A study on assessment of teaching and learning methods for secondary school biology subject content as an approach to addressing environmental degradation in Malawi: A case study of Karonga district

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess teaching and learning methods for the secondary school biology subject content as an approach to addressing environmental degradation in Malawi. The study was guided by specific research objectives, such as assessing how success criteria in secondary school biology syllabi are framed to address environmental degradation in Malawi, investigating the appropriateness of the methods of teaching and learning biology that address environmental degradation, and examining how biology teachers assess students' fieldwork required by the syllabus. A mixed-methods approach was used in this study. Sixty secondary school teachers were selected from 40 secondary schools in the Northern Education Division of the Ministry of Education in Malawi as research participants. Schools and participants were selected through convenience and purposive sampling techniques, respectively. In this study, data were collected through interviews, questionnaires, and document analysis. Data analysis was done thematically and using statistics. The research study found that the success criteria, content, and teaching and learning methods in biology would not address environmental degradation because the success criteria were not framed well and had many action verbs such as "explain," "describe," and "state." Additionally, explanation was the main teaching and learning method used by secondary school biology teachers, which would not address environmental degradation since it did not encourage learning through practice. The findings also revealed that biology teachers in secondary schools assessed learners with the aim of passing public examinations and did not assist learners in acquiring skills to deal with issues of environmental degradation.