Impact of teacher’s personality on academic performance of biology students in Ogba-Egbema-Ndoni Local Government Area, Rivers State

Abstract

Recent results of Senior Secondary Schools (SSS) Biology shows a decline in achievement, even those who take the exams, scale through with mere passing grades with no distinction. This study is therefore an attempt to investigate learner's achievement in Biology with respect to teacher factors. The characteristics of the biology teacher (BT) under examination are subject mastery, skill set, attitude to work and degree of job satisfaction. The instrument for data collection was a structured questionnaire administered to 312 respondents, consisting of 300 SSS students studying Biology and 12 BTs. The respondents were randomly selected from six (6) schools in Ogba-Egbema-Ndoni Local Government Area (ONELGA), Rivers State. Data was analyzed by descriptive statistics and a mean score of 2.50 was considered significant for the TF under consideration. Results indicate grand mean scores as follows: relationship between BTs’ subject mastery and learners’ performance (3.87>2.25), relationship between BTs' skill set and learners' performance (2.95>2.5); relationship between the biology teachers' attitude to work and learners' performance (2.87>2.5), relationship between BTs' job satisfaction and learners' academic performance (2.53>2.50). The results show that teacher personality factors such as subject mastery, skill set and attitude to work influence the performance of Biology students in Senior Secondary Schools in ONELGA, Rivers State.