An Assessment of The Application of Constructivist Teaching Approaches by Lecturers in the Department of Educational Foundations, Ebonyi State College of Education, Ikwo

Abstract

The study assessed the application of constructivist teaching approaches by lecturers in the Department of Educational Foundations, Ebonyi State College of Education, Ikwo. The study was guided by five research questions and corresponding hypotheses focusing on lecturers’ awareness and understanding extent of application, teaching strategies employed, challenges encountered and strategies for enhancing the adoption of constructivist approaches. a descriptive survey design was adopted. the population comprised all lecturers in the department with the whole population was studied as no sample was drawn. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire based on a five-point likert scale. The instrument was validated by experts and reliability was established using Cronbach Alpha Data were analyzed using mean and standard deviation to answer research questions, while chi-square and t-test statistics were used to test the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that lecturers demonstrated a moderate to high level of awareness and understanding of constructivist teaching approaches. However the extent of application was moderate, indicating a gap between knowledge and practice common strategies identified included collaborative learning, problem-based learning and inquiry-based learning. Major challenges included large class sizes, inadequate instructional resources, limited training and time constraints. The study also found that professional development, institutional support and access to digital tools significantly enhance the adoption of constructivist teaching approaches. The study concluded that while awareness is relatively high, effective implementation remains inconsistent due to systemic and institutional barriers. It was recommended that the college should provide continuous training, improve learning environments and promote policy frameworks that support learner-centred pedagogy. 

Keywords: Assessment, constructivist, teaching, approaches