The Effectiveness of Teaching Styles in Early Childhood Education in Lagos State Primary Schools
CHAPTER ONE
Objective of Study
- To establish the effectiveness of concrete experience on early childhood education children’s achievement in Science in Lagos State: Nigeria
- To examine how reflective observation influence preschool children’s achievement in Science in Lagos State: Nigeria
- To determine the effectiveness of active experimentation on preschool children’s achievement in Science in Lagos State
- To establish the effectiveness of abstract conceptualization on preschool children’s achievement in Science in Lagos State
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Concept of Experiential Learning
Experiential learning is the type of learning where the students manage their own learning rather than being told to do and when to do it (Kolb D.A,2005) The teacher therefore passes much responsibility on the student. In this type of learning, the learners are able to identify the knowledge they require and then acquire it themselves, reflecting on their know learning as they move along other levels of education (Moon, 2004).
Experiential learners are able to reason out their views and state their stand on the choices made (Gunstone R.F 2000) it therefore becomes necessary for their teachers to provide tasks that are learner centred and hands on to help them solve problems relevant to their lives (Wurdinger 2010). This should be done by letting the learners inquire a problem and then find the solution.
Concrete Experience and Achievement in Science
Improving Science learning is of great concern to educators and policy makers because early childhood education experiences affect later education outcomes providing young children with research – based science learning opportunities likely to pay off with increased achievement and work skills in these critical areas (Kolb A.Y and Kolb D.A 2005).
Piaget (1976) emphasized that learning environment should include both concrete and symbolic models of the ideas learned. Similarly, a quality preschool environment supports children as they learn key content and practices of science by providing opportunities to observe, explore, experiment with and discuss a range of scientific phenomena. Children learn when questions and reasoning are encouraged as they explore the world around them. By providing these opportunities, teachers help children to have their thinking skills and clarify their informal ideas about science hence posting higher achievement amongst the learners (Kolb A.Y and Kolb D.A 2005).
Early childhood education children can think abstractly about various scientific concepts and also passes dispositions and thinking skills that support later more sophisticated scientific reasoning (Carr A.M 2009) For example early childhood educationers are motivated to clarify ambiguous evidence children entering kindergarten already have a great deal of knowledge about the natural world including understandings of cause and effect. The knowledge domains include concepts related to science (Du Schl, 2006).
Simulation and Science Achievement
Simulation, according to Robert E. Shannon (1975) is the process of designing a model of a real system and conducting experiments with this model system for the purpose either of understanding the behaviour of the system or of evaluating various strategies for the operation of the system.
Simulation has been found to enhance a positive attitude towards learning and developing of memory skills and assisting learners to get connected and build self-constructed learning. With the use of new technologies in education, learners are able to engage with learning and hence become more motivated in the learning process. Teachers also become familiar with the computers and regard their use in education with a greater degree of anxiety hence posting higher achievement.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Design
The research design used in this study was correlation research design which is a method of collecting information without manipulating the environment and also to demonstrate the association between the variables. The decision to adopt this design was guided by (Creswell, 2008) who stated that causality cannot be inferred. In this study the relationship between teaching styles and early childhood education children achievement in science was examined.
Target Population
Target population is the group of elements to which the researcher wants to make inference (Mugenda, 1999) defined target population as a complete set of individual cases or objects with common observable characteristics. According to the data from District Education Officer (2015), Lagos State has 32 registered public early childhood educations having 32 head teachers and 122 early childhood education teachers.
Sample size and sampling technique
The study respondents were 96 of which 32 were head teachers, and 64 early childhood education teachers, the sampling of the early childhood education teachers will be based on census given that it is attractive for small populations necessary for precision, confidence level and variability. The sample for the head teachers and early childhood education teachers will be based on Kombo and Tromp (2006) study that state that 30% is adequate representation of the entire population. This method will assist the researcher to apply inferential statistics to data and provide opportunities for the action of each early childhood educations in the State.
The study will adopt simple random sampling technique of probability sampling. This will help in ensuring that each early childhood education gets an equal and independent chance of being selected.
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA ANALYSIS, PRESENTATION, INTERPRETATION AND DISCUSION
Background information of the respondents
Distribution of respondents by gender
The head teachers and early childhood education teachers were asked to indicate their gender. This information was useful in showing gender distribution in the schools under study. This will indicate whether there is gender balance or imbalance in the schools under study.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Summary of the Study
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of teaching styles on early childhood education children‟s achievement in science class in Lagos State: Nigeria. The study aimed to answer four research objectives that were: to establish the effectiveness of concrete experience on early childhood education children‟s achievement in science class in Lagos Centre State; to examine how reflective observation influence preschool children‟s achievement in science class in Lagos State; to determine the effectiveness of active experimentation on preschool children‟s achievement science class in Lagos State Nigeria, lastly to establish the effectiveness of abstract conceptualization on preschool children‟s achievement in Science classes in Lagos State; Nigeria. The study adopted descriptive research design. The target population for the study was 32 public schools in Lagos State. The schools had 32 head teachers and 122 early childhood education teachers. 32 Head teachers from 32 schools and 52 early childhood education teachers participated in the study. Three head teachers and 20 early childhood education teachers were used for piloting. Data was collected by researcher using self- administered questionnaires for head teachers and early childhood education teachers.
Summary of Research Findings
The study sought to establish the effectiveness of concrete experience on early childhood education children‟s achievement in science in Lagos Centre State. It was established that concrete experience influenced learners‟ achievement in science class positively. Findings articulated from the study showed that teachers agreed that simulation helped the learnerslearn to express themselves and gain confidence while tackling scientific activities and this enables them to record high achievement in the science class through knowledge retention. Further analysis revealed that even though small group discussion weren‟t used so much at the preschool level due to the short attention span of the learners, positive results have been achieved in class as the children are able to learn a lot from one another through discussion.
Conclusions
Concrete experience have influence on leaners achievement in science class. Simulation helped the learners learn to express themselves and gain confidence while tackling scientific activities and this enables them to record high achievement in the science class through knowledge retention. Small group discussion enabled the children to learn a lot from one another. Simulation was established to have more influence followed by small group discussion then drama.
Active experimentation have influence on learners‟ achievement in science class. Reflective essay gave the learners a chance to recall whatever they’ve been taught and put it into practice thus boosting their achievement in Science. Moreover personal journals helped in keeping records of the learners and compare their achievement trend and this improves their achievement especially in Science. The use of questions was found to have more influence followed by the use of games then lastly the use of project
Reflective observation have influence on learners‟ achievement in science class as it promotes high retention of knowledge hence improving their achievement in science class.
Recommendations
Based on the findings and conclusions of the study the following recommendations were made:
For Policy
- Teaching styles should be built in early childhood education curriculum as it yields important dividends for any sector of education; it helps the learner to develop spartial thinking which is important for the success of Science.
- The study also recommends that the early childhood education teachers be trained on the use of teaching styles as some of them didn‟t use in
- The study also recommends that the head teachers should ensure application of these learning styles as some of them were not even aware of it in the first
For research
The findings indicated that indeed teaching styles influence achievement of early childhood education learners in science class. Although this is the case it was not fully being utilised by most teachers as they were just but using it occasionally. The study therefore recommends that early childhood education teachers use this more often in teaching their students.
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