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, the “Model-And-Surpass Pedagogy (MSP)” was 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, which was formally presented to the global education community by Professor Jomo Mutegi, a former president of the National Association of Research in Science Teaching (NARST), an international organisation headquartered in the United States (US) that promotes quality science education.

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

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’ (Whiteman) 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 method’s mismatch. The overriding goal of my efforts is to elevate achievement in and improve our students’ attitude 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 10 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 a 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.”

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.”