Effect of Instructional Strategy in Incorporating Local Practices on Secondary School Students and Achievement in Chemistry
Chapter One
Objective of the study
The objectives of the study are;
- To find the difference in achievement of students taught chemistry by incorporating local practices (experimental group) and students taught chemistry without local practices (control group)
- To find out the difference in interest of students taught chemistry by incorporating local practices (experimental group) and students taught chemistry without local practices (control group)
- To ascertain the gender difference in achievement in incorporating local practices
- To ascertain the gender difference in interest in incorporating local practices.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Teaching of Chemistry at Secondary School Level
Chemistry is a Science discipline that deals with the study of composition, properties and uses of matter. It describes how one or two substances interact with one another to give rise to different substances (Jegede, 2003 & Ahmad, 2010). According to Wu and Foos (2012) chemistry is a fundamental discipline that accounts life at the molecular level. Chemistry is a subject of universal interest in human development regards to the utility of its knowledge in real-life situations likely to be faced by many of the students someday. Chemistry has virtually permeated most aspects of our economic and/or public life (Jegede,2012; Wu & Foos; 2012). Chemistry embraces a variety of fields of study and is combined with other subjects to satisfy the Senior Secondary School Examinations (S.S.C.E) requirements. This could have brought about the importance of chemistry in the secondary school science curricular. Its lively interdisciplinary nature seems to reflect an exciting appeal to a wide audience as a focus for examining functional concept of normal life and systems of health and welfare provisions (Wu & Foos, 2012; Jegede, 2012). It was opined by Jegede (2012) that the most exciting prospect of schooling is the harmonious development of individuals‟ potentials coupled with coherent preparation for happy and useful living in the society. On this, the effective instruction and application of chemical principles in real life situations can improve the quality of human life and preserve the environment. In spite of the importance of chemistry as enumerated above, observation on students‟ performance in chemistry in the Secondary School Certificates Examination (both WAEC and NECO) reveal that only a very negligible number of students perform well in the examinations (Jegede,2012;Muhammad, 2014). A study conducted by Ahmad (2010), indicated that, inability of teachers and students to adapt different ways of learning and lack of exposure to current materials and resources for the learning processes are some of the challenges being faced by chemistry teachers and students. Reports from WAEC Chief Examiners (2008 – 2013), revealed that candidates‟ responses to examination questions have not been encouraging. It depicts lack of acquisition of required skills which may stem from inadequate exposure of learners to the use of laboratory apparatus. It is an indication that something is still wrong in Secondary School Chemistry which calls for investigation and remediation (Odum, Akomaye & Chinyere, 2013). The continuous records of students‟ poor performance has attracted a lot of assertions (Nwagbo, 2002 & Njoku,2005). Nwosu, (2003) had pointed out that the teacher is an important determinant of the quantity of learning by the learner. Eze and Njoku(2011) opined that teachers are the pivot of the education system and therefore they are at the centre of any reform effort in the system. According to Ikeobi (2010), it is the teacher who organizes the interactions between the subject (learner) and the object (learning materials). It is the teacher who ensures that equipment and materials are properly used by the learner to achieve the expected objectives. All these point to the fact that the teacher is a very significant factor when the learners failed to exhibit the expected mastery in a Science subject like chemistry. The root cause of low performance by students is traced to the approaches and pedagogies employed to deliver the course content. Some teachers consistently use the note they made when they left school for several years without updating their knowledge. These are some of the reasons for poor performance of our students in examinations particularly Chemistry that is deemed abstract and difficult (Nbina, 2012; Muhammad, 2014).
Science Teaching Methods
Teaching involves helping learners to learn. Learning can be considered as any response to stimuli that leads to residual change in behavior. Learners learn when they interact with resources in their environment that results in change of behaviour. In this regard teachers are therefore concerned with changing. To foster learning teachers decide, usually ahead of time, how they will teach a given objective, for example a concept, a skill or an attitude (Muzumara, 2007& Muhammad, 2014). This signifies that, sorting and understanding methods/strategies by teachers to use and teach a give objective is inevitable. According to Ashafa and Macheal (2007), a teaching method can be seen as the types of activities pursued by teachers and pupils/students together in group work, surveys, demonstrations, film and TV viewing and so on, which are intended to help pupils/students achieve stated lesson objectives or learning outcomes. Some of the methods used in teaching and learning science include; lecture method, discussion method, demonstration method, discovery method, project method and so on. Most of these methods used in science teaching in secondary schools in Nigeria have been described as inappropriate and uninspiring. Studies (Ibe, 2004; Madu, 2004 & Shaleigh, 2004) have separately pointed out that because of the shortfalls of Science teaching in Nigerian secondary schools because of the methods being used for the instruction (Igboegwu,2012). Nnaobi (2007) and Igboegwu,(2012) asserted that there is no best method of teaching but that effective scientific teaching should be laboratory-centered and activity oriented rather than textbook or lecture-dominated methods which seem to characterize the Nigerian schools. Effective teaching and learning in any subject at any institution are dependent on the individual strategies used and other variables (Muhammad, 2008). Muzumara (2007) 20 pointed that, there are a number of factors that determine what strategy a teacher should use to accomplish a given learning outcome. These factors may include age level of pupils, amount of time available, type of weather, availability of teaching/ learning resources and the topic being delivered. The choice of the type of strategy to be used for a particular lesson or topic is entirely up to the teacher and he/she feels appropriate for that topic. These being the case it is not usual to see teachers teaching the same topic using different strategies and even if the strategy may be the same the way it is used will differ from teacher to teacher and from class to class. What is important is for the teacher to know and understand his/her Students. Muhammad, (2008) noted that instructional strategy is a major responsible for the level of performance in any subject by the students. Learning difficulties can be solved to a great extent by using appropriate teaching methods. Teaching methods/strategies may be classified in different ways; those in which the teacher has direct control are referred to as „teacher-centred‟. These include lecture method, teacher demonstration and teacher questioning. Strategies in which pupils are actively involved are referred to as „pupil-centred‟. They include laboratory activities, panel discussions, quizzes, and pupils‟ project. Teacher-centred keeps learners passive and do not benefit most while pupils-centred allows learners to be actively involved in learning and generate meaningful ideas/ experiences. The other classification of teaching strategies in science is through the presentation of learning outcomes. A teacher may provide experiences in which pupils have to organize different facts to arrive at general principle. This is an inductive approach. In other case, the teacher chooses to introduce a generalization and demonstrate how a given set of known facts fit this generalization. This is deductive approach. Both the teacher-centred and pupil-centred strategies fit well in the two approaches and all depends on who is more active in a given lesson (Muzumara, 2007). Teacher usually utilizes a variety of teaching methods in one lesson for them to successfully accomplish their tasks. Students can acquire different skills and experiences when allowed to interact among themselves and exchange ideas. Several methods could be used to teach chemistry which perhaps can provide skills and experiences. These methods include laboratory methods, group learning, discovery method, students-led seminars, programmed instruction among others.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design
The researcher used descriptive research survey design in building up this project work the choice of this research design was considered appropriate because of its advantages of identifying attributes of a large population from a group of individuals. The design was suitable for the study as the study sought effect of instructional strategy in incorporating local practices on secondary school students and achievement in chemistry
Sources of data collection
Data were collected from two main sources namely:
(i)Primary source and
(ii)Secondary source
Primary source:
These are materials of statistical investigation which were collected by the research for a particular purpose. They can be obtained through a survey, observation questionnaire or as experiment; the researcher has adopted the questionnaire method for this study.
Secondary source:
These are data from textbook Journal handset etc. they arise as byproducts of the same other purposes. Example administration, various other unpublished works and write ups were also used.
Population of the study
Population of a study is a group of persons or aggregate items, things the researcher is interested in getting information effect of instructional strategy in incorporating local practices on secondary school students and achievement in chemistry. 200 staff of selected secondary schools in Uyo, Akwa Ibom state randomly by the researcher as the population of the study.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION OF DATA
Introduction
Efforts will be made at this stage to present, analyze and interpret the data collected during the field survey. This presentation will be based on the responses from the completed questionnaires. The result of this exercise will be summarized in tabular forms for easy references and analysis. It will also show answers to questions relating to the research questions for this research study. The researcher employed simple percentage in the analysis.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was to ascertain Effect of instructional strategy in incorporating local practices on secondary school students and achievement in chemistry. In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing challenges of instructional strategy in incorporating local practices on secondary school students and achievement in chemistry
Summary
This study was on effect of instructional strategy in incorporating local practices on secondary school students and achievement in chemistry. three objectives were raised which included: To find the difference in achievement of students taught chemistry by incorporating local practices (experimental group) and students taught chemistry without local practices (control group), to find out the difference in interest of students taught chemistry by incorporating local practices (experimental group) and students taught chemistry without local practices (control group), to ascertain the gender difference in achievement in incorporating local practices and to ascertain the gender difference in interest in incorporating local practices. In line with these objectives, two research hypotheses were formulated and two null hypotheses were posited. The total population for the study is 200 staff of selected secondary schools, Uyo. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. A total of 133 respondents made principal, vice principal adm, senior staff and junior staff were used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies
Conclusion
The way chemistry is being taught in our secondary school has called for an appraisal because of its importance among other science subjects. The poor performance of learners in the subject also calls for improvement in the teaching and learning of the subject. This has led to the focus of the present Study to find an alternative method apart from the conventional method commonly used by most schools. The findings of this study have revealed that there was a significant difference in the performance of chemistry students exposed to cooperative instructional strategy, individualistic instructional strategy and conventional teaching method. The cooperative instructional strategy was found to be most effective in enhancing better performance of the learners. There was no significant difference in the performance of male and female chemistry students exposed to cooperative instructional strategy and individualistic instructional strategy.
Recommendation
- In order to solve time problem of poor performance of students in chemistry at both internal and external examinations, the current prevailing teaching/learning approach should be restructured so as to give room for new instructional strategies, which will make students good problem-solvers. For instance the usual stereotyped lecture method of teaching chemistry should be discouraged and replaced by cooperative method of teaching.
- Regular workshops, seminars and symposia on topics/concepts of the chemistry curriculum should be organized from time to time through universities for chemistry teachers in the schools so that they would be exposed to the new strategies of leaching chemistry. In such activities strategies such as cooperative and individualistic could be adopted.
- The curricula of the institutions where teachers [that is, graduates arid NCE] are being trained should be broad based so as to encompass the different instructional strategies that promote problem-solving.
References
- Adeyegbe, S.O. [1993]: The senior secondary school science curriculum and candidates performance. An appeal of the first cycle of operation. Journal of STAN. 28,102-131
- Adeyegbe, S. O. [1993]: The senior secondary school science curriculum and candidates performance. An appraisal of the first cycle of operation. Journal of STAN, Vol 28, numbers 1&2 NERDC Press, Lagos.
- Ajeyalemi, D. [1983]: The teaching of chemistry. An experiences in Nigerian secondary schools. Problems and prospects Journal of STAN 28, 77-85.
- Alebiosu, K. A. [1998]: “Effects of two cooperative learning models on senior secondary school students’ learning outcomes in chemistry. Unpublished Ph.D Dissertation, University of Ibadan, Ibadan.
- Bojuwoye, O. [1985]: Crisis in Science classroom. Poor enrolment of secondary school students, in science subjects and its implications for science teachers Journal of STAN 23 [l&2] 2 14-220.
- Hill J.W. [1988]: Chemistry for changing times 5th Edition, New York Macmillan. Jamb Examination Brochure, 1992-1994.
- Johnson, D.W. and Johnson R.T. [1978]: “Cooperative: competitive an Individual learning” Journal of Research and Development in Education 12 [1] 3-15.
- Kugman, F. [19441: Cooperation Versus individual efficiency in problem-solving. Journal of Educational Psychology, 35 [1], 9 1-100.
