SCIENCE TEACHERS’ AWARENESS AND COMPETENCES NEEDED IN UTILIZATION OF 21ST CENTURY SKILLS IN TEACHING IN AKWA IBOM STATE, NIGERIA

ABSTRACT 21^st century school environment is presented with challenges and demands in the process of teaching and learning science and the teachers requires specific knowledge and skills to prepare the learners to be self-reliant and globally competitive individuals.  This study examined science teachers’ awareness and competencies needed in utilization of 21^st century skills in teaching. The design of the study was descriptive survey research design.  A sample of 200 science teachers randomly sampled from Eket Senatorial District of Akwa Ibom State was used for the study. Three research questions were formulated to guide the study.    Researchers’ structured 33-item questionnaire on “teachers’ awareness and competence needed in utilization of 21^st century skill in science teaching” was used for data collection.  The instrument was validated by experts and Cronbach Alpha coefficient was used to determine its reliability which gave a coefficient of 0.70.  The data was analyzed using mean and standard deviation.  The findings showed that science teachers are aware of 21^st Century skills, but a large number of them lacked the competence needed  to utilize these skills, hence utilization of 21^st century skills in science teaching is low. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that; the STEM program for teachers training  should be redesigned to include the 21^st century content, knowledge and practical skills and STAN should intensify the online and virtual trainings, workshops and seminars currently practiced  as this will help create more awareness and competencies among teachers.