Browsing by Author "Kira, E."

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Challenges and opportunities for the advancement of GIS education in Tanzania
(2018) Sumari, N. S.; Shao, Z.; Kira, E.
Rapid developments in science and technology have driven utilization of Geographical Information Science (GIS) in various fields of Planning, Management, and exploitation of environmental resources and provision of social services. As information technology gains momentum, GIS uses information science infrastructure to address the problems of geography, cartography, geosciences locations and related branches of science and engineering; that is shortly referred to as Geo-informatics. Increased application of GIS calls for more demand of advanced Geoinformatics education worldwide. This study has established major challenges for the advancement of Geoinformatics education in Tanzania and any possible opportunities which can be utilized for the improvement of the same. Prominent challenges identified could be associated with lack of reliable power, internet connection, computer system and accessories and appropriate software. Other challenges were related to the nature of the school curriculum and insufficient knowledge and skills of the human resources. Opportunities identified involve available government plans for increasing power supply, increasing mobile phones networks, Tanzania ICT and education and training policy with a major aim of improving ICT education and the competency based school curriculum under implementation. But the government should further support directly or indirectly all efforts by various groups that participate in advancing Geo-informatics education in the country.
Improvisation in teaching physics concepts: Teachers’ experiences and perceptions
(2016-04) Kira, E.; Nchunga, A.
The purpose of this study was to design and assess the use of Improvised Instructional Materials (IIM) in teaching physics lessons in Tanga region whereby two Community Secondary Schools (CSS) from Korogwe district and the city of Tanga were selected for implementation of IIM. A total of eight teachers were selected from the sampled schools where by each school provided two physics teachers. The researchers planned and prepared the materials in advance before coaching the teachers on how to implement them. Teachers’ ability to execute student centered teaching approaches was assessed before and after coaching. It was found out that the use of improvised instructional materials to run practical lessons has refined and broadens teachers’ knowledge on designing and the use of such local materials to carry out physics experiments in CSS.
Inclusion of real life materials in teaching physics concepts: students’ experiences and perceptions
(2016-01) Nchunga, A.; Kira, E.
The purpose of this study was to determine students’ perceptions and experiences following the design of Real Life Instructional Materials (RLM) in teaching concepts of elasticity and the law of floatation in physics. The study involved four ordinary level community secondary schools from Rural Moshi district and the urban Moshi. A total of seventy one students from the four schools were involved in the study. Also, four teachers were selected from the sampled schools where by each school provided one physics teacher. The researchers planned and prepared the materials in advance before coaching the teachers on how to implement them. Teachers’ ability to execute student centered teaching approaches was assessed before and after coaching. It was found out that the materials could enhance students’ involvement in the learning process and also students developed positive attitude towards the use of real life materials in learning the selected concepts. It was recommended that improvisation of instructional materials for teaching the same or different concepts in physics should be encouraged in order to alleviate the problem of material scarcity in the community secondary schools. But selection of such materials should vary according to the nature of the students immediate environments.
Integrating the concepts of meteorology and environmental education concepts in the certificate of secondary education geography syllabus: Tanzanian context
(2015) Kira, E.; Komba, S.
This article analyses the experts and teachers views to determine the adequacy and relevancy of the concepts of meteorology and environmental education (EE) in raising awareness of secondary school students’ on management of environmental problems and conservation. The study involved collection of the interview responses from the experts of environment, meteorology, forest and secondary school geography teachers that were used to analyze the content of the syllabus. It was found out that the concepts of climate change, meteorology and environmental education; are included in the syllabus but not comprehensively because they are not linked to one another and with the concepts dealing with human activities. Therefore establishing such a link is a means for raising students’ awareness on management of the environmental problems. It is recommended that some concepts of meteorology and environmental education found in the geography syllabus should be integrated with subjects such as chemistry, biology and civics.
Secondary school students knowledge level of the concepts of meteorology and environmental education between rural and urban Morogoro in Tanzania
(2016-03-30) Kira, E.
The study established if there is any significant difference in students‟ understanding levels on meteorology and environmental education concepts between rural and urban areas. A survey method was used to collect information from a sample of 480 form four students who were randomly selected from 12 schools in both rural and urban Morogoro. It was observed that urban students were significantly more knowledgeable of the basic concepts of environmental education and climate change than rural students. However, there was no significant difference in students‟ understanding between rural and urban students on some concepts of climate change and the role of man on the environment. Therefore educational stake holders need to ensure that both rural and urban environmental aspects are clearly understood by all students from the two localities for sustainable utilization of the environmental resources.
Secondary school teachers’ knowledge level of the concepts of environmental education in Morogoro, Tanzania
(Open University of Tanzania, 2007, 2016) Kira, E.; Kafanabo, E.
The main focus of the study was to determine the knowledge level of the certificate of secondary education geography teachers when teaching the concepts of meteorology, environmental education and climate change. The study involved observing and interviewing 24 classroom teachers who were randomly selected from both rural and urban Morogoro. Teachers could demonstrate ability to present the causes, extent and effects of pollution and wastes including most of the concepts of the elements of weather and the use of power. But there was a disparity between the intended curriculum and the implemented one because of the observed teachers’ misconceptions, inability to link various environmental concepts or to contextualize examples and questions they ask. Therefore there should be well planned environmental education for both pre-service and in-service teachers specifically synchronized with the secondary school curriculum. This should go together with more comprehensive geography syllabus and teachers guide.
Teachers’ questioning techniques in advanced level Chemistry lessons: a Tanzanian perspective
(2013) Kira, E.; Komba, S. C.; Kafanabo, E.; Tilya, F.
This study investigated the extent to which teachers’ questioning techniques and the way teachers handled students’ responses facilitated students’ learning and promoted their thinking skills. The study focused on three secondary schools in Dar es Salaam. The data collection process involved classroom observations during chemistry lessons and interviews of 10 chemistry teachers. The findings showed that 80% of the observed teachers had a moderate ability in using questioning techniques to measure students’ understanding. The interesting observation in all schools was that teachers interacted frequently with active students and bothered less to involve the least active ones. Moreover, above 80% of all teachers had problems of promoting students’ thinking by maintaining a balance between the openended and close-ended questions or between convergent and divergent questions. Also, the teachers indicated severe weaknesses in guiding classroom discussions through effective questioning as their abilities in probing were low. Thus, in-service program for these teachers may improve their classroom questioning behaviour.
Utilization of the internet facility in Dar es salaam secondary schools in Tanzania
(2015-09-30) Kira, E.; Mahumbwe, N.
Various ICT based projects have been implanted in schools with the purpose of improving educational accessibility, quality and the management system. The aim of this study is to determine the extent to which ICT tools particularly internet is utilized to improve provision of education in secondary schools. Various types of data collection tools such as interviews, questionnaires and documentary review were used to collect qualitative information in four secondary schools. It was observed that internet use in secondary schools is basically for searching materials for both teachers and students. Accessibility of materials from the internet has helped some teachers to advance their carriers especially through the Open University of Tanzania. However, there is little application of the internet facility in these schools to develop classroom pedagogy. Therefore, further exploration of the challenges facing internet use in secondary schools is a mile stone towards improving internet utilization in schools.