Lecturers Attitude and Internet Use as Correlate of Attitude Change in Education among Pre-Service Biology Teachers in Tertiary Institutions in South-East, Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigated lecturers’ attitude, internet use and attitude change in education among pre-service biology teachers in tertiary institutions in South-East, Nigeria. Three research questions and three null hypotheses guided the study. The study adopted a correlational research design. The population of the study comprised all seven hundred and fifteen (715) third-year (300 level) pre-service biology teachers in the faculties of education of public tertiary institutions in South-East, Nigeria. A sample of four hundred and fifteen (415) pre-service teachers was used. Three instruments, titled Lecturers’ Attitude Questionnaire (LAQ), Internet Use Questionnaire (IUQ) and Pre-service Teachers’ Attitude Change in Education Questionnaire (PSTACEQ), were used for data collection. The reliability of the instruments was established using Cronbach’s alpha method, which yielded coefficient values of 0.77 for the Lecturers’ Attitude Questionnaire (LAQ), 0.81 for the Internet Use Questionnaire (IUQ) and 0.77 for the Pre-service Teachers’ Attitude Change in Education Questionnaire (PSTACEQ), respectively. The researchers employed the direct delivery technique (DDT) to distribute the instruments to the respondents. The data collected were analysed using Pearson (r) product-moment correlation for research questions 1 and 2, while research question 3 and the null hypotheses were analysed using multiple regression analyses. The results showed that the combined influence of lecturers’ attitude towards the students and students’ use of the internet explained 67.6% of the variance in attitude change in education among pre-service teachers. The results also revealed a strong positive relationship of 0.822 among lecturers’ attitude, internet use and pre-service biology teachers’ attitude change in education. The results, however, showed a significant joint relationship among lecturers’ attitude towards the students, students’ use of the internet and pre-service biology teachers’ attitude change in education. Based on the findings, the researchers concluded that lecturers’ attitude towards the students and students’ internet use significantly correlate with attitude change in education among pre-service biology teachers. Therefore, it was recommended, among other things, that lecturers should remain committed to their profession, improve the interest of pre-service biology teachers, and provide them with the conditions needed to acquire the skills required for teaching.