SCIENCE EDUCATORS’ PERCEPTION OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP OPPORTUNITIES IN SCIENCE EDUCATION CURRICULUM IN RIVERS STATE UNIVERSITIES

Abstract

The study investigated how Science Educators perceives Entrepreneurship Opportunities of Science Education Curriculum among Rivers State government owned Universities. Four objectives and four corresponding null hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. Descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised 27 science education lecturers selected among Rivers State owned universities. The population was studied using the census sampling technique. The instrument for data collection was a self-structured Science Educators’ Perception of Entrepreneurship opportunities in Science Education Curriculum Questionnaire containing 20 item-statements. The questionnaire was designed on a 4-point rating scale of strongly agree, agree, disagree and strongly disagree. The instruments were subjected to both face and content validated by three experts. The reliability of the instrument was computed using Cronbach Alpha formula which yielded an aggregate reliability co-efficient of 0.82 for the two clusters. The mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions while t-test statistics was used to test hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Finding of the study revealed that science education curriculum in Rivers State universities provides creative, problem-solving skill for entrepreneurship opportunities in Rivers State owned universities. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that science education curriculum should be reviewed so as to meet up with the growing entrepreneurial needs of university graduates.