The study adopted a descriptive survey design to examine the perception of secondary school science and mathematics teachers on professional development in Zamfara State, Nigeria. The population of the study consisted of all Science and Mathematics teachers in public secondary schools in Zamfara State. A sample of 217 respondents were drawn through purposive and simple random sampling techniques. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire. Four research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. Analysis of data was done using descriptive statistics and z-test. The study revealed that science and mathematics teachers in Zamfara State have low level of awareness on the various types of professional development programmes and have not been participating in the programmes. They ascribed these to the lack of incentives, lack of employer support, too expensive/unaffordable and poor publicity. They also identified content knowledge and pedagogy of teaching as the two major areas they needed professional development. The two groups of teachers have no significant difference on the areas they needed professional development as well as on the barriers impeding their participation. The study recommended among others that, government should regularly sponsor teachers to attend professional development programmes and that teachers should explore and take advantage of numerous free professional development opportunities.

Research findings in secondary schools have consistently indicated that geometry is one of the most difficult areas of Mathematics at basic level and students’ attitude towards it has been a factor that is known to influence students’ achievement in mathematics. The purpose of this study is to investigate the level of students’ attitude towards geometry and to find out whether gender difference influences such attitude. Some selected secondary schools in Zamfara state were used for the study. The study adopted a descriptive survey design using a questionnaire tagged Geometric Attitude Questionnaire. The population of the study consisted of SS I students in Zamfara state. A sample of 157students was drawn using simple random sampling technique. Descriptive statistics of means and standard deviations were used to answer the research questions while Inferential Statistics of the Mann-Whitney test was used to test the formulated hypothesis. The study revealed that students’ attitude towards geometry was relatively high generally, with male students having much higher positive attitude to geometry than their female counterparts and that difference between them was not statistically significant at α = 0.05 level of significance. It is recommended that teachers should be resourceful in encouraging and helping students in order to build positive attitude by trying to relate geometry to real life situations and also be gender sensitive.

The study examined the influence of gender and level of education on Posttraumatic Stress Reactions of Victims of Cattle Rustling conflict. The study was guided by two objectives. The first one was to find out whether gender influences Posttraumatic Stress Reactions. 384 victims comprising 258 males (67.2%) and 126 females (32.8%) were studied. Descriptive survey design was employed in the conduct of the study. The instruments used to collect data were students’ demographic characteristics sheet and a 23-item Post-traumatic Stress Reaction Inventory DSM-5. T-test for independent samples and ANOVA were the statistical tools used to analyze data. Results revealed no significant influence of gender on Posttraumatic reactions of victims of cattle rustling in Zamfara state. In addition, lower level of literacy or its absence was found to elicit higher feelings of psychological reactions to traumatic events. Similarly, literacy level increases victims’ coping strategies in dealing with traumatic experience. Part of the recommendations is the need prompt treatment of both men and women equally by teaching ways to manage their fears, and anxiety. There is the need for stakeholders in education especially the school psychologists to create enabling environment which will instill and sustain adult desire for education.

This qualitative study sought to find out the perspectives of secondary school principals regarding their roles in organizing school-based professional development activities for science and mathematics teachers and the related challenges at school level in Zamfara State, Nigeria. Twenty secondary school principals were purposively sampled for the study from the four educational zones in the state. Collection of data was done through structured interviews, and data obtained were analyzed through content analysis. The findings of the study revealed that despite the crucial role of principals in promoting professional development, the majority of them do not fulfill their role optimally in this respect. Professional development activities organized by few principals are limited to workshops and seminars, and there are not sustained as ongoing opportunities. Challenges faced by principals in organizing school-based professional development include inadequate funding, lack of support from higher authorities, inadequate training of principals, and lack of motivation among teachers. The study concluded that, the poor involvement of principals in promoting professional development has significant implications on the quality of teaching and learning of science and mathematics in Zamfara State. The study recommends that government and education stakeholders provide adequate funding and support to principals to enable them organize sustainable and relevant professional development activities for teachers. Additionally, training and motivation programmes should be developed for principals to enhance their capacity in promoting professional development among teachers.