Teaching Competence and Challenges Encountered in Secondary Science Instruction

The main purpose of this study was to assess the teaching competence of secondary science teacher instruction in terms of the teaching competence in educational qualification; eligibility; teaching experience; number of training attended; utilization of instructional support system such as laboratory apparatus, facilities and equipment; the teaching method employed and the relationship among these variables. The study was conducted in the big schools of the First Congressional District of Bohol. A total of 812 participants were identified comprising 72 secondary science teachers, 20 school principals and 720 students. The data were subjected to statistical treatment using the weighted mean to assess the teaching competence of science teachers as perceived by themselves, principals and students. The weighted mean was used to determine the educational qualification, performance rating, number of teaching experience, number of trainings attended, utilization of instructional support system such as laboratory apparatus, facilities and equipment and the teaching method employed by the science teacher. Analysis of Variance was used to determine the relationship of teaching competence between educational qualification, years of service, Bachelors and major Degree. Bonferonni and Holms Multiple Comparison test was used for years of service since ANOVA resulted to significantly different results. For the eligibility and performance rating, T-test for two independent means because they were only two (2) groups being compared. However, for the utilization of laboratory apparatus, facilities and other teaching resources and teaching methods employed, both use the correlation because the independent and dependent variables are continuous variables and that is, numerical scale was used. Findings showed that there is a significant relationship on teaching competence between number of teaching experience and teaching methods. This study found out that teaching methods and number of years in teaching affect the teaching competence. Hence, it is urged, that DepEd Personnel should utilize the result of this study and consider the proposed enhancement plan for the improvement of  teaching competence in science instruction