APPRAISAL OF 21 CENTURY SKILLS POSSESSED AND UTILIZED BY SECONDARY SCHOOL BIOLOGY TEACHERS FOR CLASSROOM DELIVERY IN ANAMBRA STATE

Abstract

The study investigated 21 century skills possessed and utilized by 
secondary school Biology teachers for classroom delivery in Anambra State. The 
study guided by four research questions, adopted a descriptive survey research 
design. The population comprised of the 534 Biology teachers, from the 256 
government-owned secondary schools in Anambra State. Using the Taro Yamane's 
formula, a sample of 229 Biology teachers were estimated and drawn from the 
population using simple random sampling technique. An instrument titled "Twenty
First Century Skills for Classroom Delivery Questionnaire "TCSCDQ", developed 
by the researchers from piecemeal and available literature, was used to collect data. 
TCSCDQ validated by three experts, was subjected to pilot testing to yield a 
reliability coefficient value of 0.78, by Cronbach's alpha estimation. Data collected 
were analyzed using frequency counts, percentages and mean scores. The findings 
revealed that Biology teachers in secondary schools possess and utilize several 21 
century skills, however, they neither possessed nor utilized the skills of digital 
literacy, entrepreneurship, technical proficiency and networking. It was also 
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st
revealed that the challenges faced by teachers in utilizing 21 century skills to teach 
Biology are; limited resources, current Biology curriculum, large class size, 
inadequate training, poor internet connectivity, current educational policies and 
resistance to change of traditional teaching methods. Based on the findings, the 
study recommended among others that government at all levels should ensure the 
provision of adequate modern teaching resources and instructional materials that 
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enable the application of 21 century skills, that are essential for effective classroom 
delivery.