Managing attention and emotions of learners at the beginning of a core science lesson in secondary schools in Uganda

Abstract

Performance in science subjects has always been a great concern to many stakeholders and many studies have been carried out to address this concern. Improving the quality of teaching and learning in the 21st Century requires the highest quality of teaching and professional training. This study focuses on how teachers start lessons of core science subjects and how students feel about it. The preferences of the learners on how core science subjects should be started are highlighted. For many years researchers and teachers have tried to find the secrets of successful teaching. Although there are many factors that influence learning, there can be considerable variations in the local context in which the teachers work. Indeed teachers manage their science classes skillfully. The principle aim of this study, therefore is to give the fresh teachers some basic notions and precepts about beginning a core science lesson and also to enable experienced teachers of core science subjects to examine their own practices and it is hoped, improve it. The study was guided by the following objectives; to establish from teachers how they begin lessons in core science subjects; to identify students' preferences on how to begin a core science lesson and to find out from students what stimulates their concentration at the beginning of a lesson. Two hundred(200) students and eighty (80) teachers of core science subjects participated in this study. A cross-sectional survey research design was used and stratified sampling was used in selecting the secondary schools to participate and the strata included three(3) girls only schools, three(3) boys only schools and four (4) mixed schools. Simple random sampling was used to select senior four students to participate in the study while purposive sampling was used in selecting the subject teachers for this study.