Okebukola Launches New Method To Boost STEM Education

A erstwhile Executive Secretary of National Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Emeritus Peter Okebukola, has launched different method for delivering prime Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education.

The caller approach, the “Model-And-Surpass Pedagogy (MSP)” was unveiled astatine the 2025 planetary league of the International Research Group (IRG) co-hosted by the Commonwealth Association of Science, Technology and Mathematics Educators (CASTME), which ended connected September 18.

Okebukola, who, successful 1992, emerged the archetypal African to triumph the UNESCO Kalinga Prize for the Communication and Popularisation of Science, invented the Model-And-Surpass Pedagogy, which was formally presented to the planetary acquisition assemblage by Professor Jomo Mutegi, a erstwhile president of the National Association of Research successful Science Teaching (NARST), an planetary organisation headquartered successful the United States (US) that promotes prime subject education.

Participants from the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Burundi, Ghana, Finland, Nigeria, The Gambia, Mauritius, and Sierra Leone attended the ceremony.

Okebulola, who was besides a erstwhile president of the Governing Council of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), said, “My information for inventing methodologies for teaching science, which won maine the 1992 UNESCO Prize, is based connected the overload of methods of teaching developed by non-Africans, which are not acceptable for intent for the African taste context.

“The content is ever fixed that the method indispensable beryllium developed by the West to beryllium right. Our researchers gleefully deploy these ‘Oyibo’ (Whiteman) methods and neglect to look inwards to innovate successful processing and researching socio-culturally applicable approaches to teaching.

“Additionally, the lacklustre show of our students successful STEM tin beryllium attributed, astatine slightest successful part, to this method’s mismatch. The overriding extremity of my efforts is to elevate accomplishment successful and amended our students’ cognition towards STEM,” helium stated.

Okebukola recalled that successful 2015 aft implicit 40 years of research, helium invented the Culturo-Techno-Contextual Approach (CTCA) and developed the Okebukola Eco-Techno Cultural Theory.

According to him, “In the past 10 years, CTCA has gained planetary prominence and is present successful usage successful galore African countries and respective countries successful Asia, Europe and North America.

“Its efficacy successful improving students’ show successful subject and non-science subjects has been confirmed by galore studies.

“The 2nd method I conscionable developed is the Model-And-Surpass Pedagogy (MSP). This is based connected the model of students modelling large scientists and striving to surpass them.

“The logic is that by striving to exemplary the large idiosyncratic and instrumentality a enactment program to surpass specified a scientist, the pupil volition larn the mode of the idiosyncratic and enactment towards achieving greater heights. When determination is simply a will, determination is simply a way. The result is predicted to beryllium improved accomplishment and amended cognition to STEM.”

Speaking astir the adjacent steps, Okebukola noted, “Work has started successful earnest to trial MSP. A squad of researchers from 4 African countries (Nigeria, Ghana, The Gambia and Sierra Leone) from the Africa Centre of Excellence for Innovative and Transformative STEM Education (ACEITSE) of Lagos State University are initiating a bid of studies to trial the efficacy of the pedagogy.

According to him, “the extremity is to guarantee that MSP contributes to the attainment of the African Union’s Agenda 2063- The Africa We Want. The days of Africa playing 2nd fiddle successful STEM endeavor volition soon beryllium over.”