Quality Assurance Issues in the Teaching and Learning of Physics in Secondary Schools

Abstract

This study which employed a descriptive survey design aimed at investigating quality assurance issues in the teaching and learning of physics in secondary schools in Umuahia Education zone of Abia State. A sample of 79 (seventy-nine) physics teachers was purposively selected. All the physics teachers in all the secondary schools in Umuahia North Local Government Area were used for the study. The research instrument used for data collection was a researchers' developed structured questionnaire of the Likert type. These instruments were faced and content validated by experts of Measurement and Evaluation. The reliability of the instrument was obtained as r = 0.87. Two research questions and one hypothesis tested at 0.05 level of significance guided the study. Mean was used to answer the research questions while the hypothesis was tested with chi-square statistics. The study among other things revealed that well equipped laboratories, qualified physics teachers, hands-on activity methods of teaching, constant monitoring of students progress and proper record keeping of students' attendance to class and class work contribute to quality assurance to the teaching and learning of physics in our secondary schools. The study therefore recommended that there is need for proper equipment of physics laboratories; workshops and training should be provided to equip the teachers on how to develop reliable and quality test items for teachers and that proper keeping of school attendance registers, school diaries and other records are of paramount importance.