EFFECTS OF TEAM TEACHING METHODS ON EDUCATIONAL PERFORMANCE OF SOCIAL STUDIES STUDENTS IN COLLEGES OF EDUCATION IN KANO STATE,NIGERIA
ABSTRACT
The study examined the Effects of Team Teaching Approach on Academic Performance of Social Studies Students in Colleges of Education in Kano State, Nigeria. The study used quasiexperimental research design and 165 NCEIII students of Federal College of Education, Kano and Sa‘adatu Rimi College of Education, Kumbotso-Kano were used. The study used Social Studies Achievement Test (SOSAT) as data collection instrument. The study answered three (3) research questions and tested three (3) hypotheses. The data analysis tools were Arithmetic Mean and Standard Deviation used in answering the questions raised by the study and independent sample t-test which used in testing the three null hypotheses postulated by the study. The study revealed that significant differences existed between the mean academic performance of NCE III students taught Social Studies using team teaching approach (experimental) and those who were taught with single teacher approach (control); no significant difference was established between the mean scores of NCE III male and female Social Studies students taught using team teaching approach (Experimental group); also no significant difference was observed between the mean scores of NCE III Social Studies students from Federal and State owned colleges of education taught using team teaching approach (Experimental group). In the light of the above findings, the study recommended that Social studies teachers in the study area should be encouraged to adopt team teaching approach for their students for optimum academic performance as the approach has proven to be gender-friendly; the need to use of single teacher approach of teaching social studies should be minimized so that NCE students should benefit from the goodness of team teaching approach to instruction and that both Federal and States owned colleges of education should endeavor to promote team teaching approach as a matter of policy in social studies teaching and learning for maximum outcome.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Collaboration is increasingly identified as a key aspect in teachers‘ professional growth. Educational reformers have recommended placing more attention on the collegial relations of teachers for the purposes of professional growth. Effective professional growth must be collaborative, involving the sharing of knowledge among teacher communities of practice rather than concerning individual teachers (Roth, 2002). Studies indicate that regular opportunities for interaction with colleagues are essential in creating professional school cultures (Lieberman, 1988; Miller, 1988).A community of peers is important not only in terms of support, but also as a crucial source of generating ideas and criticism. It is assumed that teaching is one of the complicated processes taking place in schools and educational institutions. Its complexity becomes even more highlighted as high-stake decisions are made on the basis of teaching procedure simply because a plethora of factors are interacting and cooperating in this procedure. In the current and relatively traditional teaching model, one teacher is responsible for supervising all lessons over a specific time. The plan of the teaching process, its practice, and the expected evaluation are carried out by the same teacher. In other words, teaching is not critically reflected on by anyone except the lead teacher of the classroom.
The arrival of new strategies of teaching, issues of motivation, the satisfaction of students and academics‘ needs and other factors contributing to successful teaching activities all look forward to the creative genius of a single teacher. The seeming difficulty of addressing all these elements simultaneously by a single pedagogue appeals for a new alternative in the method of teaching.
One of the recently suggested methods for accelerating and making the education process interactive is the team teaching model. Research has shown that team teaching is an effective way of constructing deep learning of concepts while learning alternative ways to teach the same subject-matter. Developing co-generative dialoguing occurs to further develop existing understandings of the teaching situation (Tobin et al., 2001; Roth et al., 2002). Team teachers also create material and social resources that allow subsequently for new forms of agency (Roth et al., 2004, 2005).
Team teaching involves two or more teachers whose primary concern is the sharing of teaching experiences in the classroom, and co-generative dialoguing with each other. They take collective responsibility for maximizing learning to teach or becoming better at teaching while providing enhanced opportunities for their students to learn (Tobin et al., 2001; Roth et al., 2002; Roth & Tobin, 2002). Team teaching provides us with a zone of proximal development, the interaction between individuals and a new form of societal activity. The central purpose of co-generative dialoguing is to further develop the existing understanding of the teaching situation in order to increase professional growth. Roth et al. (2002) considered team teaching as an effective means of achieving deep learning of science concepts while learning alternative ways to teach the same subject-matter. Team teaching also provides opportunities for new teachers to obtain greater opportunities of learning to teach (Roth et al., 2004). The presence of co-teachers increases access to social and material resources—thereby increasing opportunities for actions that would not otherwise occur. In whole-class situations, the coordination and reciprocity of the teachers‘ actions are crucial where the potential arises for miscues and non-complementary actions to occur (Tobin et al., 2003). Because co-teachers teach together, interactions continuously occur; thus the actions of any of the participants in the new classroom structure in the field are resources that provide ample opportunities for others‘ action.
Co-teachers continuously create material and social resources that allow for new forms of subsequent agency. Such resources include physical, social spaces and meaning-making entities: co-teachers take advantage of these resources in synchronized and coordinated ways (Roth,
2005). Social constructivists emphasize that the notion of inter subjectivity is highly important.
Inter subjectivity allows the meeting of two minds, with each operating on the other‘s ideas, ‗using the back-and-forth of discussion to advance his or her own development‘ (Rogoff, 1990, p. 149). It also allows for joint thinking, problem-solving and decision-making processes from which the learner appropriates new knowledge (Newman et al., 1989). No one person construes the stream of events in the same way as others; as they interact with one another, they develop ideas that, because they are held in common, create a universe of discourse, a common frame of reference in which communication can take place (Solomon, 1987; Connolly & Smith, 2002). Knowledge is collaboratively constructed between individuals from where it can be appropriated by each individual (Vygotsky, 1978). Team teaching gives teachers the opportunities to act on their ideas and reflect in and upon their actions. Their understandings evolve through a meaning negotiation process, in which they discuss their own ideas and consider the ideas of others (Bayer, 1990).
Team Teaching (TT) is different from Single Teacher Teaching (STT) because it involves two or more teachers each with distinctive roles, sharing responsibilities for planning, presentation and evaluation of lessons for the same group of students. Main and Brye (2006) defined team teaching as two or more teachers who combine their talents, expertise, interests and resources to take joint responsibility for any or all aspects of teaching the same students. According to Brandenbury (1997) team teaching exposes students to a variety of teaching styles and approaches, which increases the potential for the team to meet the various learning styles of students. However, while team teaching may prove advantageous for many students, some may feel frustration and discontentment about having more than one teacher. But with proper collaboration and cohesiveness within a team, there are vital benefits for those willing to adopt team teaching approach especially in Social Studies classroom. Hence, Hughes and Murwaski (2001) remarked that collaboration, cooperation and interaction distinguish team teaching from single teacher teaching.
Beyond the advantages of creating, additional time for other academic activities and supportive environment it equally augments the opportunity for intellectual growth, increases students‘ teacher interaction (Wadkins, Wozniak and Miller, 2004), overcome isolation that is the norm in the conventional single teaching approach (Iheagwam, 2006). For the students, team teaching in Social Studies classroom can help them benefit through the opportunity to receive teaching from teachers for whom the aspect/content is their area of expertise and interest which gives them exposure to diverse perspectives on issues. The focus of this work therefore is to determine the effects of team teaching approach on academic performance of Social Studies students in Colleges of Education in Kano state, Nigeria as a contribution toward the development of knowledge and literary presentation in the study area and Nigeria at large.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
It is assumed that teaching is one of the complicated processes taking place in schools and educational institutions. Its complexity becomes even more highlighted as high-stake decisions are made on the basis of teaching procedure simply because a plethora of factors are interacting and cooperating in this procedure. In the current and relatively traditional teaching model, one teacher is responsible for supervising all lessons over a specific time. The plan of the teaching process, its practice, and the expected evaluation are carried out by the same teacher. In other words, teaching is not critically reflected on by anyone except the lead teacher of the classroom. The arrival of new strategies of teaching, issues of motivation, the satisfaction of students and academics‘ needs and other factors contributing to successful teaching activities all look forward to the creative genius of a single teacher. The seeming difficulty of addressing all these elements simultaneously by a single pedagogue appeals for a new alternative in the method of teaching. One of the recently suggested methods for accelerating and making the education process interactive is the team teaching model.
Research has shown that team teaching is an effective way of constructing deep learning of concepts while learning alternative ways to teach the same subject-matter. Developing cogenerative dialoguing occurs to further develop existing understandings of the teaching situation. Team teachers also create material and social resources that allow subsequently for new forms of agency. Researchers report that regular opportunities for interaction with colleagues are essential in creating professional College cultures. A community of peers is important not only in terms of support, but also as a crucial source of generating ideas and criticism. Joint work is a strong version of collegiality that shifts teaching from the individualistic to the collective, breaking down the barriers of privacy and leading towards new kinds of teaching.
However, it needs to be asked why collaboration has been largely ignored in Colleges of Education especially among Social Studies teachers? First, in many Colleges of Education, opportunities for collaboration among teachers are limited and communication tends to be informal and infrequent, even though teachers believe their teaching could be improved by working with colleagues. Second, the dominant Colleges of Education structure continues to emphasize teacher autonomy rather than collaboration; for many years, Colleges of Education have expected teachers to teach students independently without assistance from others. The practice of this pattern has hindered attempts to create collaborative environments where teachers regularly talk with each other, and observe one another. Third, collaboration is not necessarily easy in the form of team teaching: it takes time and energy for teachers to work together in the establishment of team teaching group, planning instruction, teaching and evaluating. The problem of this study hinges on the determination of the effects of Team Teaching Approach on Academic Performance of Social Studies students in Colleges of Education in Kano state, Nigeria.
1.3 Objectives of the Study
The main objective of the study is to determine the effects of team teaching approach on academic performance of Social Studies students in Colleges of Education in Kano state, Nigeria. The study has the following specific objectives which are to:
- Determine the academic performance of NCEIII students taught Social Studies using
Team Teaching Approach (TTA) and NCEIII students taught with Single Teacher
Approach (STA); ii. Find out the academic performance of NCIII students taught Social Studies using Team
Teaching Approach (TTA) in relation to gender; iii. Examine the academic performance of NCEIII students taught Social Studies using Team
Teaching Approach (TTA) in relation to College ownership status.
1.4 Research Questions
The study is guided by the following questions:
- What is the difference in the mean academic performance of NCEIII students taught
Social Studies using Team Teaching Approach (TTA) and NCEIII students taught with Single Teacher Approach (STA)?
- What is the difference in the mean academic performance of male and female NCIII students taught Social Studies using Team Teaching Approach (TTA)?
- What is the difference in the mean academic performance of NCEIII students of Federal
College of Education, Kano and Sa‘adatu Rimi College taught Social Studies using Team Teaching Approach (TTA)?
1.5 Null Hypotheses
The study will validate the following null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance:
- There is no significant difference in the mean academic performance of NCEIII students taught Social Studies using Team Teaching Approach (TTA) and NCEIII students taught with Single Teacher Approach (STA);
- There is no significant difference in the mean academic performance of male and female NCIII students taught Social Studies using Team Teaching Approach (TTA);
- There is no significant difference in the mean academic performance of NCEIII students of Federal College of Education, Kano and Sa‘adatu Rimi College taught Social Studies using Team Teaching Approach (TTA).
1.6 Significance of the Study
This study titled “Effects of team teaching approach on Academic Performance of Social Studies Students in Colleges of Education, in Kano State-Nigeria‖ will be of great relevance to various stakeholders in the business of teaching and learning and the education industry at large. The study therefore aimed at making teaching and learning more of a collaborative approach a transition from the past. This encourages originality, creativity and innovation which are sine-quanon to sustainable national growth and development. This is because no nation can rise above the quality of its education system. It is equally truth that no students/learners can rise above the quality of their teachers.
Further, the study will be of great significance to the education policy administrators in Colleges of Education. This is because their decisions affects all and sundry in the business of teaching and learning and education industry at large. The study’s literature revealed some of the hitches militating against adequate utilization of team teaching approach by the Social Studies teachers for effective transaction and communication. This will assists the policy makers to identify the problems with a view to finding sustainable solution to them.
The findings of this research will be useful to the students, as it makes them have a better understanding of the social studies. The opportunity of having two or more teachers teaching them will help in sustaining their interest in the subject and also deepen their understanding of the subject. The findings of the study will also be of benefit to the teachers. Apart from tapping the knowledge from the more experienced teachers, it can make the teaching of Social Studies more interesting and thus improve teachers‘ effectiveness. Moreover, the study reveals the effects of team teaching approach on students‘ academic performances, interest and motivation among NCE students in Colleges of Education in Kano state, Nigeria. This may encourage the school authority, and the teachers to strive towards its full utilization in order to maximize its benefits for effective transaction and communication between social studies teacher and the students for effective service delivery.
The findings can provide information with which educational administrators can organize seminars, conferences and workshops for teachers. Such in-service training programme will acquaint teachers with alternative instructional strategy for teaching Social Studies. The study will also hopefully be of immense benefit to text book publishers, teacher-training institutes such as colleges of education and as well faculties of education in Nigerian universities. The study will also serve as a contribution to knowledge and learning to all and sundry but most especially relevant to stakeholders in the teaching and learning and the education industry at large and social studies in specific. Further still, researchers in the field of team teaching approaches as a whole and social studies in particular will find it rich in contents and facts which serve as a reference source and a point to build upon for future researches.
1.7 Scope of the Study
The main objective of this study is to examine the effects of Team Teaching Approach on
Academic Performance of Social Studies students in Colleges of Education in Kano State,
Nigeria. This study is delimited to Colleges of Education offering Social Studies as a course at
NCE level in Kano state, Nigeria. These are: the Federal College of Education, Kano and Sa‘adatu Rimi College of Education, Kumbotso-Kano state, Nigeria. In addition, NCEIII students reading Social Studies in the two Colleges of Education are considered. Moreover,
NCEIII Social Studies students as at 2014/2015 academic session are used in the study. The study uses SOS322 (NIGERIA‘S EXTERNAL RELATIONS) as the course used throughout the
entire study.
EFFECTS OF TEAM TEACHING METHODS ON EDUCATIONAL PERFORMANCE OF SOCIAL STUDIES STUDENTS IN COLLEGES OF EDUCATION IN KANO STATE,NIGERIA