TEACHERS PERCEPTION OF THE USE OF ICT AS AN INSTRUCTIONAL TOOL IN SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS IN NIGERIA SECONDARY EDUCATION

The lagging performance of students in science and mathematics in West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) points to a serious challenge requiring the intervention of the government, as we know; education is the bedrock of any nation. The application of ICT tools in teaching science and mathematics in Nigeria can be said to have minimally improved student performance in recent times. Though the government of Nigeria has made a laudable effort in these regards; it has little or no impact in teaching science and mathematics in Nigeria secondary education. Thus, this study aimed at examining the perception of teachers towards the use of ICT as an instructional tool in science and mathematics within Nigeria secondary education. The research employs a quantitative research design in which a sample of sixty-three (63) science and forty (40) mathematics teachers from government secondary schools in Abuja, Nigeria were interviewed. The instrument for data collection was a semi-structured questionnaire titled “Teacher’s Perception on ICT Use Model (TPIUM)” based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) by Davis, 1989. Statistical analysis of the data obtained showed that Perceived usefulness (PU) had the strongest impact on Behavioral intention (BI) and Attitude toward use (AT) of ICT tools by teachers. The findings of this study also revealed that outdated government policies to support ICT use in science and mathematics posed a big challenge and more consequential is the inadequate skills of teachers in using ICT tools. The study therefore recommends that the government should endeavor to put in place adequate training and retraining of teachers on how to effectively fuse and use ICT tools in teaching mathematics and other science subjects in Nigeria