Browsing by Author "Komba, S.C."

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Challenges of writing theses and dissertations among postgraduate students in Tanzanian higher learning institutions
(Consortia Academia Publishing, 2016-07) Komba, S.C.
This study sought to investigate challenges of writing theses and dissertations among postgraduate students. A total of 103 research reports, including 39 theses and 64 dissertations from three universities in Tanzania, were reviewed. The findings indicated that the majority (more than 50%) of the candidates, whose theses and dissertations were reviewed, faced numerous challenges in writing their theses and dissertations. The candidates seemed to have challenges in writing all chapters which were included in their research reports. The challenges included inappropriateness in presenting different chapters of the reports and lack of academic writing skills. Based on the findings of this study, it is recommended, among others, that research methods courses offered in the universities should be reviewed in terms of contents and teaching approaches in order to overcome the challenges as portrayed by the candidates in the reviewed theses and dissertations.
The effectiveness of teaching practice in improving student teachers’ teaching skills in Tanzania
(2013) Komba, S.C.; Kira, E.S.
This article is based on the study which sought to investigate the effectiveness of Teaching Practice in improving student teachers’ teaching skills in Tanzania. The study was designed to find how Teaching Practice was organized by the teacher training universities and whether the Teaching Practice was effective in improving student teachers’ teaching skills. The qualitative research approach was adopted and the study was conducted in Iringa, Morogoro, Dar es Salaam, and Kilimanjaro regions of Tanzania Mainland. A total of 191 student teachers were involved in the study. The findings indicated that the duration spent for the Teaching Practice was inadequate for student teachers to acquire the skills required for effective teaching. Furthermore, the supervision of student teachers during the Teaching Practice was overall, ineffective as the supervisors were not flexible enough to guide, advise, and discuss with student teachers on the strengths and weaknesses revealed during the teaching. Regarding the effectiveness of the Teaching Practice, 76% of the respondents indicated that Teaching Practice was ineffective in improving their teaching skills. Since the majority of respondents indicated that they did not benefit much from the Teaching Practice, there is need for the responsible authorities to review the procedures for carrying out Teaching Practice in order to improve the quality of teachers. Keywords: Effectiveness, Teaching Practice, Teaching skills, Tanzania
Investigation of the predictive validity of communication skills examination on university students’ overall academic performance in Tanzania
(2012-12-19) Kafanabo, E.J.; Komba, S.C.
This article is about the Predictive Validity of the University Communication Skills (CS) examination on the Students’ Overall Academic Performance. It is based on the study which was conducted at the Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA). The objectives of the study were: firstly, to determine the extent to which the CS examination predicts the overall performance expressed in terms of the University GPAs; secondly, to identify whether the predictive validity varies by sex, type of school, and type of degree programme; and thirdly, to examine whether the CS examination is a better predictor for the university GPAs than students’ entry qualifications. The respondents were 358 finalists from six programmes selected randomly out of the 20 degree programmes at SUA. The findings indicated that the University CS examination positively predicted the overall students’ performance expressed in terms of GPAs (r=0.416, p< 0.01). Furthermore, the predictive validity of the CS examination scores on the University GPAs varied by sex and was higher for males (r=0.483, p<0.01) than females (r=0.272, p<0.01). Moreover, the CS examination scores predicted the University GPAs better than the students’ university entry points. However, the type of school attended at both CSEE and ACSEE levels and type of degree programme enrolled at SUA had insignificant influence on the predictive validity of the CS examination.
The Link between English language proficiency and academic performance: a pedagogical perspective in Tanzanian Secondary Schools
(Sciedu Press, 2012) Wilson, B.; Komba, S.C.
English, the Language of Instruction (LOI), has fallen victim of blame of some scholars as the cause of poor performance in secondary schools in Tanzania. The blame is directed at English strongly up until recent years (2010 and 2011) when the results of national examinations have been extremely worse. It seems, the public presumes that there is relationship between students’ academic success and their abilities in the LOI. This paper sought to investigate whether there is relationship between English Language Proficiency (ELP) and academic performance in Tanzanian secondary schools. The data used were obtained by administering an ELP test and a review of students’ reports, and were quantitatively analyzed using a computer software, Statistical Package for Software System (SPSS) version 18. The study revealed that there is a significant weak positive relationship between ELP and students’ academic achievement. The relationship was significant in English and insignificant in other subjects which were investigated. On the basis of the findings of this study, it is argued that academic success is a function of several variables and not only proficiency in the LOI. It is therefore recommended that the responsible authorities should invest in improving English language proficiency among students since ELP is positively connected with academic success.
Reflections on the implementation of competence based cuurriculum in Tanzanian secondary schools
(2015) Komba, S.C.; Mwandanji, M.
This study investigated issues surrounding the implementation of competence based curriculum in Tanzanian secondary schools. The specific objectives of the study were to examine the teachers’ understanding of the objectives of competence based curriculum; to investigate the teachers’ abilities in preparing competence based lesson plans; to examine whether or not teachers involved students in classroom activities; and to find out whether or not teachers practiced formative students’ assessments as per the requirements of competence based curriculum. The respondents included 186 teachers who were randomly selected from 13 secondary schools found in Mbeya region of Tanzania. The data were collected through interview schedules, observation schedules, and review of documents. The collected data were analysed using thematic content analysis. The findings indicated that the majority (86%) of the interviewed teachers did not have the proper understanding of the objectives of competence based curriculum. In addition, the majority (78%) of the reviewed lesson plans did not reflect the qualities of a competence based lesson plan. Moreover, the involvement of students in classroom activities by the teachers who were observed was, in overall, very low. Lastly, teachers practiced formative students’ assessments in less than 50% of the observed classroom sessions. In view of these findings, it seemed that the implementation of competence based curriculum in the selected schools was ineffective. In view of these findings, it is recommended that regular training for in-service teachers should be conducted in order to enable them acquire up-to-date teaching skills as required by the changes introduced in the school curricula.