The Extent of Use of Instructional Materials for Effective Teaching – Learning of Christian Religious Studies in Junior Secondary School
CHAPTER ONE
Objective of the Study
The main objective of this study is extent of use of instruction materials for effective teaching and learning of Christian Religious Studies in junior secondary school. But for the successful completion of the study; the researcher intends to achieve the following sub-objectives;
- Determine the mean achievement scores of students taught Christian Religious Studies with instructional materials and those taught with conventional lecture method, as measured by CRS achievement test.
- Determine the achievement scores of male and female students exposed to instructional materials.
- Determine the retention scores of students taught CRS with instructional materials and those taught with conventional lecture method.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Conceptual Framework
Concept of Constructivism
Constructivism can be referred to as psychological theory that depicts how people learn. Constructivism argues that individuals process knowledge and meaning out of their experiences. Constructivism focuses on learning as an active process of trying to make sense of new experiences (Okereke, 2010). Constructivism can be defined as educational movement that involves teaching-learning process in which learners are guided to produce their own knowledge from their experiences. Borich and Tombari 1995 in Nwafor (2007:74) described constructivism as:
An educational movement in which instruction is designed and sequenced to encourage learners to use their experiences to actively construct an understanding that makes sense to them rather than by having information presented in a pre-organized format.
Constructivism upholds the idea that the learner is not a tabularasa, but comes to the learning environment with prior knowledge. In the process of integrating new ideas and information into already existing knowledge, the learner can structure new knowledge that becomes unique to the learner’s thinking. Constructivism can also equip the learner with higher cognitive skills (problem-solving and thinking skills), affective (co-operative and solidarity), and meta-cognitive abilities that will enable the learner to cope with the events of the world (Nwafor, 2007). Meta cognitive abilities refer to knowledge, skills and values that go beyond cognitive domain. It means people’s ability to reflect on what they are doing and thinking why they are experiencing it (Clark, & Elen, 2006). It implies reflecting on experiences that can result to eventual production of knowledge.
CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
Introduction
This chapter described the procedures employed in carrying out the study. It contains the description of the design of the study, the area of the study, population of the study, sample and sampling techniques, instrument for data collection, validation of the instrument and reliability of the instrument.
Design of the study
The design of this study is quasi- experimental design. Specifically, pre-test post- test control group involving four groups (two groups form the experimental groups and two others the control groups). This experimental design is represented diagrammatically as follows:
Quasi – experimental design is also referred to as non- randomized control group, pre-test, post-test experimental research design because intact classes were used. The researcher studied the effect of the method on intact classes rather than randomly assigning participants to the experimental or control groups because complete randomization of the subjects was not possible. In this type of design, pre-test is administered at the beginning of the study and the post-test data is used for finding out whether the subjects in different groups (as represented in the figure above) are homogeneous or not.
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND RESULTS
In this chapter, the summary of the analysed data and the results were presented based on the research questions and the hypotheses stated in chapter one using relevant tables. Summary of the result was stated at the end of the presentation.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION, AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Summary of Findings
The major findings of this study are as follows;
- Students taught using instructional materials performed better than students taught using conventional lecture method in their overall achievement in Christian Religious Studies.
- Male students in both experimental and control groups performed better than their female counterparts in both experimental and control groups in the CRS achievement test.
- The interaction due to teaching method and gender in both groups (experimental and control groups) on students’ achievement in CRS was significant.
Conclusion
The following conclusions are drawn from this study based on the findings of the study. The result of this study provides empirical evidence that the instructional materials enhanced students’ achievement in Christian Religious Studies.The students (control groups) taught using the conventional model (lecture method) achieved less than the students (experimental groups) taught using instructional materials. Hence, high achievement in Christian Religious Studies can be enhanced using appropriate instructional strategy.
Secondly, the male and female students exposed to both instructional materials and conventional method performed better than their control group counterparts in both achievement and retention test in Christian Religious Studies. The combined effect of instructional materials and gender on students’ cognitive achievement was significant. Male students performed better than the female students for both instructional methods. But there is however, no significant difference in the combined effect of both instructional method and gender on students’ retention of Christian Religious Studies content area. Since the findings of this study revealed that male students performed better than female students in CRS achievement test while the female students performed better in the retention test, it implies that there is no conclusive gender in CRS.
In general, the instructional materials model has proved to be viable in enhancing the meaningful learning of Christian Religious Studies.
Recommendations
The following recommendations were made based on the findings of the study.
- Since the use of instructional materials has been found to enhance the quality of students’ achievement and retention in Christian Religious Studies, the subject teacher should be encouraged to employ the method more in the teaching of the subject. By the use of the method, the students’ interest in the subject would be aroused; and they would be committed in learning the subject, with their increase in achievement and retention of the subject content.
- With high mean achievement and retention scores recorded through the use of instructional materials, it calls for teachers to be abreast with the distinctive characteristics of this novel teaching method with the view to enhance students’ cognitive learning outcomes. There should be seminars and workshops organized by the government and professional bodies like the National Association of Bible knowledge teachers of Nigeria (NABKTN) for Christian Religious Studies teachers in the use of instructional materials.
- Teacher training tertiary institutions should train student teachers on current teaching methods
REFERENCES
- Achebe, O. (2005). Enhancing a good religious education in secondary schools for improving moral quality of our society. A paper presented at the seminar held at All Hallows Seminary, Onitsha, Nigeria.
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- Aldrich, C. (2004). Simulation and future of learning: An innovative (and perhaps revolutionary) approach to e-learning. San Francisco: Pfiefer John Wiley and Sons.
- Ali, A. (2006). Conducting research in education and the social sciences. Enugu, Nigeria: Tian Press.
- Alubaleze, R. I. (2004). Modern strategy for teaching of Christian Religion in school: A paper presented at the seminar held at St. Charles College, Onitsha, Oct. 9 2004.
- Alubaleze, R. I. (2004). National Christian religious education curriculum for junior secondary education. A paper presented at the conference of Christian Religious Studies Teachers at Onitsha, Feb. 12 2005.
- Basic Education Christian Religious Studies Curriculum (2010). Ministry of education, Awka.
- Bolton, G. (2010). Reflective practice writing and professional development (3rded).California: SAGE Publications.
