Pre-service Teachers Knowledge and Attitude towards Webquest Instruction in Tertiary Institutions, Kwara State

Abstract

Inadequate knowledge and attitude has been found to be a barrier toward Webquest instruction. Pre-service teachers need adequate knowledge and skills on the emerging trends of ICT. Therefore, this study was carried out to assess the pre-service teachers’ knowledge and attitude toward webquest instructions in tertiary institutions in Kwara State. The descriptive survey research design was adopted for this study. The population of this study comprised all the pre-service teachers in the tertiary institutions in Kwara State. The sample size consisted of 320 pre-service teachers selected across three tertiary institutions in Kwara State using simple random sampling techniques. The instrument for data collection were two researcher design questionnaires titled: “Pre-service Teachers Computer and Webquest Literacy Questionnaire (PTCWLQ)” and “Pre-Service Teachers’ Attitude towards Webquest Questionnaire” (PTATWQ)”. The validity of the instruments was done using expert judgment while the test-retest reliability of the instruments yielded 0.83 and 0.76 respectively. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Analysis of Variance. It was shown that pre-service teachers have a low level of knowledge on web-quest instructions and a positive attitude towards using Webquest as a means of instruction. Also, results showed that the knowledge and attitudes towards web-quest instruction possessed by the pre-service teacher did not differ based on gender and level of education. It was thereafter recommended that pre-service teachers’ knowledge of Webquest should be improved through training and workshops on Webquest instructions. Also, computer education should be incorporated into the pre-service teacher' education programme so as to get them acquainted to the use of the internet to facilitate Webquest instruction.