The Journal of Science Education Research publishes rigorous empirical and theoretical work on the teaching and learning of the sciences at secondary and tertiary level. We welcome quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods studies on pedagogy, curriculum design, assessment, laboratory practice, teacher preparation and the integration of technology into science instruction, with particular interest in work grounded in African educational contexts.
Established by the Department of Science Education at ESUT, JSER exists to give African science education research a permanent, openly accessible and properly indexed home.
This quasi-experimental study examined the effect of inquiry-based laboratory instruction on the academic achievement of senior secondary school students in chemistry. A sample of 214 SS2 students drawn from six secondary schools in Enugu State was assigned to experimental and control groups. Students taught using the inquiry-based approach achieved significantly higher post-test scores than those taught by conventional demonstration methods, and the effect was more pronounced among female students. The findings support wider adoption of guided inquiry in Nigerian chemistry laboratories, even where equipment is limited.
Pre-service physics teachers frequently enter the classroom carrying the same misconceptions about mechanics as their future students. This study investigated whether interactive digital simulations could shift conceptual understanding more effectively than textbook-based tutorials. Using a pre-test/post-test control group design with 96 undergraduates, simulation-supported instruction produced significantly larger conceptual gains on the Force Concept Inventory. Implications for teacher education curricula in low-bandwidth environments are discussed.
Classroom assessment shapes what students ultimately learn, yet teacher assessment literacy remains under-examined in Nigerian secondary education. This mixed-methods study surveyed 178 biology teachers and conducted follow-up interviews with 22 of them. While teachers reported confidence in constructing objective tests, analysis of their instruments revealed heavy reliance on recall-level items and limited use of formative feedback. The paper proposes a school-based professional development model targeted at assessment design.
Chronic equipment shortages limit practical science across much of sub-Saharan Africa. This study evaluated a structured improvisation programme in which teachers built laboratory apparatus from locally available materials. Across twelve schools, students in improvisation classrooms demonstrated practical skill gains statistically indistinguishable from those in fully equipped comparison schools, at a fraction of the cost. The study argues that improvisation should be treated as a legitimate pedagogical competence rather than a stopgap.
This editorial introduces the special issue on laboratory practice in under-resourced schools and argues that the field has too often imported assumptions about practical work from well-equipped Northern contexts without examining their fit.
Every submission is screened editorially and then subjected to double-blind peer review by at least two independent reviewers with subject expertise.
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