Effect of Peer Tutoring on Students’ Academic Performance in Ikwano, Abia State
CHAPTER ONE
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The objectives of the study are;
- To ascertain the effect of peer tutoring and conventional instructional strategies on students’ performance
- To ascertain the performance of students taught using peer tutoring instructional strategy varies on the basis of gender
- To determine the interaction effect between peer tutoring, conventional /traditional lecture method, and gender on students’ academic achievement
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Concept of Peer Tutoring
Peer tutoring is a very old practice traceable back as far as the ancient Greeks. It is an instructional strategy that consists of pairing students together to learn or practice an academic work. Archaic definition of peer tutoring by Topping (2005) defines “peer tutor as a surrogate teacher, in a linear model of the transmission of knowledge, from teacher to tutor to tutee”. From this, it was later realized that the peer tutoring interaction was qualitatively different from that between a teacher and a student and involved different advantages and disadvantages which has kept the practice of peer tutoring in existence till this developmental period.
A conceptual definition of peer tutoring is “more able students helping less able students to learn in cooperative working pairs or small groups carefully organized by a professional teacher” (Topping, 2005). However, as development and research in different formats of peer tutoring proceeded apace in more recent years, it becomes clear that peer tutoring is not necessarily only about transmission from the more able and experienced (who already have knowledge and skills) to less able (who have yet to acquire knowledge) but students who assist each other under a group of two or more students of learning ability.
Similarly, according to Encyclopedia of Psychology (2000) refers to peer tutoring as any use of student to coach or tutor one another who is in the same age limit or who has the same social status. In peer tutoring, their ages may differ because the students are not really member of the same peer group rather educational interest has joined them together as a social group that interact with one another. Such peer tutoring is termed “cross age peer tutoring”. In quest to unravel the long existence of peer tutoring, Quintilian, the Roman scholar, in National Association of School Psychology (2008) mentioned the practice of using older students to tutor younger ones and that those doing the tutoring learn more than those who are tutored. Today Education has taken a growing interest in using students to help in each other’s academic achievement through the current initiatives of peer tutoring. Allen (2000) describes peer tutoring as student who assist each other under group of two or more students of different learning ability, which teacher systematically organizes to facilitate learning capacity. The students are often assigned roles in their group for completing the task and depend on each other to learn academic material while developing stronger social skills.
According to Olinya (2007) peer tutoring is a teaching arrangements in which students spend much of their class time working in small, heterogeneous groups on tasks they are expected to learn and help each other to learn. Green wood (1991), itemized the benefit of peer tutoring to include.
- Enhancement of learning academic skills.
- Development of social behaviours and classroom discipline.
- Enhancement of peer relations.
Similarly, Dabkowski (2007) posits that peer tutoring provides a more cooperative, pleasant classroom atmosphere and better-adjusted students with skills transferable to parenting when they mature. It is also system of instruction in which learners help each order and learn (themselves) by teaching. Peer tutoring enable more and less knowledgeable students speak a more similar language than the teachers affect and improve their learning ability. The above view is consistent with United States Agency for International Development (2009) notion, that in peer tutoring unlike students-teacher relationship, instructions are only given by teachers, but in peer tutoring the more knowledgeable student is not very far removed from the less knowledgeable one in authority or knowledge, nor has the more knowledgeable students any special claims to teaching competence. Perhaps, being closer in knowledge and status, the learner in a peer relation feels free to express opinions, ask questions and risk untested questions. The interaction between the learner and his peer is more and more lively that it will improve the learning ability of the tutor and tutees.
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 to Effect of Peer Tutoring on Students’ Academic Performance
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 on Effect of Peer Tutoring on Students’ Academic Performanc. 200 staffs of selected secondary schools in Ikwanno, Abia state was selected 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 peer tutoring on students’ academic performance
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 the challenges of peer tutoring on students’ academic performance
Summary
This study was on effect of peer tutoring on students’ academic performance. Three objectives were raised which included: 1. To ascertain the effect of peer tutoring and conventional instructional strategies on students’ performance, to ascertain the performance of students taught using peer tutoring instructional strategy vary on the basis of gender, to determine the interaction effect between peer tutoring, conventional /traditional lecture method and gender on students’ academic achievement. 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 in Ikwano, Abia state. 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 up of principals, vice principals 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
Observations gathered during students’ exposure to peer tutoring suggest that the quality of students’ interaction with their peers improved significantly both socially and academically. Although not everyone may gain equally from participation, peer tutoring offered the opportunity for each participant to become aware of their weaknesses. Based on test scores and student observations, peer tutoring can help to achieve the objectives of the new senior secondary school curriculum. However, this study cannot determine the long-term effect of peer tutoring
Recommendation
School authorities and educational administrators should ensure that peer tutoring instructional strategies are integrated into the secondary school economics curriculum. Seminars, conferences, and workshops should be organised for teachers. This would help improve their knowledge and skills of peer tutoring instructional strategy in order to achieve effective implementation. Teachers should expose students to peer tutoring instructional strategy in passing out instruction in the classroom to aid the development of students’ generic skills.
References
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