ASSESSMENT OF ECONOMICS TEACHERS’ PERCEPTION OF THEIR INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY COMPETENCIES USING UNESCO ICT COMPETENCY FRAMEWORK FOR TEACHERS

ABSTRACT

Assessment is a process which entails identifying objectives or abilities to assess, designing a plan to guide the assessment, quantifying usually in measurable terms (measurement), scoring analyzing and reporting outcome of the entire process for interest stakeholders. The major purpose of this study was to assess Economics teachers’ perceptions of their ICT competencies using UNESCO ICT CFT. Theories reviewed which have great effect on the study were the behaviorist and constructivist theories. Descriptive Survey and ex-post-facto design guided the study. Self rater questionnaire was used to generate data from Eighty three Economics teachers sampled from Enugu education zone. Results of the findings revealed that Economics teachers in Enugu education zone do not posses requisite competencies needed to use ICT facilities to teach Economics. Gender and qualification and age are not significant factors in use of ICT facilities to teach Economics in Enugu state. However, younger teachers possess ICT competencies more than older teachers. Amongst the recommendations proffered was conceited effort on the part of the government in organizing seminars and workshop for teachers on use of ICT in teaching. Teachers on their own should make effort to improve their ICT skills by enrolling in private ICT training or in-service training on use of ICT facilities in teaching.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the study

Assessment is a process which includes identifying objectives to assess, formulating a design to carry out the assessment, carrying out measurement, reporting and documenting the results of the measurement usually in measurable terms. Behaviors usually assessed include knowledge, Competencies, skills, attitudes, and beliefs. To a lay man, assessment could mean to quantify and report the quality of characteristics and behavior of an individual. However, Palomba & Banta (2009), defined assessment as the systematic collection, review and use of information about educational programs undertaken for the purpose of improving learning and development. Assessment can focus on the individual learner, the learning community (class, workshop, or other organized group of learners), the institution or the educational system.

Assessment for educational purposes is a continuous process. Bardes & Denton (2006) affirming this opinion defined assessment as the process which provides data/information on students learning, analyses and uses this data to confirm and improve learning (formative assessment), produce evidence that students are learning the outcomes intended (summative assessment), guides the institution in taking educational decisions, evaluate whether changes made improves/impacts on students learning and documents the learning and the assessors efforts. Assessment is formative when the purpose of the assessment is to improve learning. It is summative when the purpose of the assessment is for placement, certification and other judgmental purposes.