2022/01/04 by Céline Byukusenge, Florien Nsanganwimana, Albert Paulo Tarmo +1
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Educational Strategies and Epistemologies #Genetics, Bioinformatics, and Biomedical Research #Science Education and Pedagogy
paper · doi:10.1080/00219266.2021.2012225
crossref issued 2022/01/04 · crossref published 2022/01/04 · crossref published-online 2022/01/04 · openalex publication_date 2022/01/04 · crossref created 2022/01/05 · crossref published-print 2023/10/20 · crossref deposited 2024/02/02 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref indexed 2026/07/26 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/26
Literature affirms that teachers’ difficulties in mastering the subject content and its teaching can be responsible for students’ negative attitudes towards that subject. The present study sought to explore biology topics in the revised Rwandan curriculum which teachers have difficulties in teaching, the reasons for their difficulties, and ways to improve teaching and learning of such topics. Data were collected from a sample of 67 teachers who agreed to join the survey, and analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The results showed that 17 topics were considered difficult to teach and to learn. Molecular biology and biotechnology-related topics such as genetic engineering, gene technology, genetics, cell division, DNA replication, and protein synthesis were perceived as the most difficult to teach and learn. Teachers indicated a lack of content knowledge and visual teaching materials, inability to organise practical activities, overloaded curriculum, and the topics' abstractness to be among the reasons for the difficulty. Teachers suggested the use of virtual labs, 3D animations, provision of laboratory materials, reduction of the curriculum content, training and study visits as the practical options to alleviate the difficulties. Furthermore, the authors recommended different teachers’ professional development approaches and areas of focus for future research