HOW EXAMINEES PRIORITISE HIGH ORDER QUESTIONS DURING BIOLOGY EXAMINATION: A CASE OF DISTRICT BOARDING SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN CENTRAL EAST EDUCATION DIVISION OF MALAWI

Abstract

Standardised examinations like Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) comprise good proportions of High Order Questions (HOQs) and Low Order Questions (LOQs). Unlike LOQs, HOQs demand for higher levels of cognitive skills. Besides, HOQs carry more marks than LOQs in MSCE Biology examinations.Therefore, examinees with high ability to answer HOQs have high chances of scoring high in the subject. This, in turn, increases examinees‟ opportunity to pursue science programs in universities where Biology is a prerequisite. Training scientists is tantamount to attainment of Malawi‟s developmental aspirations. This ability comes with acquisition of high order thinking skills (HOTS) which is accelerated when teachers use Learner Centered Teaching (LCT) methods. The descriptive quantitative study sought for insight into how teachers of Biology in district boarding secondary schools (DBSSs) in Central East Education Division (CEED) of Malawi faired in imparting HOTS in examinees. A total of 312 examinees were randomly sampled from five randomly selected DBSSs in CEED. Data was collected using a questionnaire and a test and was descriptively and inferentially analysed using SPSS version 20. Cross tabulation of “school” versus “use of the methods” showed that LCT methods were employed in all the selected DBSSs whereby the response category “agree more” was significant at P=0.000. Up to 83% of aspects of LCT methods investigated in the questionnaire were found to have been significantly employed in all the selected schools. Furthermore, examinees who had undergone more learner centred lessons tended to prioritise HOQs less compared to those who underwent less learner centred lessons.