Development and Validation of a Model for the Assessment of Biology Teachers’ Professional Reflective Practice

A hallmark of professional competence for teachers, as viewed by many, is reflective practice. This study aimed to develop and validate a model for the assessment of biology teachers’ professional reflective practice using a 21-indicator framework. 286 respondents comprising 262 biology teachers from senior high schools in the Ashanti region and 24 biology teacher educators from three Universities in Ghana were sampled for this study. A mixed method research, specifically concurrent nested design, was employed for the study. The study found that both respondents (Biology teachers and biology teacher educators) strongly agreed with all the 21 indicators chosen by the study and deemed them important to be used to assess biology teachers’ professional reflective practice. No significant differences existed in respondents’ points of view on the indicators of professional reflective practice. The study has developed a model for assessing biology teachers’ professional reflective practice.

Introduction

Teachers’ self-critical and retroactive evaluation of their professional attributes and practices constitute professional reflective practice. A central tenet of the teaching and learning process is reflective practice (Brookfield, 2005). It is also defined as an activity based on “persistent, active, and careful consideration of a belief or a form of knowledge on the grounds that support it” (Jay & Johnson, 2002). Personal philosophies, emotions, and beliefs of teachers’ teaching are challenged and refined by reflective practice (Walkington, 2005). According to Korthagen (2017), beginning teachers are assisted by reflective practice to identify what is going on inside their minds. Also, teacher quality, including professional development, is improved by reflective practice (Koellner & Jacobs, 2015).

In practice-based professional learning settings, reflective practice is an important tool that enables people to learn not from formal learning or knowledge transfer but from their own professional experiences. It plays a key role in personal and professional development and improvement. Importantly, theory and practice are brought together under reflective practice, since a person, by reflecting, can see and label forms of thought and theory within the context of his or her work. By reflecting on one’s practices, one takes a conscious look at actions, emotions, experiences, and responses, and this enables one to gather information that makes one reach a higher level of understanding as one adds to existing knowledge (Matthewet al., 2017). Rational and reflective thinking is incorporated in reflection, which enables teachers to be conscious of their knowledge, bring their ideas to the fore, and guide their practice (Vásquezet al., 2007).

Reflection is known to improve the teaching of student-teachers as classroom activities, behavioural management, lesson planning, and performance indicators are enhanced upon engaging in reflective practice (Meierdirk, 2017). Pre-service teachers’ classroom teaching and a repertoire of strategies when dealing with problems are enhanced by reflective practice (Alger, 2006). Reflective practice was found to cause pre-service teachers to utilise a more student-centred approach in teaching while shunning a teacher-centred classroom. Likewise, reflective practice caused teachers to gain control of their classroom through a relationship-building strategy. It enabled teachers to do self-analysis, self-observation, and self-evaluation as they reflected on their experiences, and this made them improve their professional lives (Alger, 2006).

In teacher education, different researchers have proposed various frameworks to guide and “scaffold” the reflective process. A six-stage framework introduced by Gibbs (1988) known as Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle comprises description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion, and action plan. A second framework, the onion model developed by Korthagen and Vasalos (2005), is a six-layered framework which includes allowing teacher trainees to explore their challenges, cope with their challenges, reflect on what they can do to solve their challenges, explore their assumptions or beliefs, reflect on the assumptions about themselves, and explore what inspires and gives meaning to their lives or their profession. A third framework for reflecting on practice was devised by Farrell (2015), which consisted of five levels, namely, philosophy, principles, theory, practice and, beyond practice.

The aforementioned frameworks were mainly developed for pre-service teachers and were not subject-specific. The importance of teachers’ reflective practice enumerated above indicates that there is a need to assess in-service teachers’ professional reflective practice for effective teaching and learning. Therefore, this study aims to develop and validate a model for the assessment of biology teachers’ professional reflective practice. The insights gained from this study would significantly permeate three areas: theoretical, policy, and practice. From a theoretical perspective, this study holistically delves into indicators of biology teachers’ professional reflective practice. The results of this study might provide a validated model that policymakers could use to assess biology teachers’ professional identity. Likewise, the study might unveil gaps in the existing structures for assessing teachers’ professional reflective practice. It may require revision of existing curriculum structures to address any inadequacies. Stakeholders in biology education policies may have to take a second look at enhancing the professional reflective practice of teachers in general.

The research question addressed in the present study was as follows: What are the views of the biology and biology teacher educators on the adapted indicators and the importance placed on the indicators for assessing biology teachers’ professional reflective practice?

The hypothesis tested was as follows: Biology teachers and biology teacher educators do not significantly differ in their views on the indicators for the development of the model for assessing Biology teachers’ professional reflective practice.

Method

This study employed mixed methods, specifically using the concurrent nested design where the qualitative and the quantitative data were collected at the same time. The general aim of this approach is to better understand the phenomenon under study, as the data is being collected from the same participants. Also, quantitative data is given priority over the qualitative data, which is embedded in the quantitative data (Hanet al., 2016).

Biology teachers in the Ashanti region of Ghana and biology teacher educators in Ghana were used for the study. Biology teachers in public Senior High Schools were chosen as they work within the subject of interest and are assumed to have enough information and answers about the issues that are being raised in this study. The Ashanti region of Ghana has 122 public Senior High Schools. The target population involved biology teachers in 122 schools in the Ashanti region of Ghana, out of which the accessible population was 103 schools that offer general science. Biology teachers in the Ashanti region were used since the region has the highest number of senior high schools in the country. Biology teachers from one hundred and three schools that offer general science were included in the study. Biology teacher educators from three traditional universities in Ghana that train biology teachers were also used.

A stratified sampling technique with proportional allocation was used to select the number of schools in each district of the Ashanti region whose biology teachers were included in the study. This enabled representative samples of schools in each district in the region to be selected. Then, simple random sampling using the lottery method without replacement was used to select specific schools in each district in the Ashanti region. Biology teachers that were used for the study were purposively sampled from the selected schools. The study used two independent samples, biology teachers and biology teacher educators. The biology teacher educators were also purposively sampled from three universities in Ghana.

The main research instrument employed was a questionnaire adapted from Mumuni and Lawal (2015). The study adopted the reflective practice aspect of their questionnaire by adding open-ended questions and changing the questionnaire from a 4-point Likert scale to a 5-point Likert scale, thereby bringing the element of neutrality. The element of neutrality assures an unbiased and clear response as positive and negative worded statements are balanced with a neutral option. Twenty-one indicators were adapted for the study, and they were categorised into three main themes: the biology teacher’s reflection on knowledge, values, and actions.

To ensure the validity of the questionnaire, experts from the Teacher Education Department of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology were contacted to go through the items to check for face and content validity. The questionnaire was pre-tested in senior high schools that were not sampled for the study in the Ashanti region to establish whether the instructions on the questionnaire were clear to respondents and to determine how long it will take to answer the questionnaire and improve upon the questionnaire. To measure the internal consistency of the questionnaire, the results from the pre-tested questionnaire were subjected to Cronbach’s alpha (Cohenet al., 2018). The Cronbach alpha coefficient for the 21 items of professional reflective practice was 0.867, which suggested that the items have a high internal consistency (Bonett & Wright, 2014) and were fit for the collection of data for the study. The views of respondents on indicators of Professional reflective practice were analysed item by item and rank organised using the mean scores and standard deviations. The hypothesis was tested using an independent samples t-test.

Results

Respondents Views on Indicators Adapted for the Development of the Model for Assessing Biology Teachers’ Professional Reflective Practice

The first aspect of the research question sought to find the views of respondents on indicators being adapted for the development of the model for assessing biology teachers’ professional reflective practice. Do the biology teachers agree that the indicators adapted should be used for assessing their professional reflective practice? Do the biology teacher educators who train the biology teachers agree, or otherwise, that the adapted indicators should be used in assessing biology teachers’ professional reflective practice? To address this aspect, the responses of biology teachers and biology teacher educators to the adapted indicators were analysed and presented in percentages ranging from strongly disagree (SD) to strongly agree (SA). Responses of the biology teachers to the indicators for assessing biology teachers’ professional reflective practice are summarised in Table I.

Table I. Responses of Biology Teachers to Indicators of Professional Reflective Practice (N = 262)

Item no.	Indicators of professional reflective practice: Reflections on	Percentage responses
		SD	SWD	NS	SWA	SA	SWA+SA
R1	Strengths and weaknesses relating to knowledge of the subject matter.	0	0	0.38	16.03	83.5	99.2
R2	Knowledge of the weaknesses, strengths, and interests of his/her students.	0	0	3.82	14.89	81.30	96.18
R3	Knowledge of the psychology of learning in relation to biology teaching.	0	0	1.91	20.61	77.48	98.09
R4	Knowledge of developments and trends in biology teaching	0	0	0.38	20.61	79.01	99.2
R5	Knowledge of biology education’s roles in society.	0	0	3.05	22.52	74.47	96.95
R6	Ability to influence students’ achievement in the subject.	0	0	2.30	17.56	80.15	97.3
R7	Timely provision of formative feedback on assignments, class exercises, and tests to students.	0	0	0.38	22.90	76.72	99.2
R8	Attitude towards students, particularly during instructional sessions.	0	0	1.15	16.03	82.82	98.85
R9	Attitude towards programmes of professional development.	0	0	3.44	19.08	77.48	96.56
R10	Disposition and attitude towards the subject.	0	0.76	5.34	19.47	74.43	93.9
R11	Commitment level in biology teaching.	0	0	2.30	14.50	83.21	97.7
R12	Communication skills utilised during instructional periods.	0	0	3.44	14.50	82.06	96.56
R13	A semester or academic year’s scheme of work.	0	0	2.67	16.41	80.92	97.33
R14	Working relationships with auxiliary staff and colleagues.	0	0	0.76	21.76	77.48	99.24
R15	Lesson plans for instructional sessions and all topics.	0	3.82	4.96	22.90	68.32	91.22
R16	Teaching and learning activities in relation to instructional objectives.	0	1.15	1.53	12.21	85.12	97.33
R17	Improvised teaching materials in relation to instructional objectives.	0	0	5.73	26.34	67.94	94.27
R18	Selection and usage of instructional techniques that result in active student learning/involvement.	0	0	1.91	17.56	80.53	98.09
R19	Selection and utilisation of different assessment techniques.	0	0	2.29	21.37	76.81	97.71
R20	Competence in composing and scoring various test items.	0	0	1.91	23.28	74.81	98.09
R21	Competence in handling students’ questions.	0	0	0	11.07	88.93	100

Generally, all the Biology teachers agreed with the researcher in using the suggested indicators for the assessment of Biology teachers’ professional reflective practice. The level of agreement of the biology teachers with the suggested indicators ranged from 91.22% to 100%. In fact, all the Biology teachers (100%) agreed that the indicator ‘reflection on the competence in handling students’ questions’ should be used in assessing Biology teachers’ professional reflective practice. Furthermore, most of the biology teachers (over 90%) agreed with the researcher that the remaining twenty indicators of professional reflective practice should be used in assessing Biology teachers’ professional reflective practice. It was only on three indicators that very few of the biology teachers indicated their disagreement, and they included ‘reflection on the attitude and disposition towards the subject (0.76%), reflection on lesson plans for all topics and instructional sessions (3.82%), and reflection on teaching and learning activities and their relationship with instructional objectives (1.15%).

The responses of biology teacher educators to the indicators of professional reflective practice have been presented in Table II.

Table II. Responses of Biology Teacher Educators to Indicators of Professional Reflective Practice (N = 262)

Item no.	Indicators of professional reflective practice: Reflections on	Percentage responses
		SD	SWD	NS	SWA	SA	SWA+SA
R1	Strengths and weaknesses relating to knowledge of the subject matter.	0	0	0	16.67	83.33	100
R2	Knowledge of the weaknesses, strengths, and interests of his/her students.	0	0	0	12.50	87.50	100
R3	Knowledge of the psychology of learning in relation to Biology teaching.	0	0	0	25.00	75.00	100
R4	Knowledge of current developments and trends in Biology teaching.	0	0	0	12.50	87.50	100
R5	Knowledge of biology education’s roles in society.	0	0	0	37.50	62.50	100
R6	The ability to influence students’ achievement in the subject.	0	0	0	33.33	66.67	100
R7	Timely provision of formative feedback on assignments, class exercises, and tests to students.	0	0	0	20.83	79.17	100
R8	Attitude towards students, particularly during instructional sessions.	0	0	0	25.00	75.00	100
R9	Attitude towards programmes of professional development.	0	0	0	0	100.00	100
R10	Disposition and attitude towards the subject.	0	0	0	29.17	70.83	100
R11	Commitment level in biology teaching.	0	0	0	16.67	83.33	100
R12	Communication skills utilised during instructional periods.	0	0	16.67	25.00	58.33	83.33
R13	A semester or academic year’s scheme of work.	0	0	0	33.33	66.67	100
R14	Working relationships with auxiliary staff and colleagues.	0	0	0	37.50	62.50	100
R15	Lesson plans for instructional sessions and all topics.	0	0	0	29.17	70.83	100
R16	Teaching and learning activities in relation to instructional objectives.	0	0	0	33.33	66.67	100
R17	Improvised teaching materials in relation to instructional objectives.	0	0	0	20.83	79.17	100
R18	Selection and usage of instructional techniques that result in active student learning/involvement.	0	0	0	33.33	66.67	100
R19	Selection and utilisation of different assessment techniques.	0	0	0	25.00	75.00	100
R20	Competence in composing and scoring various test items.	0	0	0	29.17	70.83	100
R21	Competence in handling students’ questions.	0	0	0	16.67	83.33	100

The level of agreement of the biology teacher educators to the suggested indicators ranged from 83.33% to 100%. All the Biology teacher educators (100%) agreed with the researcher that twenty out of the twenty-one indicators should be used in assessing Biology teachers’ professional reflective practice. It was only ‘reflections on the skills of communication employed during instructional periods’ that most of the biology teacher educators (83.33%) agreed with the researcher, with the remaining 16.70% being unsure of its usage in the assessment of Biology teachers’ professional reflective practice. None of the Biology teacher educators disagreed with the use of any of the indicators in assessing Biology teachers’ professional reflective practice.

Biology Teachers and Biology Teacher Educators View on the Importance of the Indicators of Biology Teachers’ Professional Reflective Practice

The second aspect of the research question sought to find out the views of the respondents on the importance placed on the indicators adapted for the assessment of biology teachers’ professional reflective practice. Even though both respondents have indicated their agreement with the use of the indicators for assessing biology teachers’ professional reflective practice, it is important to know which of the indicators are deemed more important than others by the respondents.

A ranked analysis of the viewpoint of both respondents on the 21 items of the professional reflective practice was performed to know which indicators are deemed more important than others, and the results are presented in Tables III and IV.

Table III. The Mean Ranked Viewpoint of Biology Teachers on Indicators of Biology Teachers’ Professional Reflective Practice

Item	Indicators of professional reflective practice	Mean	Std. dev.	Rank
R21	Reflection on competence in handling students’ questions.	4.89	0.31	1st
R1	Reflection on strengths and weaknesses in terms of knowledge of the subject matter.	4.83	0.38	2nd
R8	Reflection on attitude towards students, particularly during instructional sessions.	4.82	0.42	3rd
R16	Reflection on teaching and learning activities in relation to instructional objectives.	4.81	0.50	4th
R6	Reflection on the ability to influence students’ achievement in the subject.	4.81	0.47	5th
R11	Reflection on commitment level in biology teaching.	4.81	0.45	6th
R4	Reflection on knowledge of developments and trends in biology teaching.	4.79	0.42	7th
R12	Reflection on communication skills utilised during instructional periods.	4.79	0.49	8th
R18	Reflection on selection and usage of instructional techniques that result in active student learning/involvement.	4.79	0.45	9th
R13	Reflection on a semester or academic year’s scheme of work.	4.78	0.47	10th
R2	Reflection on knowledge of the weaknesses, strengths, and interests of his/her students.	4.78	0.50	11th
R14	Reflection on the working relationship with auxiliary staff and colleagues.	4.77	0.44	12th
R7	Reflection on timely provision of formative feedback to students on assignments, class exercises, and tests to students.	4.76	0.43	13th
R9	Reflection on attitude towards programmes of professional development.	4.76	0.51	14th
R3	Reflection on knowledge of the psychology of learning in relation to biology teaching.	4.76	0.47	15th
R19	Reflection on selection and utilisation of different techniques of assessment.	4.74	0.49	16th
R20	Reflection on competence in composing and scoring various test items.	4.73	0.49	17th
R5	Reflection on knowledge of biology education’s roles in society.	4.70	0.50	18th
R10	Reflection on disposition and attitude towards the subject	4.68	0.61	19th
R17	Reflection on improvised teaching materials in relation to instructional objectives.	4.62	0.59	20th
R15	Reflection on lesson plans for instructional sessions and all topics.	4.56	0.76	21st

Table IV. The Mean Ranked Viewpoint of Biology Teacher Educators on Indicators of Biology Teachers’ Professional Reflective Practice

Item	Indicators of professional reflective practice	Mean	Std. dev.	Rank
R9	Reflection on attitude towards programmes of professional development.	5	0	1st
R2	Reflection on knowledge of the weaknesses, strengths, and interests of his/her students.	4.88	0.33	2nd
R4	Reflection on knowledge of current developments and trends in the teaching of biology.	4.88	0.10	2nd
R1	Reflection on strengths and weaknesses relating to knowledge of the subject matter.	4.83	0.37	4th
R11	Reflection on commitment level in biology teaching.	4.83	0.37	4th
R21	Reflection on competence in handling students’ questions.	4.83	0.37	4th
R7	Reflection on timely provision of formative feedback on assignments, class exercises, and tests to students.	4.79	0.41	7th
R17	Reflection on improvised teaching materials in relation to instructional objectives.	4.79	0.41	7th
R3	Reflection on knowledge of the psychology of learning in relation to Biology teaching.	4.75	0.43	9th
R8	Reflection on attitude towards students, particularly during instructional sessions.	4.75	0.43	9th
R19	Reflection on selection and utilisation of different techniques of assessment.	4.75	0.43	9th
R10	Reflection on disposition and attitude towards the subject.	4.71	0.46	12th
R15	Reflection on lesson plans for instructional sessions and all topics.	4.71	0.46	12th
R20	Reflection on competence in composing and scoring various test items.	4.71	0.46	12th
R6	Reflection on the ability to influence students’ achievement in the subject.	4.67	0.47	15th
R13	Reflection on a semester or academic year’s scheme of work.	4.67	0.47	15th
R16	Reflection on teaching and learning activities in relation to instructional objectives.	4.67	0.47	15th
R18	Reflection on selection and usage of instructional techniques that result in active student learning/involvement.	4.67	0.47	15th
R5	Reflection on knowledge of biology education’s roles in society.	4.63	0.48	19th
R14	Reflection on the working relationship with auxiliary staff and colleagues.	4.63	0.48	20
R12	Reflection on communication skills utilised during instructional periods.	4.42	0.76	21st

The means calculated for the indicators ranged from a minimum of 4.56 ± 0.76 to a maximum of 4.89 ± 0.31 out of a maximum of 5. The ranked analysis of the views of the biology teachers on the importance of the 21 indicators of professional reflective practice shows that biology teachers’ reflections on the competence in handling students’ questions (R21) were ranked first with a mean score of 4.89 ± 0.31, followed by reflections on the strengths and weaknesses relating to knowledge of the subject matter (R1) with a mean score of 4.83 ± 0.38 which was ranked second. The other indicators were also ranked based on their means, as depicted in Table III. However, the biology teachers’ reflections on improvised teaching materials in relation to instructional objectives (R17) were ranked 20^th with a mean score of 4.62 ± 0.59. The least ranked indicator for a biology teacher’s professional reflective practice was ‘reflection on lesson plan for instructional sessions and all topics (R15)’ with a mean score of 4.56 ± 0.76.

The calculated means of the responses by the biology teacher educators for the indicators for biology teachers’ professional reflective practice ranged from a minimum of 4.42 ± 0.76 to a maximum of 5 ± 0.00. Analysis of the means of the 21 indicators of professional reflective practice assessed by biology teacher educators showed that ‘reflection on attitudes towards programmes of professional development (R9) was ranked first by the Biology teacher educators with a mean score of 5.00 ± 0.00. Two indicators were ranked second, and they are ‘reflection on knowledge of the weaknesses, strengths, and interests in his/her students (R2)’ and ‘knowledge of the current developments and trends in the teaching of biology (R4)’ a mean score of 4.88 ± 0.10. The other indicators have also been ranked as indicated in Table IV. Ranked 20^th were ‘reflections on knowledge of Biology education’s roles in the society (R5) and working relationship with auxiliary staff and colleagues (R14), both with a mean score of 4.63 ± 0.48. The least ranked indicator by Biology teacher educators is a reflection on communication skills utilised during instructional periods (R12), with a mean score of 4.42 ± 0.76.

Hypotheses Testing

The Null Hypothesis being tested is ‘There is no significant difference in the position of both respondents on the importance of the indicators of professional reflective practice’.

In testing the null hypothesis, the independent samples t-test was conducted to verify if there was a significant difference in the level of importance attached to the 21 professional reflective practice indicators. The result of the analysis is presented in Table V.

Table V. Independent Samples T-Test Analysis on the Indicators of Professional Reflective Practice by Biology Teachers and Biology Teacher Educators

Item	Mean score (BT)	Mean score (BTE)	Difference	Std error	t ratio	Df	p-value
R1	4.76	4.83	−0.00	0.98	0.00	284.00	1.00
R2	4.79	4.88	−0.10	0.97	0.10	284.00	0.92
R3	4.70	4.75	0.01	0.96	0.01	284.00	1.00
R4	4.81	4.88	−0.08	0.97	0.08	284.00	0.93
R5	4.76	4.63	0.08	0.95	0.08	284.00	0.94
R6	4.82	4.67	0.14	0.97	0.15	284.00	0.88
R7	4.76	4.79	−0.03	0.97	0.03	284.00	0.98
R8	4.67	4.75	0.07	0.98	0.07	284.00	0.95
R9	4.81	5.00	−0.23	0.97	0.24	284.00	0.81
R10	4.79	4.71	−0.03	0.95	0.034	284.00	0.97
R11	4.78	4.83	−0.02	0.97	0.03	284.00	0.98
R12	4.77	4.42	0.37	0.96	0.38	284.00	0.70
R13	4.56	4.67	0.12	0.97	0.12	284.00	0.91
R14	4.81	4.63	0.14	0.96	0.15	284.00	0.88
R15	4.62	4.71	−0.15	0.93	0.16	284.00	0.87
R16	4.79	4.67	0.15	0.97	0.15	284.00	0.88
R17	4.74	4.79	−0.17	0.94	0.18	284.00	0.86
R18	4.73	4.67	0.12	0.97	0.12	284.00	0.90
R19	4.83	4.75	−0.01	0.96	0.01	284.00	0.99
R20	4.76	4.71	0.02	0.96	0.02	284.00	0.98
R21	4.79	4.89	−0.06	0.98	0.06	284.00	0.96

The p-values of indicators of professional reflective practice ranged from a minimum of 0.70 to a maximum of 1.00. Analysis of the 21 indicators of professional reflective practice indicates a p-value greater than 0.05, which signifies that no significant difference existed between the positions of both respondents on indicators of professional reflective practice.

Discussion

Respondents Views on Indicators Being Adapted for the Development of the Model for Assessing Biology Teachers’ Professional Reflective Practice

The biology teachers generally agreed that the adapted indicators should be used to assess the biology teachers’ professional reflective practice. The level of acceptance was very high for all the indicators adapted for assessing their professional reflective practice. The biology teacher educators showed a greater agreement, with a 100% agreement, with 20 out of the 21 indicators chosen for the model development. This means that all the biology teacher educators either chose ‘somewhat agree’ or ‘strongly agree’. This indicates that the respondents endorse the use of the chosen indicators for the development of a model to assess biology teachers’ professional reflective practice. Both respondents agreed with the adapted indicators because they covered almost all categories of professional reflective practice, including reflection on teachers’ values, knowledge, and actions. This is buttressed by the fact that both biology teachers and teacher educators did not volunteer additional indicators that could be added to the adapted ones for assessing biology teachers’ professional reflective practice when asked to do so in the open-ended questions.

Respondents Views on Importance of the Indicators of Biology Teachers’ Professional Reflective Practice

All twenty-one items that were adapted by the researcher to assess the professional reflective practice of Biology teachers were seen as important by both respondents. The mean scores of the items were above 4.21, indicating that they all strongly agree with all the indicators (Sozen & Guven, 2019). Respondents, however, varied in the ranking of the indicators in terms of importance. Biology teachers ranked `reflection on their competence in handling students’ questions as the most important indicator with a mean score of 4.89 ± 0.31. However, the biology teacher educators ranked this indicator as 4^th with a high mean value of 4.83 ± 0.37 out of 5.00, indicating how important this indicator is to both respondents. This high ranking is corroborated by Saucieret al. (2021), who stated that questions create opportunities for better communication in their teaching and promote better learning and experiences for both the teacher and his students. They also indicated that questions from students allow teachers to teach better by filling in gaps in content, re-explain confused content, or extending the content in ways relevant and interesting to their students.

Biology teacher educators chose ‘reflections on his/her attitude on professional development programmes’ as the most important indicator of biology teachers’ professional reflective practice. This is rightly so as a set of programs or workshops planned for teachers and designed to develop their skills and knowledge at various levels is teacher professional development (Abou-Assali, 2014). Also, an important part of continuing professional development is reflective practice, which allows teachers to stay up to date with the latest teaching strategies and instructional technologies development (Kirkman & Brownhill, 2020) and learn about teaching (San Antonioet al., 2011). Interestingly, biology teachers placed this indicator 14^th in importance (with a mean of 4.76 ± 0.51) out of the 21 indicators suggested for the biology teachers’ professional reflective practice. This sharp difference between the respondents in choosing reflection on teacher professional development could be because the biology teachers are more concerned about their students’ understanding of biological concepts and preparation of their students to excel in their examinations, whereas the teacher educators see the training of the biology teacher to get more skills as more important.

Biology teacher educators ranked ‘reflection on the knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses and interest of his/her students’ second. This agrees with Hill and Chin (2018), who stated that teachers may be assisted in other ways, for instance, in planning to re-teach content that has not been mastered and in designing tasks and instruction that intentionally elicit typical student mistakes with content once they have more accurate knowledge of what students know and do not know. Teachers would be able to do this if they reflected on their students’ strengths, weaknesses, and interests. Biology teachers ranked this indicator 11^th in importance with a high mean value of 4.78 ± 0.50, indicating that the indicator is important in assessing Biology teachers’ professional reflective practice but ranked it far lower than that of the rank given to it by the biology teacher educators. This difference could be because biology teachers think that reflection on the knowledge of the strengths, weaknesses, and interests of their students is a tedious task to perform, but its impact on the success of a student in the study of biology and in examinations is minimal compared to the other indicators they ranked higher.

Furthermore, Biology teachers voted ‘reflections on their strengths and weaknesses in terms of knowledge of the subject matter’ as the second most important indicator to reflect on. As biology teachers reflect on their strengths and weaknesses with regard to their knowledge of the subject matter, it can lead to their personal and professional growth as they take steps to develop their skills and knowledge, which can benefit them and their learners (Husuet al., 2008). The biology teacher educators agreed with the biology teachers on the importance of this indicator by ranking it 4^th with a high mean value of 4.83 ± 0.37, even though they placed less importance on it compared to that of the biology teachers.

The biology teachers ranked ‘reflection on attitude towards students particularly during instructional sessions’ as 3^rd in importance with respect to the indicators for assessing biology teachers’ professional reflective practice. As indicated by existing research, the attitude of a teacher is of great importance for students’ motivation to learn (Ross-Hill, 2009). Also, the attitude of a positive and encouraging teacher impacts positively on students’ attitudes and behaviour (Lee, 2019). Also, findings from Akinfeet al. (2012) affirmed that the most important determinant of students’ biology performance among other teacher variables is teachers’ attitudes toward the subject. Bizimana (2022) also discovered that the best predictors of students’ success are biology teachers’ attitudes toward their instruction, after which efficacy and effectiveness. This indicator was, however, ranked 9^th by the biology teacher educators, revealing a disparity between the level of importance placed on this indicator by the two respondents.

Ranked 2^nd by the biology teacher educators was the indicator ‘reflection on knowledge of current trends and developments in the teaching of biology’ with a mean value of 4.88 ± 0.10. This is rightly so as Bhatnagar (2019) proposed that there is a need for a 21^st century innovative biology teacher educator to deliver interactive learning activities and lessons that increase students’ attention, facilitate interaction and communication beyond the classroom like using text messaging and software application to update parents about student projects and learning goals. The biology teachers somewhat agreed with the biology teacher educators by ranking this indicator 7^th with a high mean value of 4.79 ± 0.42.

‘Reflection on lesson plans for all topics and instructional sessions’ was ranked as the least important indicator for professional reflective practice by biology teachers. The biology teacher educators, however, ranked this indicator as 12^th in importance out of the 21 indicators of professional reflective practice. Although there was difference in the ranking of this indicator by the two respondents, the mean values obtained for this indicator from the two respondents (4.56 ± 0.76) for biology teachers and 4.71 ± 0.46 for biology teacher educators indicates that it is important in assessing a biology teachers’ professional reflective practice. A lesson plan as a document shows what will happen in a particular period (Whittonet al., 2004). Some studies indicate that lesson plans are of immense importance in providing an effective learning environment (Johnson, 2000; Rusznyak & Walton, 2011). The difference in ranking between the respondents could be that planning a lesson is a complex process, as indicated by Sahin-Taskin (2017), and the biology teachers are not too enthused about that.

Biology teacher educators ranked `reflection on the working relationship with colleagues and auxiliary staff’ as the penultimate indicator of biology teachers’ professional reflective practice. Research has confirmed that students’ achievements are higher in schools where teachers collaborate on issues that pertain to their teaching (Goddard & Goddard, 2007; Supovitzet al., 2010). However, teachers’ professional autonomy is undermined when collaboration is hierarchically imposed on them (Ostovar-Nameghi & Sheikhahmadi, 2016), and this needs to be reflected. This indicator was, however, ranked 12^th by the biology teachers with a mean value of 4.77 ± 0.44. Both respondents thus deemed the indicator as important for assessing the biology teachers’ professional reflective practices but varied in their levels of importance placed on it, with the biology teacher placing more importance on it than the biology teacher educators.

Biology teacher educators finally ranked ‘reflection on the skills of communication employed during instructional periods’ as the least important indicator of biology teachers’ professional reflective practice. The basic need for the academic success of students and a teacher’s success in his/her professional life rests upon the good communication skills of the teacher (Khanet al., 2020). Nwogu (2000) affirmed that among the major obstacles to effective teaching in schools is the inability of teachers to communicate effectively. However, in terms of teachers’ professional and personal characteristics, effective communication has a prominent place (Pehlivan, 2005) and, therefore, must be reflected on and be improved and not be swept under the carpet. This indicator was, however, ranked 12^th by the biology teachers with a mean value of 4.77 ± 0.44. Both respondents thus deemed the indicator as important for assessing the biology teachers’ professional reflective practices but varied in their levels of importance placed on it, with the biology teacher placing more importance on it than the biology teacher educators.

Hypothesis Testing

The null hypothesis tested was ‘there will be no significant difference in the position of biology teachers and biology teacher educators on the importance of the indicators of professional reflective practice’. The findings showed no significant differences in the importance placed on the twenty-one indicators by both respondents since all the p-values were above 0.05. Hence, the null hypothesis is retained. This supports the assertion by Titu (2019) that, to provide optimum learning conditions for all students’ teachers can construct and reconstruct their own beliefs and practices, and ultimately their professional identity, by engaging in reflective practice. Student teachers’ reflection on teaching-related experiences, such as knowledge, skills, and self-image, is assumed to influence the development of teacher identity (Alsup, 2006; Bolton, 2010).

Summary of Major Findings

The study revealed that both respondents (biology teachers and biology teacher educators) saw the 21 indicators adapted by the study in assessing professional reflective practice as very important. The 21 indicators of professional reflective practice included reflection on teachers’ knowledge of his/her strengths and weaknesses in terms of knowledge of the subject matter, the weaknesses, strengths and interests of his/her students, the psychology of learning as it relates to the teaching of biology, current trends, and developments in the teaching of biology and the roles of biology education to society in general. Also included were reflections on; his/her ability to influence students’ achievement in biology, timely provision of formative feedback to students on class exercises, assignments and test, his/her attitude towards students particularly during instructional sessions, his/her attitude towards professional development programmes, attitude and disposition towards the subject, and level of commitment in the teaching of biology, The final set of indicators were reflections on; the skills of communication employed during instructional periods, scheme of work for a semester or academic year, working relationship with colleagues and auxiliary staff, lesson plans for all topics and instructional sessions, teaching and learning activities and their relationship with instructional objectives, improvised teaching materials and their relationship with instructional objectives, selection and use of instructional techniques that ensure active student involvement, selection and use of various techniques of assessment, competence in composing and scoring various test items and competence in handling students’ questions.

Hence, the null hypothesis was retained that no significant difference existed between the positions of biology teachers and biology teacher educators on the importance of the indicators of professional reflective practice. Fig. 1 depicts the model developed and validated for the assessment of biology teachers’ professional reflective practice.

Fig. 1. Model developed and validated for assessment of biology teachers’ professional reflective practice.

Conclusion

The study sought to develop and validate a model to assess biology teachers’ professional reflective practice using 21 indicators. The study has developed a model for the assessment of the biology teachers’ professional reflective practice. Professional reflective practice was categorised into reflection on the teacher’s knowledge, reflection on the teacher’s values, and reflection on the teacher’s actions. A total of 21 indicators were adapted for assessing professional reflective practice, with 5, 7, and 9 indicators, respectively, for reflections on biology teachers’ knowledge, reflections on biology teachers’ values, and reflections on biology teachers’ actions. The respondents strongly agreed with the researcher about using the adapted indicators to assess the aspect of professional reflective practice. Hence, the developed method has been validated. Even though the respondents varied in the level of importance placed on each identity indicator, there was statistically no significant difference in their views on the importance placed on indicators of biology teachers’ professional reflective practice.