ACTIVITY METHOD AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN PHYSICS

ACTIVITY METHOD AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN PHYSICS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1       Background to the Study

Teaching and learning Physics at the senior secondary school level involves engaging in activities that would lead to understanding the theoretical and practical aspects of the subject. The former relates to students’ acquisition of knowledge of the various concepts, law, theories, expression and relations in the subjects and these can be used to explain naturally observed phenomena. Activities of the latter involve students’ ability to manipulate equipment in the laboratory and workshop for the purpose of verifying or explaining the laws, theories and concepts learned in theory. Carrying out these requires the use of appropriate methods and techniques by the teacher in facilitating learning to improve the quality and quantity of learning to a level that can justify the term effective learning.

However, Ekanem (2006) noted that teaching is the guidance of learners through planned activities so that they may acquire the richest learning possible from their experiences. This implies that no teacher can give education to a child, that is to say, that a child does not learn merely because he/she has been exposed to the teacher’s knowledge to the context of textbooks, rather learning is an active process which goes on within the child by guiding his/her learning experiences through planned activities. As a matter of facts, pupils start to learn when they become actively involved in the learning situation. The teachers’ role is to guide, this the teacher does by arousing the students’ interest to participate fully by establishing attainable goals by questions. Where a teacher dominates classroom activities, he is not helping the learners to learn. Thus, the teacher must know how to select the contents and method to use. The author further maintained that if a teacher just teaches facts to the child, then he is taking a fractionated approach to teaching whereby only the cognitive talent will be developed, but good teaching will involve a multi-talent approach which involves teaching the fact (cognitive), making the learners have love, interest and affection for what is taught (affective) and finally enabling the learners to transfer what has been learned into practical terms (psychomotor). A multi-talent approach to teaching enables the learners to be actively involved, makes it students’-centered, investigative, discovering and actively oriented (Ekanem, 2006).

Moreover, for meaningful and effective teaching and learning of science subject which Physics is not an exception, good instructional strategies are required.

Those strategies that are actively-based yield better learning quality while those strategies in which the learner is passively led to rote learning which involves the memorization technique based on repetition (Peter, 2000). According to the author, the philosophy and objective of science teaching and learning demands the use of the activity-based method and students’-centered approach so as to develop in learners, skills, creative thinking ability, scientific attitude, self-reliance, and self-confidence. Under this situation the learners will learn best by analyzing, thinking, reflecting on what happened instead of memorizing and repeating fact. Equally, science curriculum in Nigeria recommends the guided inquiry and discovery teaching approach which is actively-based method and learner-centered with the teacher giving the guide or facilitating. This does not bar the use of other techniques at various stages. For instance, we may need a demonstration approach in the course of the lesson to demonstrate high-risk experiment to ensure high safety rate and also when the economy of time is considered. Even a lecture or expository method could be used briefly to explain concepts, during this time the teacher and students are equally actively involved in the process of instruction.

Moreover, since Physics is a science subject, it demands that it should be taught through activity method which involves students actively in manipulating materials in order to develop in them science processed skills, cognitive skills as well as effective skills. The learner is provided with the learning materials, guided questions on the topic under discussion. The learner then freely interacts with materials and facilitator. In this case, the knowledge gained by the learner is concretized and remain permanent with the learner. Therefore, the present research seeks to examine the activity method as it affects the academic performance of students in Physics.

1.2       Statement of the Problem

Over the years, the teaching and learning of Physics in schools have become more challenging as a result of inappropriate teaching methods adopted by some teachers with its resultants damaging effects on students’ academic performance. However, many educators and stakeholders in the education sector have viewed with serious concern the performance of students in Physics in both internal and external examinations. A number of factors have been enumerated by researchers to have accounted for the dwindling nature of students’ performance in the subject. Measures to remedy this unpleasant situation have long been proffered by scholars and researchers, yet the poor performance of students in the subject has become a recurring feature in both internal and external examinations.

They are West African Examination Council (WAEC), National Examination Council (NECO), National Business and Technical Examination Board (NABTEB) and General Certificate Examination (GCE).

It is on the expectation that the teaching method adopted by a teacher in teaching Physics could also exert an influence on the academic performance of students in the subject. It is as a result of the above reasons that the researcher is motivated to conduct a study on Activity method and academic performance of senior secondary school students in Physics in Ika Local Government Area.

1.3       Purpose of the Study

The main purpose of the study was to examine the influence of activity method on the academic performance of senior secondary school students in Physics in Ika Local Government Area. Specifically, the study sought to:

1.         Examine if there is a difference in the performance of students exposed to the activity method and those exposed to the lecture method in Physics.

2.         Assess if there is a difference in the academic performance of students taught using activity method in Physics with respect to gender.

3.         Find out if there is a difference in the academic performance of students taught using activity method with respect to location (urban and rural).

1.4       Significance of the Study

1.         The study will help teachers to know the teaching method that would help students participate actively during the lesson.

2.         It will reveal if male or female students performed better than their counterparts in Physics in senior secondary school when taught using activity method.

3.         The result of the study will not only help in improving students’ performance in Physics but will assist educational planners in the determination of appropriate teaching methods to recommend for the teaching of Physics in our secondary schools.

4.         It will be a useful guide to other researchers, especially students who maybe interested in undertaking further researches in this regard.

1.5       Research Hypotheses

The following hypotheses were formulated to guide the study:

1.         There is no significant difference in the academic performance of students exposed to activity method and those exposed to the lecture method.

2.         There is no significant difference in the academic performance of female and male students taught using activity method.

3.         There is no significant difference in the academic performance of students taught using activity method with respect to the location: (urban and rural).

1.6       Limitations of the Study 

In the course of conducting the research, the researcher encountered some challenges. These were in the area of finance, insufficient research materials for the review of empirical literature and the time frame for the completion of the work.

1.7       Delimitation of the Study

This study was delimited to activity method and academic performance of senior secondary two students (SS 2) in Physics in Ika Local Government Area.

1.8       Definition of Terms

The following terms used in the study were defined by the researcher as explained below:

Activity Method: This is the method of teaching in which the students are actively involved in manipulating materials in order to increase understanding under the guidance of a teacher.

Academic performance of students: This is the performance of students on taught lessons as determined by their tests and examination scores.

Lecture Method: This is an instructional strategy which the teacher’s purpose is to inform, persuade or entertain with little or no participation by the students. The students only listen and write down important points.