Secondary School Biology Teachers’ Perceptions of Scientific Creativity

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate secondary school biology teachers’ perceptions of scientific creativity. Cross-sectional survey research design was employed. The population of the study comprised all biology teachers in public secondary schools in Kericho and Kajiado counties in Kenya. A sample of 205 biology teachers’ was selected from a population of 347 using proportionate random sampling technique. A Biology teachers’ questionnaire was used to collect data. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The findings show that a high percentage of the biology teachers have correct perceptions of general creativity but only a small percentage have the correct perceptions of scientific creativity. The findings have also yielded valuable information that informs curriculum developers, teacher trainers and policy makers that the majority of teachers have inadequate perceptions of scientific creativity and this may influence their classroom practices. It is recommended that science teacher education programmes emphasize scientific creativity in their methodology courses to empower teachers to provide learning opportunities that would enhance learners’ creativity in science lessons. Curriculum developers also need to prepare curriculum materials that include more classroom activities that enhance scientific creativity.