Strategies for Improving Students’ Academic Performance in Financial Accounting in Some Secondary Schools (A Case Study of Egor Local Government Area of Edo State)
Chapter One
PURPOSE OF STUDY
Since accounting is a venture that helps in the socioeconomic development of the masses, it becomes pertinent for all hands to be on deck, if improvement is to be made generally, financial accounting like every other field or discipline is associated with some problems. It is on this ground, therefore, that this study is designed to map out strategies for improving students’ poor academic performances in financial accounting in some selected secondary schools in Edo state.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
INTRODUCTION
Our focus in this chapter is to critically examine relevant literature that would assist in explaining the research problem and furthermore recognize the efforts of scholars who had previously contributed immensely to similar research. The chapter intends to deepen the understanding of the study and close the perceived gaps.
Precisely, the chapter will be considered in two sub-headings:
- Conceptual Framework
- Chapter Summary
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORKTEACHING
Teaching in education system is the systematic presentation of facts, ideas, skills, and techniques to students or learners by the teacher. Teaching is an organised method of giving information to somebody so as to change his/her belief and idea about something or events. Eze, U.C. (2004) defined teaching as a systematic presentation of facts ideas, skills and techniques to students or learners. Newsam et al (2009) stated that the purpose of teaching is to ensure that thoughts are acquired through a prescribed body of knowledge and set of values for practice by the learners through learning process.
Human beings have survived and evolved as a species partly because of the capacity to share knowledge through teaching and learning Eze, U.C. (2004). The author stated further that the societies of the ancient world that made substantial success in knowledge advancement through teaching however were those in which specially designated people assumed responsibility for educating the young ones. This indicated that the context of teaching is not new in education system. Agbafor (2009) stated that the knowledge, value and understanding that are acquired by the learners during teaching are taken to reflect a society selection of what is most wanted for transmission into the students or learners for instance in a school setting. Mazur cited in Eze, U.C. (2004) stated that through effective teaching, the learner acquires the knowledge and develops the ability to perform new behaviour.
Effectiveness as defined by K. J. Topping (1996) is the condition where desired outcomes or results are attained with minimal expenditure of resources when an activity is performed. Olaitan, et al (1996) stated that effectiveness is an impact of a group of activities performed on the achievement of intended learning outcomes. Effectiveness implies achieving the intended result. Ukeje cited in K. J. Topping (1996), stated that effectiveness is the extent to which the objectives and purpose of an institution is achieved. Fagbamiye, Babalola, Fabunmi and Ayeni (2006), defined effectiveness in teaching as the extent to which set goals and objectives of an institution are accomplished in relation to quality, quantity, equity and instructional quality.
For effective teaching and learning to take place, the teacher that does the teaching must possess basic characteristics which include: an engaging personality and teaching style, clear objectives for lessons, effective discipline skills, good classroom management skills, good communication with parents, high expectations, knowledge of curriculum and standards, good knowledge of subject matter, passion for teaching and strong rapport with students. Therefore, through effective teaching of students of financial accounting in secondary schools in Kogi State, the stated objectives of the subjects can be achieved.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Introduction
In this chapter, we would describe how the study was carried out.
Research design
It is a term used to describe a number of decisions which need to be taken regarding the collection of data before they are collected. (Nwana, 1981). It provides guidelines which direct the researcher towards solving the research problem and may vary depending on the nature of the problem being studied. According to Okaja ( 2003, p. 2),” research design means the structuring of investigation aimed at identifying variables and their relationship, it is used for the purpose of obtaining data to enable the investigator test hypothesis or answer research question by providing procedural outline for conducting research”. It is therefore, an outline or scheme that serves as a useful guide to the researcher in his efforts to generate data for his study. The research therefore, adopted the survey method in data collection. It is used to obtain the peoples opinion through questionnaire.
Sources of Data
The data for this study were generated from two main sources; Primary sources and secondary sources. The primary sources include questionnaire, interviews and observation. The secondary sources include journals, bulletins, textbooks and the internet.
Population of the study
The population for the study was 171 teachers. This included 69 teachers of financial accounting and 51 secondary school principals and 51 vice principals from the existing 51 public secondary schools in Egor local government area of the state. The teachers of financial accounting, principals and vice principals in secondary schools in the study area were considered appropriate for supplying the relevant data towards the strategies for enhancing the teaching of financial accounting. The number of teachers of Financial accounting, principals and vice principals in the zone was obtained from State Education Office.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA
This chapter deals with the presentation and analysis of data generated from questionnaire on strategies for improving the teaching of Financial accounting in Egor Local Government Area in Edo State, Nigeria. The chapter is organized according to the research questions and hypotheses used for the study.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
INTRODUCTION
This chapter presented the summary of the statement of the problem, purpose of the study, procedure used for the study, major findings of the study, conclusion based on the findings, implications of the study, recommendation for implementation and suggestions for further study.
SUMMARY OF THE PROCEDURE USED FOR THE STUDY
Four research questions were developed and answered by the study while four null hypotheses were formulated and tested (p≤0.05). The study adopted descriptive survey research design and was carried out in Edo State. The population for the study consisted of 171 respondents which include 69 Teachers of Financial accounting, 51 Principals and 51 Vice Principals. Due to the manageable size of the population, the entire population was studied; therefore, there was no sampling. The questionnaire is made up of five sections. Section A was made to obtained personal data of the respondents while Sections B to E were structured in line with the specific four purposes of the study.
The data collected from the trial testing was analysed using Cronbach Alpha reliability method in which reliability coefficient of 0.77 was obtained for teachers recruitment strategies, 0.74 was obtained for teachers motivational strategies, 0.83 was obtained for instructional strategies, 0.70 was obtained for teachers improvement strategies while an overall reliability coefficient of 0.78 was obtained for the entire instrument. The data were collected by the researcher with the help of six research assistants. Out of the 171 copies of the questionnaire administered, 163 copies were completely filled and retrieved representing 95.3% rate of return. The retrieved copies were used for data analysis. The data collected were analyzed using mean for answering the four research question while analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance.
MAJOR FINDINGS OF THE STUDY
The study identified 49 strategies for improving the teaching and learning of Financial accounting in Secondary Schools in Egor Local Government Area of Edo State. Specifically, the study identified:
- Fourteen strategies for improving the recruitment of financial accounting teachers in secondary schools.
- Fifteen strategies for motivating Financial accounting teachers in secondary schools.
- Ten strategies for improving the instructional materials and facilities for effective teaching of financial accounting in secondary schools.
- Ten strategies for improving the capacity of financial accounting teachers for effective teaching in secondary schools.
- There were no significant differences in the mean ratings of the responses of the respondents on 12 out of the 14 identified recruitment strategies based on their years of working experience while on the remaining two recruitments strategies there were significant differences in the responses of the respondents.
- There were no significant differences in the mean ratings of the responses of the respondents on 12 out of the 15 identified motivating strategies based on their academic qualification while on the remaining three strategies, there were significant differences in the mean ratings of the responses of the respondents.
- There were no significant differences in the mean ratings of the responses of respondents on the 9 out of the 10 identified strategies for improving instructional materials based on their years of working experience while on the remaining one instructional strategy there was significant difference in the mean ratings of the responses of the respondents.
- There were no significant differences in the mean ratings of the responses of the respondents on 8 out of the 10 identified capacity building strategies of the teachers for improving the teaching of financial accounting based on their academic qualification while on the remaining two strategies there were significant differences in the mean ratings of the respondents.
CONCLUSION
This study was conducted to investigate strategies for improving the teaching of financial accounting in secondary schools in Egor Local Government Area of Edo State, Nigeria. This was necessitated to reverse the present high rate of business failure of students of Financial accounting in secondary schools in the state. It was found out that recruitment of quality Financial accounting teachers, motivating Financial accounting teachers, improving the use of instructional materials and facilities for teaching Financial accounting and improving the capacity of financial accounting teachers for effective teaching in secondary schools are useful strategies that could be adopted for improving the teaching of Financial accounting in Egor Local Government Area of Edo State. Therefore, it can be concluded that the findings of this study when appropriately utilized is capable of solving the present low interest and academic performance of students in Financial accounting during their terminal and final examination in the study area.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Based on the findings and conclusions drawn from the study, the following recommendations were made that:
- Only competent and trained teachers of Financial accounting should be allowed to teach students. This is because, by their training and orientation, they are in better positions of stimulating students in developing more career interest and achievement in Financial accounting.
- Teachers of Financial accounting to be trained in the use of modern and interactive instructional strategies for improved teaching and learning.
- There should be provision of motivational incentives to Teachers of Finacila accounting in order to stimulate their interest for quality teaching of the students.
- The identified strategies should help packaged by government and use as orientation materials for training and retraining of the teachers before the start work.
- There should be periodic organisation of workshops, seminars and conferences for general skill update of the teachers of Financial accounting for relevance and quality service delivery.
REFERENCES
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