Browsing by Author "Komba, S. C."

Now showing 1 - 13 of 13

Comparison between students’ academic performance and their abilities in written English language skills: A Tanzanian perspective
(2012) Komba, S. C.; Kafanabo, E. J.; Njabili, A. F.
This article is based on the study which sought to compare between the students’ academic performance and their abilities in written English Language Skills. The study was conducted at the Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA), Tanzania. The respondents were 358 finalists from six degree programmes selected randomly out of the 20 degree programmes at the university. The findings indicated that there was a statistically significant positive relationship between the students’ abilities in the English Writing Skills Test (EWST) and their University GPAs (r=314, p< 0.01). However, the content analysis of the EWST essays showed that the students had serious problems in spelling, using appropriate forms of adjectives, punctuation marks, simple present tense, recognizing passive voice and using relative pronouns and prepositions.
Comparison between the understanding levels of boys and girls on the concepts of environmental degradation, meteorology and climate change in Tanzanian secondary schools
(2015) Kira, E. S.; Komba, S. C.
The study aimed to determine whether there was any significant difference in understanding levels between secondary school boys and girls on the concepts of environmental degradation, meteorology and climate change. Both structured survey and focus group discussions were used to collect information from 480 students, sampled randomly from 12 secondary schools in Morogoro region. The findings indicated that boys were significantly more knowledgeable than girls on the specified environmental concepts. This implies that girls lagged behind their counterparts in understanding important environmental concepts as specified in the school curriculum. Based on the findings of this study, it is recommended that girls should be inspired and encouraged to develop interest in natural science subjects which would enable them to broaden their understanding about environmental issues.
Do students’ backgrounds in the language of instruction influence secondary school academic performance?
(2015) Komba, S. C.; Bosco, S.
In Tanzania, two types of primary schools exist, based on the language of instruction used. These are English medium schools and Swahili medium schools. Students who complete their studies from both types of schools join secondary schools where the language of instruction is solely English. This study investigated the influence of students’ backgrounds in the language of instruction on secondary school academic performance. The specific objectives of the study were two: First, to compare form one annual examinations results for students who had used English and those who had used Swahili as the medium of instruction at primary school level and, secondly, to compare the form two national examinations results for students who had used English and those who had used Swahili as the medium of instruction at primary school level. The study involved 524 students from eight secondary schools in Mbeya region. The data were collected through review of documents containing students’ admission lists and examinations results. The analysis of the collected data was done using computer software, Statistical Package for Social Sciences, version 18, in which an independent samples t-test was conducted to test the hypotheses advanced for this study. The findings were as follows: First, students whose medium of instruction at primary school level was English, performed better in form one annual examinations than their counterparts who had used Swahili and the difference was statistically significant at p<0.05, in a twotailed test. Secondly, students who had used English as the medium of instruction at primary school level, performed better in form two national examinations than those who had used Swahili and the difference was also statistically significant at p<0.05, in a two-tailed test. It was thus, concluded that the language of instruction used by students at primary school level influenced significantly students’ academic performance at secondary school level.
An examination of the congruency between the University teacher training contents and secondary school contents in Tanzania: the case of Sokoine University of Agriculture
(2016) Komba, S. C.; Chiwamba, S. V.
It is ideally expected that after student teachers have gone through comprehensive curricula contents, they should possess the necessary competences and skills to enable them deliver effectively as teachers. However, some student teachers in Tanzania have expressed their concerns that some of the contents found in the curricula for teacher training programmes do not link with the contents taught in secondary schools. Therefore, this study was designed to examine the congruency between the contents student teachers cover during their studies at Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA), one of the Tanzanian teacher training institutions, and contents taught in Tanzanian secondary schools. The study involved a randomly obtained sample of 181 third year students, pursuing various teacher education degree programmes. The study adopted a cross-sectional research design in which a set of questionnaire, which consisted of both open and closed-ended questions, was administered to the sampled respondents. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS in which frequencies and percentages of responses to the questions presented in the questionnaire were computed to answer research questions advanced for this study. The findings were as follows: First, the majority (66.9%) of student teachers felt that there was a congruency between the University contents and secondary school contents and about one third (33.1%) of student teachers felt that the congruency did not exist. Secondly, the majority (95%) of student teachers felt that the contents of education courses taught at the University were applicable in real school situations and the minority (5%) did not feel so. Third, the majority (91.7%) of student teachers felt that the teacher training programmes offered at SUA had enabled them to acquire sufficient classroom teaching skills and basic theories in education. Fourth, some challenges facing teacher training programmes offered at SUA, as reported by the respondents, included irrelevant contents in some university courses, inadequate infrastructures, and lack of opportunities for practice, to mention but a few. Based on these findings, it is recommended that whenever an opportunity to review the existing teacher training programmes comes, the exercise should be preceded with needs analysis to help determine if the existing programmes adequately address the needs of the teaching profession for which the student teachers are being prepared.
Integrating moral and ethical values in the general studies syllabus at advanced level secondary school in Tanzania: challenges and opportunities
(2015) Kira, E. S.; Komba, S. C.
This study sought to achieve two specific objectives: First, to examine the challenges of teaching and learning moral and ethical values at advanced level secondary school in Tanzania and, secondly, to recommend ways of improving moral and ethical values among the youth. The study involved 80 students and 12 teachers, randomly selected from 4 secondary schools found in Morogoro Municipality. The data were collected using interviews, focus group discussions and review of curriculum materials. The findings were as follows: First, it was revealed that the teaching of moral and ethical values in schools faced a number of challenges, including lack of role models, inadequate human and material resources, and weaknesses of the content of the syllabus in use. Secondly, the respondents recommended that for the teaching of moral and ethical values to be effective, a tripartite of stakeholders, including teachers, parents, and the general public should work collaboratively. In light of these findings, it is recommended that the entire society and parents in particular, should serve as role models to ensure that children are both morally and ethically upright as they are brought up.
Investigation of Pupils’ english language abilities in Tanzania: The case of english medium primary schools
(2015-02-14) Komba, S. C.; John, D.
This article is based on the study which sought to assess pupils’ abilities in written English language skills among English medium primary school pupils in Tanzania. The objectives of the study were to examine pupils’ abilities in constructing complete and meaningful sentences; to investigate pupils’ abilities in using tenses; to assess pupils’ abilities in using punctuation marks; and to examine pupils’ abilities in spelling words. The respondents were 240 pupils from four English medium primary schools, based in Mbeya and Dar es Salaam Cities. The data collection process was done using an achievement test and the collected data were subjected to item analysis in which frequencies and percentages of students exhibiting the specified abilities were computed. The findings indicated that the majority of the pupils had serious problems in the tested English language abilities. It was recommended, among others, that English medium primary schools should recruit teachers who are proficient in English language so that they could serve as role models to the pupils.
An investigation of teachers’ perceptions of the implementation of the "Big Results Now" initiative in Tanzanian education sector
(2015) Komba, S. C.; Sigala, J.N.
This study was conducted in order to investigate teachers’ perceptions of the implementation of the Big Results Now (BRN) initiative in Tanzanian education sector. The specific objectives of the study were to examine teachers’ perceptions of the implementation of the BRN initiative in Tanzanian education sector and recommend ways of improving the implementation of the initiative. The study involved 120 teachers from six government secondary schools in Njombe Region, one of the regions of Tanzania. The data were collected using a set of questionnaire and focus group discussions. The quantitative data were analyzed using computer software, Statistical Package for Social Sciences, version 18, in which frequencies and percentages of responses on teachers’ perceptions of the implementation of the BRN initiative in Tanzanian education sector were computed. In addition, the qualitative data were analysed using content analysis. The findings indicated that there was lack of understanding of the objectives of the BRN initiative in Tanzanian education sector among the majority of teachers. Moreover, the teachers were not involved in the plans to implement the BRN initiative and conditions in schools were not supportive for the successful implementation of the initiative. On the ways of improving the implementation of the BRN initiative in Tanzanian education sector, teachers recommended, among others, that they should be educated on the objectives of implementing the initiative as they are the cornerstone in making the initiative a success.
The Perceived Importance of Communication Skills Courses among University Students: the case of two universities in Tanzania
(02-02-15) Komba, S. C.
This article is about the perceived importance of communication skills courses among Tanzanian university students. A total of 134 undergraduate students, randomly selected from two Tanzanian universities, were involved in this study. The study adopted a case study design in order to have an in-depth understanding of the phenomenon under investigation. The data were collected through interview schedules and they were analysed using thematic content analysis in which they were coded and classified according to themes generated from the responses. The findings revealed that communication skills courses were perceived by the majority of the respondents as important courses for the acquisition of communication skills needed in academic settings. It is recommended that universities should strive to improve the delivery of the courses by ensuring that both human and material resources are adequately available for the purpose of enabling students to benefit more from the courses
Relationship between school enrollment patterns and academic achievement in Tanzania
(2015-07-07) Kira, E. S.; Komba, S. C.
This study sought to determine if there was any difference in academic achievement between two categories of students enrolled at different times in Tanzania by employing both quantitative and qualitative methods. Quantitative analysis indicated that the second category performed significantly lower in their examinations than the first category; That is, -18.8>-1.96 for a two tailed Z-test. The same category of students performed lower than the first one when the examination results were segregated according to the year of study or subject-wise. Qualitative data indicated that deviant behaviors undesirable for students learning were associated with greater number of students from the second category than the first one. Thus, the researchers highlighted that enrolling all students at once should be viewed as one of the important strategies for improving the performance of the secondary school students.
The Status of geography textbooks for teaching and learning of the concepts of meteorology and environmental education in Tanzanian secondary schools
(2015-09) Kira, E. S.; Komba, S. C.
The study was on determining the availability, utility and relevancy of the certificate of secondary education textual materials from randomly selected 12 secondary schools in Morogoro region. It was observed that the most utilized textual materials were those which could often be sited by examiners. Approved textbooks were outdated hence they were least utilized compared to the reference books which were more current according to the syllabus in use. Though the most utilized textbooks covered most of the concepts as specified in the syllabus, they were some unclear concepts regarding the issues of environmental degradation, weather and climate, power use and climate change. Rural students are more likely to be affected by the observed weaknesses in the schools textual materials than urban ones because of the restricted opportunities for information sources in rural areas. Key words: Geography
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.
Towards improving the supervision of postgraduate students in Tanzanian higher learning institutions
(International Journal of Research Studies in Language Learning, 2016) Komba, S. C.; Chiwamba, S. V.
In recent years, Tanzanian higher learning institutions have attracted many candidates to pursue various postgraduate programmes. However, some higher education stakeholders have echoed their concerns that the number of postgraduate students who successfully graduate from the institutions is low, despite the increase in postgraduate enrollment. Supervisors have consistently been identified by postgraduate students as the main source of either delaying graduation or dropping from the postgraduate studies. This study was conducted in Tanzania, involving 76 academic staff, including 42 males and 34 females, from four public universities and two private universities. The study was designed to achieve two specific objectives: First, to examine the challenges of supervising postgraduate students as experienced by supervisors in Tanzanian higher learning institutions; and secondly, to recommend best practices for improving the supervision of postgraduate students in Tanzanian higher learning institutions. The findings indicated that the supervision of postgraduate students in Tanzanian higher learning institutions faces numerous challenges which could be categorized as student-related and administrative challenges. This calls for collaborative efforts among higher education stakeholders to ensure quality graduates who can contribute significantly to the development of their societies. In view of the findings of this study, it is recommended, among others, that the higher learning institutions should improve administrative and support services to enable both supervisors and supervisees perform their responsibilities effectively.
The use of computers by primary school pupils in Morogoro, Tanzania
(2016-04) Komba, S. C.; David, N.
One of the objectives of teaching and learning information and communication technology subject in primary schools is to enable pupils to have abilities to use information technology tools, including computers. This article is based on the study which sought to investigate the extent to which primary school pupils in Tanzania were able to use computers after attending Information and Communication Technology lessons. The specific objectives of the study were four, including: To examine pupils’ abilities to start a computer; to use a Microsoft Office Word program; to find information from the internet; and to shut down a computer. The study employed a quantitative research approach in which a case study research design was adopted. A total of 120 pupils from six primary schools in Morogoro Municipality were involved. The data were mainly collected through performance tasks in which the pupils demonstrated their abilities in using computers. The percentages of pupils who were able and those who were unable to perform tasks related to computer use were computed using computer software, Statistical Package for Social Sciences. The main findings were as follows: First, most of the pupils who were involved in this study did not have problems in starting a computer as more than 95% of the pupils were able to start a computer. Secondly, the majority of pupils had basic skills needed to use a Microsoft Office Word program. Third, more than half of pupils exhibited basic skills for finding information from the internet and a significant proportion of pupils did not have the skills. Lastly, more than 90% of pupils who were involved in this study were able to shut down a computer. These findings imply that the interactions among pupils, between pupils and teachers and between pupils and information and communication technology materials were effective. In light of these findings, it is recommended that the government should provide all primary schools with computers to enable all pupils in the country develop computer skills which are essential in improving their academic performance.