The Impact of In-Service Teacher Training Conducted by Japan International Cooperation Agency on the Performance of Science Teachers Working in Islamabad

Abstract

The present study has been designed to investigate the impact of in-service teacher training provided by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) on the performance of science teachers. It has been conducted in the public sector schools run by Federal Directorate of Education in Islamabad capital territory. Science teachers who were trained by JICA and those who were untrained by JICA comprised the population of the present study. The sample size consisted of 90 JICA trained science teachers (45 urban, 45 rural; 41 male, 49 female) and 90 science teachers untrained by JICA (45 urban, 45 rural; 41 male, 49 female). Research instrument used was a questionnaire. The questions were developed in the light of the seven final indicators for the dimension of the performance taken from JICA report on student centered inquiry based (SCIB) in Pakistan, 2012. Science teachers’ questionnaire consisted of 38 close ended questions. Pilot testing was done to determine the validity of the research instruments. Coefficient of alpha reliability for validated questionnaire had a value of.94 for science teachers. Data was collected, analyzed by mean, standard deviation, percentage and t-test. The study concluded that JICA trained science teachers perform better when compared with untrained JICA science teachers. The study recommends that such trainings may be conducted for all science teachers and at regular intervals to familiarize teachers with concepts and to make them skilled with inquiry-based method of teachings.