EFFECT OF SURVEY TEACHING PROCESSES ON NCE SOCIAL STUDIES STUDENTS’ ATTITUDE AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN KATSINA STATE, NIGERIA
ABSTRACT
This study title ―Effect of Inquiry Teaching Method on Social Studies Students‘ Attitude and Academic Performance in Katsina State, Nigeria‖. The study used quasi experimental design. The researcher used eight (8) objectives, research questions and research hypotheses. The study population consisted of all social students‘ of colleges of education in Katsina State and they include Federal Colleges of Education Katsina and Yusuf Bala Usman Colleges of legal and general studies Daura. The total population was 942, while the sample size was 216. The test instrument developed by the researcher for the study was the student‘s performance Assessment
Instrument (SPAI) and social studies student Attitude Questionnaire (SSSAQ) which contained 50 questions. The validated instrument was pilot tested to find out the reliability index of the instrument which was obtained using test retest and 0.81 was found. The statistic used were t-test independent sample cumulative mean and the finding of the study standard deviation. The findings of the study revealed that NCE students performed better when taught with inquiry teaching method compared to their counter parts taught with lecture method. This showed that students taught Social Studies using inquiry method performed better than those taught using conventional teaching method. Based on the results obtained the researcher recommended that: the instructors of social studies should endeavor to use inquiry method in teaching social studies in college of education, government bodies responsible for curriculum planning in social studies should focuses on realistic student learning outcomes rather than disciplinary traditions and faculty performance.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
The field of education like many other fields continuously works with ever changing ideas and methods. Education, however, seems unique in the way new ideas, theories and strategies are tried, used and in some cases, abandoned. It is not unusual to hear the questions; what is the current fad in education? The assumption is that current educational practices and/or method will give way to new ones. For instance, one can remember the focus on the
―open classroom‖ in the 1970s or the recent debates over the use of ―phonics‖ versus ―whole language‖ strategies for learning to reach (Reynolds, 2000).
Similar types of debates have also occurred in higher education. A prominent debate now in higher education is the examination of learning versus teaching as this concern more in relation to the learning process. The concern over learning versus teaching is not a new debate.
One can see roots of this debate in the progressive education movement of the early 1900s (Pulliam and Van 2001) and the work of Rogers (1990) in the mid and late 1960s. The thread of this learning versus teaching debate can also be seen in the writing of influential educators and learning theorists. Cross, writing about the learning process makes the point ―that we cannot transfer our knowledge ready – made into students‘ minds (Cross, 2000). Gardner (2000) captures the concern for differences in learners when he writes ―human minds do not work all in the same way, and human beings do not have the same cognitive strengths and weakness‖. This debate is further described by Barr (2000) as a need to shift from an instruction focus on teaching/model to one where learning was major concern.
Bagg (2002) support this shift by suggesting that ―we need a new paradigm, one which defines the school as learning rather than teaching institutions‖. Barr (2000) see the teaching model as one where the purpose is to provide and deliver instruction through courses and programmes. A typical example could be where the teaching is instructed around classes (2C lecture and 3 unit courses), covering course content and the use of an end – of – course assessment. In this type of model, little concern may be given to learning outcomes or how that learning is produced. The teaching model is further described by Wagner and Mc-Combs (2003:32) when they wrote:
Teachers design for the learner what is required from outside by defining characteristics by instruction, curriculum, assessment and management to achieve desired, learning outcomes”. Teaching models seem to place much of its energy on the process or ways of teaching and less concern on what is learned or how it is learned.
In contrast, the learning model paradigm is to provide learning and to create effective learning environments. Barr and Tagg (2000) describe the learning model as one that frames learning holistically, recognizing that the chief agent in the process is the learner. Thus, students must be active discoverers and constructors of their own knowledge. Carr, further support the need for learner to take control over their learning. Barr and Tagg (2000) believed that learners must be trusted to develop their own potential and encouraged to choose both the way and direction of their learning. Inquiry Method suggests that learners should have meaningful control over what and measure how things are learned, plus how the learning outcome is measured.
Getting detailed information on Inquiry Method connections with students‘ achievement remains indispensable to educators; schools need this knowledge to support staff development, instructional management, and staff selection. Educators embrace Inquiry Method because it encourages collaborative learning and students achievements (Dotson,
2009). Instructional management, supervision, and training influence academic achievement. Success with pedagogy depends on teacher competence student participation. Inquiry Method promotes students participation, resulting in increased achievement (Gonzalez and Nelson, 2005). A combination of instructional technology, classroom management and teaching techniques induces participation. Challenges to students‘ achievement include inadequate teachers, training, students, diversity and eagerness to learn (Cartledge and Kourea, 2008; Mawhinney, 2007; White – Charke, 2005).
Inquiry Method raises students‘ achievement, promotes democratic classrooms, complex thinking; joint production, and meets student communication goals. (Cummins, 2007). This pedagogy supports the social and intellectual attributes of students with low socioeconomic status. Taylor (2005) indicated that student from higher economic backgrounds performed better on standardized tests than students from low socioeconomic status background. According to Andrew (2007) educators agree that engagement promotes student achievement. Downer, Rimm – Kaufman, and Pianta (2007) suggested that children enjoy small group problem – solving assignments. Students used requisite cognitive stimulations, social, and motor skills to meet small group goals.
Inquiry Method moves the focus from the teacher and instruction to the students and learning. Learner Center Pedagogy is based on proposed set of principles derived from over a century of previous research on teaching and learning. These principles take into account a variety of psychological factors that are primarily internal to the learner while also recognizing that the environment and other contextual factors will interact as well. Thus, the focus is on attributes of complex learning environment that are most likely to affect learning. Currently, principles articulate factors that influence all learners both in and out of the classroom and provide an integrated perspective of learning with a holistic view of the learner. The principles address individual learning, motivation, and developmental needs and are organized in four dimensions: cognitive and meets cognitive factors; motivational and affective factors; developmental and social and individual differences. Inquiry Method Teaching Strategy provides a theoretical foundation for Inquiry Method drawing on a research from a variety of theoretical perspectives. Practice base on these principles have no prescribed format, although instructionally, the principles are typically in contrast to teacher – centered practices. Instruction based upon Inquiry Method principles provide opportunities for learners to draw on their own experiences and interpretation of the learning process.
Inquiry Method regard learning as a life – long process rather than a process that take place only through young adulthood. Foundations of Inquiry Method include that learning is a naturally constructive process where learning is most productive when it is relevant and meaningful to the learner, in positive learning environments. It is a holistic in positive view of the learner in a complex living system that extends well – beyond the classroom walls in both time and space. Inquiry Method Teaching acknowledges that learners have different perspectives and that for learners to be engaged in and take responsibility for their learning these perspectives need to be tended to further; appropriately supportive learning opportunities that are challenging for individuals need to be provided.
When implementing Inquiry method, teachers need to understand the learner‘s world and support capacities already existing in the learner to accomplish desired learning outcomes.
Learning goals are achieved by active collaborations between the teacher and learners who together determine what learning means and how it can be enhanced within each individual learner by drawing unique talents, capacities and experiences. Although, Downer, Rimm – Kaufman, and Pianta (2007) use the term Inquiry method, he identifies observable measures that seems aligned with expectations for Inquiry Method instruction as well: more or equal students talk and questions than teacher talk, more individual and medium group instruction, varied instructional materials, evidence of students choice and organization of contents and classroom rules and a physical arrangement of the classroom that allows for working together. Students who perceive their teachers to use learner centered strategy exhibit great achievement and motivation. This concern with the learner acquiring meaningful control of the learning process and is called ―Student Centered‖ but more appropriately should be called Inquiry Method as it is against this back – drop that the researcher intends to find out the effect of inquiry method Teaching method on NCE social studies students‘ attitudes and academic performance in Katsina State, Nigeria.‖
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Many students lose interest in studying social studies as a course since they are not motivated to carry out research to find out answers to the problem by themselves. Always social studies teachers emphasized on teachers centered method than Inquiry method because of these problems. The researcher tries to carry out research on effects of inquiry teaching method. The study investigates Effect of Inquiry Teaching Method on NCE Social Studies Students Attitude and Academic Performance in Katsina State, Nigeria. In addition to the above problem, the objectives on social studies education has not been fully achieved in Nigeria, this is mainly because the old method of teaching is still in use by the teachers. That is, education in general is still teachers‘ centered. In other words, teachers do all the talking in the class while students sit and listen. An effective educational objective must cover the cognitive, affective, psychomotor domain. Today, teachers and learners emphasized mostly on cognitive domain neglecting psychomotor domain which are set for teaching and developing critical thinking. This is the reason why our educational qualifications are based on paper alone leaving out behavior and the physical skills and the abilities.
Thus, the problem of this study hinges on the determination to investigate into the impact of inquiry teaching methods on NCE Social studies Students on Attitude and Academic
Performance in Katsina State
1.3 Objectives of the Study
The research has the following objectives to:
- To find out the effect of using inquiry instructional method on students‘ academic performance in Social Studies in Katsina State.
- To assess the effect of using inquiry instructional method students‘ academic performance in Social Studies on the basis on gender in Katsina State.
- To determine the effect of using inquiry instructional method on students‘ academic performance in Social Studies by class level in Colleges of Education, Katsina State. iv. To investigate the effect of using inquiry instructional strategy on Federal and State Colleges of Education students‘ academic performance in Social Studies in Katsina State.
- To find out the effect of using instructional strategy on students‘ attitude to Social
Studies in Colleges of Education, Katsina State.
- To assess the effect of using inquiry instructional strategy on male and female students‘ attitude to Social Studies in Colleges of Education, Katsina State.
- To determine the effect of using inquiry instructional strategy on NCE II and NCE III students‘ attitude to Social Studies in Colleges of Education, Katsina State.
- To Investigate the effect of using inquiry instructional strategy on Federal and State Colleges of Education students‘ attitude to Social Studies in Colleges of Education,
Katsina State.
1.4 Research Questions
The following research questions are raised for the study:
- What will be the difference in the mean academic performance scores of students taught Social Studies using inquiry method and those taught using conventional method in Colleges of Education, Katsina State?
- What will be the difference in the mean academic performance scores of male and female students taught Social Studies using inquiry method in colleges of education, in Katsina state?
- What will be the difference in the mean academic performance scores of NCE II and NCE III students taught Social Studies using inquiry method in colleges of education, in Katsina state?
- What will be the difference in the mean academic performance scores of Federal and State Colleges of Education students taught Social Studies using inquiry method in
Katsina state?
- What will be the difference in the mean opinion scores of students taught Social Studies using inquiry method and those taught using conventional method in Colleges of Education, Katsina State?
- What will be the difference in the mean opinion scores of male and female students taught Social Studies using inquiry method in colleges of education, in Katsina state? vii. What will be the difference in the mean opinion scores of NCE II and NCE III students taught Social Studies using inquiry method of teaching in colleges of education, in Katsina state?
viii. What will be the difference in the mean opinion scores of Federal and State Colleges of Education students taught Social Studies using inquiry method of teaching in colleges of education, in Katsina state?
1.5 Null Hypotheses
Ho1: There is no significant difference in the mean academic performance scores of NCE students taught Social Studies using inquiry method and those taught using conventional method in Katsina State.
Ho2: There is no significant difference in the mean academic performance scores of male and female NCE students taught Social Studies using inquiry method in Katsina State. Ho3: There is no significant difference in the mean academic performance scores of NCE II and NCE III students taught Social Studies using inquiry method of teaching in Katsina
state.
Ho4: There is no significant difference in the mean academic performance scores of NCE students in FCE Katsina & YBUC LGs taught Social Studies using inquiry method of teaching in Katsina state.
Ho5: There is no significant difference in the mean opinion scores of NCE students taught
Social Studies using inquiry method and those taught using conventional method in Katsina State.
Ho6: There is no significant difference in the mean opinion scores of male and female NCE students taught Social Studies using inquiry method in Katsina state.
Ho7: There is no significant difference in the mean opinion scores of NCE II and NCE III students taught Social Studies using inquiry method in Katsina state.
Ho8: There is no significant difference in the mean opinion scores of FCE Katsina &
YBUC LGs students taught Social Studies using inquiry method in Katsina state.
1.6 Significance of the Study
The study will be benefits to Katsina State Ministry of Education (MOE). It will help them understand the suit abilities and applicability of inquiry teaching method in teaching social studies in colleges of education (C.O.E)
Curriculum Planners such as National Educational Research Development Council (NERDC) State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) National Teachers Institute (NTI) Colleges of NCE. It will also beneficent to teachers since the teachers in the classroom as they main forces or engine room of curriculum implementation.
They ensure in the implementation of curriculum according to specification. They decide on kind of methods, strategy, resources and evaluation techniques that are best suitable in a particular lesson. The parent teachers association (PTA) has variety of functions to perform in the schools for achievement of educational objectives. As a body, the PTA Influenced curriculum implementation in many ways for instance it serve as an advisory body to the school recruitment of additional teachers in a very needy subjects areas, purchase books and other instructional materials providing refunds for the execution of projects and many others. Therefore, the research is beneficial to P.T.A.
The research also is for the benefits of the learners because as the teachers feedback to the teachers on the effectiveness of his method on either to continue to review for or completely change his strategy of teaching.
1.7 Scope of the Study
Effect of Inquiry Teaching Method on NCE social studies students‘ attitude and academic performance in Katsina State, Nigeria is the topic of this thesis work. The study is delimited to NCE II and III students of social studies in Federal College of Education located at Katsina in Batagarawa town, Batagarawa Local Government Area of Katsina state while Yusufu Bala Usman College of Legal and General Studies located at Daura. The reasons for choosing these schools as a sample is because the schools were the only tertiary institutions offering social as a course been undertaken.
EFFECT OF SURVEY TEACHING PROCESSES ON NCE SOCIAL STUDIES STUDENTS’ ATTITUDE AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN KATSINA STATE, NIGERIA