now in this discipline.
Research findings showed a poor understanding of the processes by which genetics information is transferred from teacher to students; a lack of basic knowledge about the structure involved (e.g. gene, chromosomes, cell;) and widespread uncertainty and confusion among Nigerian students of various levels especially tertiary institution and among the population in general. (Akinnubi,et. al., 2012).
