The Use Of Examiners’ Reports In Biology Instruction: A Case Of Kavango East Educational Region, Namibia.

ABSTRACT

This research study investigated teachers’ use of examiners’ reports in order to improve Biology instruction and the perceptions that teachers hold of these reports. The purpose of the study was to gain insight into teachers’ use of examiners’ comments during Biology instruction especially considering that similar comments seem to be repeated in examiners’ reports year after year. Biology teachers seem to ignore the examiners’ comments and therefore, the same comments as reflected in learners’ answer scripts are repeated each year. The study was conducted in the Kavango East Educational Region of Namibia. The study employed a mixed methods approach to generate both quantitative and qualitative data in two main sequential phases plus additional classroom observations which were meant to help augment data from the two phases. In the first phase, quantitative data was collected by means of a closed-ended questionnaire from the 16 grade 11 and 12 Biology teachers in the secondary schools in the Kavango East Educational region to provide information on the extent to which Biology teachers use examiners’ reports, perceptions they hold of the reports and how they use the reports during instruction.