Pre-Service Teachers' Perceptions on Biology Classroom Environment and their Attitudes towards the Subject in Ghana

Antwiwaa Opoku, George Brains Budu, Judith Kafui Kemetse, Kwaku Darko Amponsah, Phyllis Bernice Kwarteng Donkor

Abstract


The purpose of this study was to find out how pre-service teachers felt about their biology classroom environment and how they felt about biology. Two hundred and six (260) aspiring teachers from several Ghanaian science colleges of education took part in the study. The Attitude towards Biology Scale and the Biology Classroom Environment Scale were used to collect data. The study technique utilised to gather data is called a cross-sectional design. The data were analysed using means, independent samples t-tests, and one-way ANOVA across groups. The findings showed that pre-service teachers had a relatively good assessment of the environment in their biology classroom, with the categories of teacher support and involvement, cohesion, and research receiving the highest rankings. The pre-service teachers likewise had a mildly positive outlook on biology, scoring highest in the interest, significance, and enjoyment categories. Additionally, a strong positive association between pre-service teachers' attitudes toward biology and how they perceived their biology classroom setting was discovered. The results of this study indicate that fostering a good learning environment in biology classrooms may improve pre-service teachers' attitudes about biology.

Keywords: Colleges of education; biology classroom environment; pre-service biology teachers; attitude toward biology


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