Conference Presentations by Dr. Fredrick Ssempala (Ph.D.)
This mixed-methods study stems from the poor learner performance in secondary schools in Tororo D... more This mixed-methods study stems from the poor learner performance in secondary schools in Tororo District, Uganda, which connoted low teacher role performance and gaps in headteachers' management styles. Management styles of 28 headteachers and role performance of 294 teachers were investigated. Headteachers mainly used democratic management style, 21 (75.0%); followed by balanced-oriented style, 6 (21.43%); and laissez-faire style, 1 (3.5%). Teachers' role performance was moderate (M = 64.75, SD = 10.80). Significant relationships existed between people-oriented (r = .127, p = .029) and task-oriented (r = .132, p = .024) management and teachers' performance. Recommendations for improvement were advanced.
This study investigated the relationship between school attendance and academic performance in UP... more This study investigated the relationship between school attendance and academic performance in UPE schools in Rubanda district of Uganda. Using data from a sample of 104 participants, the researchers established that UPE schools perform poorer in internal examinations but better in national examinations. The regular school attendees perform differently from the chronic absentees. There is also a positive relationship between school attendance and academic performance (R = 0.365), although school attendance explains only 11.8% variations in academic performance while 88.2% is explained by other factors affecting academic performance. School administrators should identify other factors that are likely to influence pupils' academic performance apart from attendance, as well as strengthening community-school interaction programmes to help improve attendance in UPE schools.
International Journal of Scientific Research and Education, 2019
This paper is a review of literature on assessment of, and attempt to improve the nature of scien... more This paper is a review of literature on assessment of, and attempt to improve the nature of science (NOS) conception of science teachers for the last 64 years. Most of the researchers in the 20 th century used the quantitative approach to assess NOS conception of science teachers. However recent researchers in this 21 st century (last ten years) are using both the quantitative and qualitative approaches. There is basically two approaches used to improve the NOS of science teachers, that is "implicit" and the "explicit" approaches. Most researchers argue that explicit approach is more effective than implicit approach in improving NOS of science teachers. However recently some researchers are beginning to argue that, it is better to use both the implicit and explicit approaches concurrently in order to improve the NOS conception of science teachers.
This paper is a review of literature on assessment of, and attempt to improve the nature of scien... more This paper is a review of literature on assessment of, and attempt to improve the nature of science (NOS) conception of science teachers for the last 64 years. Most of the researchers in the 20 th century used the quantitative approach to assess NOS conception of science teachers. However recent researchers in this 21 st century (last ten years) are using both the quantitative and qualitative approaches. There is basically two approaches used to improve the NOS of science teachers, that is 'implicit' and the 'explicit' approaches. Most researchers argue that explicit approach is more effective than implicit approach in improving NOS of science teachers. However recently some researchers are beginning to argue that, it is better to use both the implicit and explicit approaches concurrently in order to improve the NOS conception of science teachers.
The Uganda government today emphasizes science and technology studies at all levels. All students... more The Uganda government today emphasizes science and technology studies at all levels. All students in O-level study sciences and A-level students have either to do computer studies or mathematics if they do not offer a science combination. Hence it is expected that the learners who go through the education system in Uganda are expected to have acquired, sufficient level of scientific attitude/scientific literacy. Despite this science policy, our society still holds many superstitious beliefs, like sacrificing children to acquire wealth and people claiming to make/stop rain. Since no country can be better than its education system, and no education system is better than its teachers, it was paramount to investigate whether the pre-service science teachers are scientifically literate, since they are the backbone of the country's science education. The main purpose of the study was to investigate the level of scientific attitude/ superstition among bachelor of science education students in Busitema university. Busitema university was selected mainly because it train only science teachers who offer; chemistry Biology, Physics, Mathematics and computer studies. The objectives of the study were: (i) To determine the level of superstition among the BSc/Education students in Busitema university (ii) Determine the level of scientific attitude among the BSc/Education students by using their level of superstition. (iii) Compare the level of scientific attitude between finalist (3 rd year) and " freshers " (before their lectures in university) (iv) Examine the relationship between gender /religious/ tribe, and the level of superstition/scientific attitude. A case study / survey research design was used involving quantitative research strategy, the instrument of data collection was questionnaires containing 25 superstitious statements with option of agree / disagree. It was administered to 186 students (25 female and 161 male) of the four levels [fresher, first, second & third year students, (after final second semester exams] in August 2012 and May 2012 respectively. It was expected that all students will disagree with all the statement due their level of scientific literacy. Data was analyzed, using descriptive methods such as percentage paragraph and frequencies by MS-excel program. The study found out that; the level of scientific attitude among students was too low (fresher = 6.67%, first years after semester II exams = 13.04%, second year after semester II exams = 13.73%, and third year after final exams = 29.55 %.). There was a slight difference between final year BSc education students (after final exams) and fresher students (before lectures in university) (29.55%-6.67% = 22.88%) No relationship was observed between gender/religion/tribe and the level of scientific attitudes among student.The conclusion was that most pre-service science teachers believe in superstition (Fresher = 93.33% 1 st year = 85.96%, 2 nd year = 86.27%, 3 rd year = 70.45%) This has implication for successful implementation of science education in Uganda. The recommendations were that; there is need to reform the science curriculum at all levels (Primary, secondary and university) to address the methods and attitude of science during the science lesson, other than emphasizing scientific facts which students easily forget after their exams. Also, more research needs to be conducted to determine the level of scientific attitude among the In-service Science teachers in primary, secondary and Colleges, so that in service courses are organized to improve their scientific literacy.
Teachers' perceptions and approaches, and consequently, the learning contexts they provide are kn... more Teachers' perceptions and approaches, and consequently, the learning contexts they provide are known to influence students' perceptions. Successful integration of learning technologies leading to enhanced learning outcomes is unlikely unless teachers perceive and use technology as an integrated part of a student-centered approach to teaching. There was a concern in the Islamic University in Uganda Female Campus (IUIU-FC) that most lecturers do not know how to integrate learning technologies in their lectures. This implied that most students are likely to graduate as teachers without learning how to integrate technology into their teaching. Therefore, this study investigated the perception of Bachelor of Arts/ Education students and their lecturers about learning technologies. A total of 56 students and 11 lecturers participated in the study. The instrument of data collection was a structured questionnaire. Data was analyzed using content analysis and descriptive statistics. The study found out that only 14 students (25%) and 6 lecturers (54%) had the right perception of the things that constitute learning technologies. The study concluded that both pre-service teachers and their lecturers generally lack the appropriate perceptions necessary for successful integration of learning technology into their teaching. Therefore, training in teaching and learning technologies for the lecturers and students is recommended.
The challenges affecting young people (10-19 years) today are generally visible. That is, the gro... more The challenges affecting young people (10-19 years) today are generally visible. That is, the growing numbers of teenage pregnancies, school drop outs, substance abuse, and social, sexual and reproductive health problems like date rape, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV / AIDS are all indicators that many young people are simply unable to cope with such numerous challenges. For young men and women, adolescence is a time filled with excitement, new feelings, many unanswered questions, changes and difficult choices. Therefore they will need to know the facts about their own sexuality and learn skills to help them plan for a happy future and healthy lives. Young people must begin to think about the skills needed for their future in the world of work. During this time, they will have relationships with peers of the same and opposite sex. At the same time, they will need to have a respectful, loving relationship with family members and they will need to learn about making independent decisions. Young people must also learn to deal with new feelings about sexuality, their physical and emotional changes, and how to make responsible decisions about reproduction and later, parenthood. In an attempt to address the above adolescence issues, National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) with funding from United Nation Funds for Population Activities (UNFPA) was involved in a project to Mainstream Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health / Life Planning Skills (ASRH /LPS) into the upper primary (P5 – P7) in the career subjects of social studies, integrated science and religious education from 2006 up to 2009. This paper describes how the ASRH/LPS was infused into the upper primary (P5-P7) career subjects. It also demonstrates how the in-service teachers in the five pilot districts were trained. It further highlights opportunities and challenges which were observed by the key stake holders (District Education Officials, Head teachers, Centre Coordinating Tutors, Classroom Teachers, and Primary 5-7 pupils) in the five districts where the redesigned syllabi were piloted. It finally identifies the significant learning experiences and strategies for future successful implementation of similar curriculum innovation.
In Uganda, currently there is a problem of unemployment among the youths both graduate and school... more In Uganda, currently there is a problem of unemployment among the youths both graduate and school dropouts. The blame of this unemployment is largely put on the irrelevant curriculum which does not prepare young people to be job creators but instead prepare them to be job seekers. Most of the stakeholders have argued that the current secondary school curriculum was designed by the colonialist to prepare the graduates for white collar jobs without an emphasis on applied skills which are needed for blue collar jobs. However the white collar jobs are decreasing as the numbers of graduates is increasing. There has been a substantial blame on theoretical nature of sciences taught in secondary school being composed of mainly scientific facts without applied principles to solve day today problems of learners/ society. The Uganda government started implementing the universal secondary education since 2007, and science subjects (Chemistry, Physics, and Biology) are compulsory from senior one to senior four. Much as the aims of teaching/learning the science subjects emphasizes the application of scientific knowledge and principles by learners to solve their daily problems, less is realized in the graduates of secondary education coming out of school. This is evidenced by most of the graduate being non-productive in the society and hence an economic liability to the country. In an attempt to address the above problem, National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) with funding from African Development Bank (ADB III project) in 2007, embarked on the curriculum innovation project to integrate technology into science subjects in order to make sciences relevant to students and the society in general. This paper explains the concepts of science and technology in relation to secondary science curriculum in Uganda. It goes on to describe how technology was integrated in ordinary level Chemistry syllabus, and also how the Teachers manual was prepared to guide the O' Level Chemistry teachers to implement the integrated Chemistry – Technology Curriculum. It finally discusses the opportunity and challenges of this Curriculum Innovation.
United States is one of the major host countries to international students. International graduat... more United States is one of the major host countries to international students. International graduate students often play important roles as teaching and research assistants. In addition to teaching courses, they provide office hours to assist students in labs and to assist students outside of class. Despite of their ubiquity, international graduate students on American campuses have been understudied. Little is studied about International graduate students from African countries who are involved in teaching in U.S. universities Hence the purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of International graduate teaching assistants from African countries (IGTAAs) in U.S. universities. This study examined the classroom teaching and study experiences of international graduate teaching assistants from African countries in the school of education in a private University in northeastern United States during spring 2014 semester. The following research questions guided the study: 1. What are the teaching experiences of International graduate teaching assistants from African countries (IGTAAs) in U.S universities? 2. What are the study experiences of IGTAAs in U.S universities? Data was collected through interviews and observations. Data was analyzed by grounded theory. The findings from the study were that; All the IGTAAs interviewed had experienced the challenge of communication barrier during their lessons in the U.S. University classroom; and the IGTAAs expressed the challenge of accent and lack of contextual knowledge to explain the concepts to students when conducting their classroom teaching. However the IGTAAs had a good relationship with the students and professors outside the classroom. The study recommended that, there is need to design some courses for IGTAAs about the American culture to allow them to have contextual issues to use during their TA classes. It is also necessary to mix the American TAs and the IGTAAs in classrooms to allow the smooth transition by the IGTAAs.
One of the goals of science education is to improve the scientific literacy among the population.... more One of the goals of science education is to improve the scientific literacy among the population. This is normally done through the education system of any country. Classroom science teachers are at the fore front of this goal, and hence a lot of research to assess and improve the nature of science (NOS) conception of pre-service and in-service teachers has been done especially in developed countries like United States for the last 64 years (since 1950). However, science teacher training in colleges/ Universities involves faculty members in education departments (mainly teaching method courses to pre-service courses) and those in science departments (teaching mainly content courses to pre-service science teachers). Little research has been done to explore NOS conceptions of the science faculty members moreover these members implicitly or explicitly may influence the way pre-service teachers conceive and teach about and/ with the NOS after they graduate from the teacher training colleges/ universities. Hence the purpose of this study was to explore the Chemistry professors' conceptions of the NOS in the private research University located in North Eastern part of United States. Four chemistry professors were interviewed and their classes were observed by the researcher. This paper describes how the chemistry professors' conceive nature of science, and the factors which have influenced their conception of NOS views. The implication for science teacher education is discussed accordingly.
Books by Dr. Fredrick Ssempala (Ph.D.)
BOOK CHAPTER
For any country to develop, it should be able to conduct research to generate knowledge necessary... more For any country to develop, it should be able to conduct research to generate knowledge necessary to solve problems of humanity by producing necessary goods and services. Research is essential for any nation's success. Most goods and services consumed today are products of research conducted in developed countries by postgraduate students. Unfortunately, most postgraduate students in developing countries face a lot of challenges that limit their ability to engage in original research that should be published in refereed journals and to acquire necessary patents accordingly. Curriculum gaps inhibit most graduate students in low-resource settings from engaging in productive research necessary to transform the developing country's economy. Hence, the chapter discusses the importance of research engagement and strategies to fill curriculum gaps in the postgraduate programs to enhance research engagement among the postgraduate students in low-resource settings.
One of the goals of science education is to improve the scientific literacy among the population.... more One of the goals of science education is to improve the scientific literacy among the population. This is normally done through the education system of any country. Classroom science teachers are at the fore front of this goal, and hence a lot of research to assess and improve the Nature of Science (NOS) conception of pre-service and in-service teachers has been done especially in developed countries like United States for the last 64 years (since 1950). However, science teacher training in Colleges/ Universities involves faculty members in education departments (mainly teaching method courses to pre-service courses) and those in science departments (teaching mainly content courses to pre-service science teachers). Few studies have been done to explore NOS conceptions of the science faculty members moreover these members influence the way pre-service teachers conceive and teach about and/ with the NOS after they graduate from the teacher training colleges/ universities. Hence the purpose of this study was to explore the Chemistry Professors' conceptions of the NOS in the private research University located in North Eastern part of United States. Four Chemistry Professors were interviewed and their classes were observed by the researcher. This paper describes how the Chemistry Professors conceive Nature of Science, and the factors which have influenced their conception of NOS views. The implication for science teacher education is discussed accordingly.
Papers by Dr. Fredrick Ssempala (Ph.D.)
INTED2013 Proceedings, 2013
In Uganda, currently there is a problem of unemployment among the youths both graduate and school... more In Uganda, currently there is a problem of unemployment among the youths both graduate and school dropouts. The blame of this unemployment is largely put on the irrelevant curriculum which does not prepare young people to be job creators but instead prepare them to be job seekers. Most of the stakeholders have argued that the current secondary school curriculum was designed by the colonialist to prepare the graduates for white collar jobs without an emphasis on applied skills which are needed for blue collar jobs. However the white collar jobs are decreasing as the numbers of graduates is increasing. There has been a substantial blame on theoretical nature of sciences taught in secondary school being composed of mainly scientific facts without applied principles to solve day today problems of learners/ society. The Uganda government started implementing the universal secondary education since 2007, and science subjects (Chemistry, Physics, and Biology) are compulsory from senior one to senior four. Much as the aims of teaching/learning the science subjects emphasizes the application of scientific knowledge and principles by learners to solve their daily problems, less is realized in the graduates of secondary education coming out of school. This is evidenced by most of the graduate being non-productive in the society and hence an economic liability to the country. In an attempt to address the above problem, National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) with funding from African Development Bank (ADB III project) in 2007, embarked on the curriculum innovation project to integrate technology into science subjects in order to make sciences relevant to students and the society in general. This paper explains the concepts of science and technology in relation to secondary science curriculum in Uganda. It goes on to describe how technology was integrated in ordinary level Chemistry syllabus, and also how the Teachers manual was prepared to guide the O' Level Chemistry teachers to implement the integrated Chemistry – Technology Curriculum. It finally discusses the opportunity and challenges of this Curriculum Innovation.
International Journal of Scientific Research in Education, Apr 1, 2019
This paper is a review of literature on assessment of, and attempt to improve the nature of scien... more This paper is a review of literature on assessment of, and attempt to improve the nature of science (NOS) conception of science teachers for the last 64 years. Most of the researchers in the 20th century used the quantitative approach to assess NOS conception of science teachers. However recent researchers in this 21st century (last ten years) are using both the quantitative and qualitative approaches. There is basically two approaches used to improve the NOS of science teachers, that is ‘implicit’ and the ‘explicit’ approaches. Most researchers argue that explicit approach is more effective than implicit approach in improving NOS of science teachers. However recently some researchers are beginning to argue that, it is better to use both the implicit and explicit approaches concurrently in order to improve the NOS conception of science teachers.
ICERI2015 Proceedings, 2015
United States is one of the major host countries to international students. International graduat... more United States is one of the major host countries to international students. International graduate students often play important roles as teaching and research assistants. In addition to teaching courses, they provide office hours to assist students in labs and to assist students outside of class. Despite of their ubiquity, international graduate students on American campuses have been understudied. Little is studied about International graduate students from African countries who are involved in teaching in U.S. universities Hence the purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of International graduate teaching assistants from African countries (IGTAAs) in U.S. universities. This study examined the classroom teaching and study experiences of international graduate teaching assistants from African countries in the school of education in a private University in northeastern United States during spring 2014 semester. The following research questions guided the study: 1. What are the teaching experiences of International graduate teaching assistants from African countries (IGTAAs) in U.S universities? 2. What are the study experiences of IGTAAs in U.S universities? Data was collected through interviews and observations. Data was analyzed by grounded theory. The findings from the study were that; All the IGTAAs interviewed had experienced the challenge of communication barrier during their lessons in the U.S. University classroom; and the IGTAAs expressed the challenge of accent and lack of contextual knowledge to explain the concepts to students when conducting their classroom teaching. However the IGTAAs had a good relationship with the students and professors outside the classroom. The study recommended that, there is need to design some courses for IGTAAs about the American culture to allow them to have contextual issues to use during their TA classes. It is also necessary to mix the American TAs and the IGTAAs in classrooms to allow the smooth transition by the IGTAAs.
INTED2013 Proceedings, 2013
The challenges affecting young people (10-19 years) today are generally visible. That is, the gro... more The challenges affecting young people (10-19 years) today are generally visible. That is, the growing numbers of teenage pregnancies, school drop outs, substance abuse, and social, sexual and reproductive health problems like date rape, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV / AIDS are all indicators that many young people are simply unable to cope with such numerous challenges. For young men and women, adolescence is a time filled with excitement, new feelings, many unanswered questions, changes and difficult choices. Therefore they will need to know the facts about their own sexuality and learn skills to help them plan for a happy future and healthy lives. Young people must begin to think about the skills needed for their future in the world of work. During this time, they will have relationships with peers of the same and opposite sex. At the same time, they will need to have a respectful, loving relationship with family members and they will need to learn about making independent decisions. Young people must also learn to deal with new feelings about sexuality, their physical and emotional changes, and how to make responsible decisions about reproduction and later, parenthood. In an attempt to address the above adolescence issues, National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) with funding from United Nation Funds for Population Activities (UNFPA) was involved in a project to Mainstream Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health / Life Planning Skills (ASRH /LPS) into the upper primary (P5 – P7) in the career subjects of social studies, integrated science and religious education from 2006 up to 2009. This paper describes how the ASRH/LPS was infused into the upper primary (P5-P7) career subjects. It also demonstrates how the in-service teachers in the five pilot districts were trained. It further highlights opportunities and challenges which were observed by the key stake holders (District Education Officials, Head teachers, Centre Coordinating Tutors, Classroom Teachers, and Primary 5-7 pupils) in the five districts where the redesigned syllabi were piloted. It finally identifies the significant learning experiences and strategies for future successful implementation of similar curriculum innovation.
ICERI2013 Proceedings, 2013
The Uganda government today emphasizes science and technology studies at all levels. All students... more The Uganda government today emphasizes science and technology studies at all levels. All students in O-level study sciences and A-level students have either to do computer studies or mathematics if they do not offer a science combination. Hence it is expected that the learners who go through the education system in Uganda are expected to have acquired, sufficient level of scientific attitude/scientific literacy. Despite this science policy, our society still holds many superstitious beliefs, like sacrificing children to acquire wealth and people claiming to make/stop rain. Since no country can be better than its education system, and no education system is better than its teachers, it was paramount to investigate whether the pre-service science teachers are scientifically literate, since they are the backbone of the country's science education. The main purpose of the study was to investigate the level of scientific attitude/ superstition among bachelor of science education students in Busitema university. Busitema university was selected mainly because it train only science teachers who offer; chemistry Biology, Physics, Mathematics and computer studies. The objectives of the study were: (i) To determine the level of superstition among the BSc/Education students in Busitema university (ii) Determine the level of scientific attitude among the BSc/Education students by using their level of superstition. (iii) Compare the level of scientific attitude between finalist (3 rd year) and" freshers" (before their lectures in university) (iv) Examine the relationship between gender /religious/ tribe, and the level of superstition/scientific attitude. A case study / survey research design was used involving quantitative research strategy, the instrument of data collection was questionnaires containing 25 superstitious statements with option of agree / disagree. It was administered to 186 students (25 female and 161 male) of the four levels [fresher, first, second & third year students, (after final second semester exams] in August 2012 and May 2012 respectively. It was expected that all students will disagree with all the statement due their level of scientific literacy. Data was analyzed, using descriptive methods such as percentage paragraph and frequencies by MS-excel program. The study found out that; the level of scientific attitude among students was too low (fresher = 6.67%, first years after semester II exams = 13.04%, second year after semester II exams = 13.73%, and third year after final exams = 29.55 %.). There was a slight difference between final year BSc education students (after final exams) and fresher students (before lectures in university) (29.55%-6.67% = 22.88%) No relationship was observed between gender/religion/tribe and the level of scientific attitudes among student.The conclusion was that most pre-service science teachers believe in superstition (Fresher = 93.33% 1 st year = 85.96%, 2 nd year = 86.27%, 3 rd year = 70.45%) This has implication for successful implementation of science education in Uganda. The recommendations were that; there is need to reform the science curriculum at all levels (Primary, secondary and university) to address the methods and attitude of science during the science lesson, other than emphasizing scientific facts which students easily forget after their exams. Also, more research needs to be conducted to determine the level of scientific attitude among the In-service Science teachers in primary, secondary and Colleges, so that in service courses are organized to improve their scientific literacy.
This dissertation is dedicated to my father, Clement Ssempala, my Aunt, Clementina Nanteza, and m... more This dissertation is dedicated to my father, Clement Ssempala, my Aunt, Clementina Nanteza, and my late grandmother, Esther Namakoye Kiwotoka, who played a great role in my education and life in general. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I am deeply indebted to all those people who helped me in the preparation of this dissertation up to its final stage. Special thanks go to the following:
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Conference Presentations by Dr. Fredrick Ssempala (Ph.D.)
Books by Dr. Fredrick Ssempala (Ph.D.)
Papers by Dr. Fredrick Ssempala (Ph.D.)