Former NUC Boss,Okebukola Launches New Method To Boost STEM Education

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

The new approach was officially unveiled at the 2025 international conference of the International Research Group (IRG) co-hosted by the Commonwealth Association of Science, Technology and Mathematics Educators (CASTME) which ended on September 18.

Okebukola who, in 1992, emerged the first African to win the UNESCO Kalinga Prize for the Communication and Popularisation of Science, invented the Model-And-Surpass Pedagogy (MSP) which was formally presented to the global education community by Professor Jomo Mutegi, a past President of the National Association of Research in Science Teaching (NARST), an international organisation headquartered in the US for promoting quality science education.

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

Okebulola who was also a former Chairman of the Governing Council of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), said: “my motivation for inventing methodologies for teaching science which won me the 1992 UNESCO Prize, is based on the overload of methods of teaching developed by non-Africans which are not fit for purpose for the African cultural context.

“The impression is always given that the method must be developed by the West to be right. Our researchers gleefully deploy these ‘oyibo’ methods and fail to look inwards to innovate in developing and researching socio-culturally relevant approaches to teaching.

“Additionally, the lacklustre performance of our students in STEM can be attributed, at least in part, to this methods mismatch. The overriding goal of my efforts is to elevate achievement in and improve the attitude of our students towards STEM,” he stated.

Okebukola recalled that in 2015 after over 40 years of research, he invented the Culturo-Techno-Contextual Approach (CTCA) and developed the Okebukola Eco-Techno Cultural Theory.

According to him, “In the last ten years, CTCA has gained global prominence and is now in use in many African countries and several countries in Asia, Europe and North America.

“Its efficacy in improving students’ performance in science and non-science subjects has been confirmed by numerous studies.

“The second method I just developed is the Model-And-Surpass Pedagogy (MSP). This is based on the framework of students modelling great scientists and striving to surpass them.

“The logic is that by striving to model the great scientist and implement a work plan to surpass such scientist, the student will learn the way of the scientist and work towards achieving greater heights. When there is a will, there is a way. The outcome is predicted to be improved achievement and better attitude to STEM.”

The Okebukola’s MSP has seven steps: (1) Teacher selects two great scientists who have done work on the topic to be taught.

“One should be an African; (2) At least two days before the lesson, students are asked to find out brief history of the two scientists, highlighting their trials and triumphs and attitudes worth emulating and surpassing; (3) At the beginning of the lesson, the teacher asks students in groups (as convenient) to compare and contrast the two scientists.

“Groups report their conclusions on the two scientists; (4) Each student should note the attributes of the two scientists he/she wishes to model and surpass; (5) Teacher introduces the topic of the lesson and presents it as much as possible, through the lens of the two great scientists; (6) As the lesson progresses, students are engaged by the teacher in interactive discussion on the topic in line with the lesson objectives and content.

“Practical activities should be encouraged through experiments. Students are to share their thoughts on how they intend to model and surpass the scientists in relation to the topic. Teacher makes notes on the board during the lesson; and (7) Lesson closes with a summary, short evaluation questions and a request for students to submit their notes before the next class on content learned/experiments in relation to what they modelled and wished to surpass in the two scientists.

Speaking about the next steps, Okebukola noted “Work has started in earnest to test MSP. A team of researchers from four 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 series of studies to test the efficacy of the pedagogy.

According to him, “the goal is to ensure that MSP contributes to the attainment of the African Union’s Agenda 2063- The Africa We Want. The days of Africa playing second fiddle in STEM enterprise will soon be over”.

” This is not the last bus stop in our quest for homegrown methods of teaching. As the founder of the National Association of Artificial Intelligence Practitioners (NAAIP), I am leading a team of researchers including Dr. Adekunle Ibrahim Oladejo, Dr. Franklin Onowugbeda, Dr. Olasunkanmi Gbeleyi, Dr. Deborah Agbanimu and Dr. Esther Peter to work with Professor Eyitope Ogunbodede (President of NAAIP) to develop a teaching approach that rests on AI framework.

“This will immerse the use of AI within the African socio-cultural context. I assure you, the coming years will be exciting for Nigerian, indeed African students and teachers at all levels”.

Keynote addresses delivered at the conference were by Professor Jomo Mutegi of Old Dominion University, Virginia, US; Professor Pascal Doh of the University of Turku, Finland; Professor Uchenna Maristella Nzewi of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka; and Professor Shari Watkins of The American University, Washington DC. Fellowship Awards were given to Dr. Sue Dale Tunnicliffe, the Chairperson Board of Trustees of CASTME; Professor Juma Shabani of the University of Burundi; Professor Ibiyinka Ogunlade of Bamidele Olumilua University of Education, Science and Technology, Ikere-Ekiti; and Professor Emeritus Peter A. Okebukola of Lagos State University.