Abstract

This study was designed to find out the Teaching Strategies for Physical Geography in secondary schools: practices and challenges.

From the main objective, there emerged five specific objectives. Through the research objective, a general research hypothesis was formulated from which five working hypotheses were drawn. A survey design was used in conducting the study.

Data were collected from thirty Geography teachers from six schools through the use of questionnaires and an observation checklist. The teachers were chosen using the simple random sampling technique.

Data were made essentially of categorical variables and they were analyzed using Frequency, Proportions, and Multiple Response Analysis to aggregate responses within conceptual components.The

Chi-Square test of equality of proportion was used to compare proportions for a significant difference. Association or relationship between two variables was assessed using the Chi-Square test.

Data were presented using a frequency table. All statistics were presented at 95% Confidence Level (CL), Alpha =0.05. The study revealed that irrespective of the school type, the teachers used direct teaching strategies particularly the (lecture and illustration methods) in the teaching of Physical Geography.

They equally used indirect teaching strategies, through case studies and discussion. Although some claim through the questionnaires that they sometimes use Experiential teaching strategies the general observation through the checklist proved and established the contrary to this claim as there was no evidence of the use of any of the three types of Experiential teaching strategies being field trips, projects, and experiments.

The results showed that the challenges faced in the teaching of Physical Geography include the absence of fieldwork and laboratories, large classes, the extensive syllabus that scares teachers and students, the non-use of teaching materials, and the limited time allocated for this branch of Geography.

In order to improve on the teaching strategies of physical Geography, it was recommended that Physical Geography teachers need to update their knowledge about modern approaches to teaching so as to overcome some of the challenges they faced in the teaching-learning process. This could be done through workshops, conferences, refresher courses, and seminars.

CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Introduction

The importance of Physical Geography in the Secondary school curriculum cannot be overemphasized. It trains the learners to manage their environment for the good of society as a whole (Bloomfield, 1970). Geography provides the learner with skills and knowledge, personal and professional development.

Instruction, according to Driscoll (2005), is the deliberate arrangement of learning conditions to promote the attainment of clearly defined goals or learning outcomes.

Learning on the other hand is a natural process that leads to a permanent change in what we know, what we can do, and how we behave. (Gagne, Wager, Golas& Keller, 2005). Teaching, therefore, is instruction using human facilitators; teaching is also the process whereby learning is facilitated by human beings, (Smith & Regan, 2005).

Given the fact that the purpose of instruction is to help people learn and that learning does not only take place through formal teaching, teaching nevertheless is the most popular traditional process that has objectives to bring about learning.

On the other hand, teaching strategy is a deliberate action of a teacher, while in this case teaching method is a standard procedure for presenting subject matter or organizing learner /teacher interaction.

Teaching strategies are classified into five broad categories; direct teaching strategy, indirect teaching strategy, experiential teaching strategy, interactive strategy and independent study, each of these has well-specified methods, none of which can be described as the “best”.

This is because the choice of a strategy/method is influenced by many factors that vary with the subject to be taught. Since Physical Geography has been classified as both art and a science subject by many scholars, the strategies to be used in teaching should incorporate those for teaching the arts and the sciences.

It is this position that sparked the researcher’s interest to study the teaching strategies that are popularly used in geography in general and physical geography in particular.

Background of the study

“The Study of geography is more than just memorizing places on a map.  It is about understanding the complexity of our world, appreciating the diversity of cultures that exists across continents. And in the end, it is about using all that knowledge to help bridge divides and bring people together” (President Obama, 2012).

Geography comes from the Greek word “geograhia” which means earth description. It is defined as a science that broadly deals with the structures and processes of the earth’s physical and human environment and the interaction between the two, particularly in their spatial context (Biddle, 1976).

The first person to use the word Geography was Eratosthenes with the literal meaning of “writing about the earth”. It reveals all the wonderful changes and activities that have been going on in the world since the beginning of time.  Physical Geography is therefore a vital subject discipline for the 21st-century global citizens; enabling us to face questions of what it means to like sustaining in an independent world

Physical Geography is a synoptic science that uses the same elements as the other sciences but in a different context. It integrates data spatially, making elaborate usage of maps as its special tool.  Physical Geography may be studied byways of several interrelated approaches, that is, systematically, regionally, descriptively, and analytically (Hudson, 1977).

Modern Geography has been divided conventionally into two main branches; Physical and Human Geography. For the purpose of this study, the researcher will dwell on Physical Geography.

Physical Geography is a branch of systematic Geography that is concerned with the physical environment. Physical Geography encompasses a number of subject areas with close links to other environmental disciplines notably Geomorphology (the study of the long term behavior of the atmosphere in specific areas), Biogeography (the study of the distribution of living and fossil species of plants and animals across the earth’s surface as consequences of ecological and evolutionary processes).

With this background of Physical Geography, and with the background knowledge of the researcher haven studied the subject through college and at university can say without fear of contradiction that, it is a subject that is practical and real but students do not see the practicality and reality in it. Several factors can account for this, amongst which is the teaching strategies used by Physical Geography teachers.

Little or no demonstrations and illustrations are employed, making the teaching-learning very abstract. Students do not go for field trips, the complete absence of Geography laboratories where students can carry out geographical experiments, the lack of none appropriate usage of teaching aids to enhance students’ enjoyment of Physical Geography.

According to Bruner (1978), students should be helped to understand the structure of a field of study or discipline. He believes that if teachers assist students to grasp the overall pattern of a field of study, they are more likely to remember what they learn and understand the principles that can be applied in a variety of situations.

Physical Geography teachers should engage students in field trips/excursions so that students should easily understand the concepts and principles (Kent &Foskett, 2000).

If Geography teachers themselves do not have a thorough grasp of the Physical Geography concepts and skills, then they are likely to structure their contents to concentrate on areas they feel more comfortable with. Perceptions of the increasing threat to Physical Geography as a distinct area of academic inquiry within secondary schools are not new nor are they limited to the Cameroonian context.

Physical Geography is a distinct and dynamic science or social science discipline that deals with the study of man and his physical environment.

It, therefore, helps young people to appreciate the value of their environment and its natural resources. Teachers’ attitudes towards the teaching strategies and the discipline itself are amongst the issues that make students find Physical Geography uninteresting.

Bajah (1975) contends that it is an educational truism that a teacher (graduate or non – graduate) can only teach what he or she knows. Therefore, it is very important that a secondary school physical geography teacher should be academically and professionally articulated in his area of specialization.

The way he/she uses strategies/methods to pass across instructions to the students will go a long way to affect the student’s responses and attitudes towards the discipline (Kent, 1996)

Physical Geography study should give equal emphasis to learning in the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains. It should stress learning and understanding knowledge and the ability to apply this knowledge in different situations. (Bloom B.S, 1956).

Personal behavior and character in the teaching/learning of Physical Geography have a direct reflection on the various strategies/methods in the teaching of physical geography Grasha,(1996). Teachers vary in terms of how they manage their classes, how they interact with their students, and how they view their roles as educators.

When students in class assimilate or learn new knowledge, it means they have incorporated the new experiences into their existing schema or framework without changing that framework. This occurs when there is harmony in what has been learned with the existing knowledge in the teaching strategies for Physical Geography (Piaget, 2008).

Statement of the Problem

The effectiveness of teaching Physical Geography in secondary schools can be measured by examining the teaching strategies applied by Geography teachers. As evident, teaching strategies are indispensable factors of the school curriculum that some if not most teachers today take for granted.

This is typical in the teaching of Physical Geography in secondary schools. Physical Geography is a subject that is practical and real but students do not see the practicality and reality in it because of the teaching strategies used. Some teachers do not have the competencies in teaching the discipline.

Though these teachers are academically qualified, they are not prepared professionally in the teaching of Physical Geography. They do not understand the discipline pedagogically to teach appropriately. They are only interested in textbook knowledge instead of using strategies that should enable students to discover knowledge for themselves since the subject is a living subject.

Teachers are interested only in covering what is prescribed in the syllabus and schemes of work. The direct result on students being “memorizing/ cramming” concepts just to pass the examination. Usually, the outcome is that they are unable to identify and differentiate some features in Physical Geography found around them.

The South West Region especially Buea and environ is endowed with so many physical Geography and human features. This notwithstanding, because of the method used in the teaching of rocks in Physical Geography, void of any practical work students find it difficult to understand the concept. Little or no demonstrations and illustrations are employed making the teaching/learning very abstract.

In particular, during lessons students should be shown the Rocks and with explanations as to why they are called Sedimentary, Igneous or Metamorphic Rocks, so they can understand and learn better to ease in knowledge transfer.

This situation is exacerbated while illustrating instead of using concrete and practical examples found around, teachers rather prefer to use distant places found in textbooks thereby making comprehension difficult.

Geography education is of great societal need not only for the industrialization of the country as contained in the vision 2035. The challenge thus is how to make Physical Geography more “alive” more ‘real” and more manageable by secondary School teachers and students. The reason therefore why this study attempts to examine the way Physical Geography is being taught in our secondary schools.

Purpose of the study

This study intends to find out the teaching strategies used in teaching Physical Geography in secondary schools.

Teaching strategies utilized, finding out their effectiveness and the challenges both teachers and learners encounter in the process.

Research Objectives

The following general and specific research objectives have been generated from the problem statement to direct this project;

In general terms, this project focuses on identifying the teaching strategies used in the teaching of Physical Geography in secondary schools.

In more specific terms, this project aims at determining the extent to which the:

1. Direct teaching strategies are utilized in teaching Physical Geography.
2. Indirect teaching strategies are employed in teaching Physical Geography.
3. Experiential strategy is used to teach Physical Geography.
4. Challenges faced by Geography teachers in teaching Physical Geography.
5. Whether or not the use of any teaching strategy depends on the school type