INFLUENCE OF COOPERATIVE, PROBLEM-SOLVING AND DEMONSTRATION TEACHING TECHNIQUES ON PERFORMANCE OF SECONDARY SCHOOL PUPILS IN COMMERCE IN KADUNA STATE, NIGERIA  

ABSTRACT

The study was carried out to assess the effectsof cooperative, problem-solving and demonstration teaching methodsonperformance of secondary school students in Commerce in Kaduna State, Nigeria. The study had seven objectives,seven research questions and seven hypotheses. Related literature were reviewed.Quasi-experimental design was used for the study. The population was 6651Senior Secondary school commerce students.A sample ofsixty (60) was used and it was gotten using purposive sampling technique.An instrument, taggedCommerce Achievement Test (CAT), wasused in collecting data for the study. A pilot study was conducted and the reliability coefficient was 0.79. Mean and standard deviation were used to answerall the research questions.Simple regression was used to test hypotheses one to three,while t-test was used to test hypotheses four to six.Hypothesis seven was tested usingANOVAall the hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the studyrevealed that there was significant difference between the Cooperative method of learning Commerce and lecture method which mean that cooperative method have effect on students‘ performance in commerce. It was revealed in the study that there was significant difference between the Problem-solving method of learning commerceand lecture method which means that problem solving method have effect on the performance of students taught commerce. In comparing the findings of groups one, two and group three it revealed in the study that there is significant different among the experimental group one, experimental group two and group  three in the teaching learning of Commerce in the secondary schools in Kaduna State. Based on the findings, it was concluded that students performed better in Cooperative than Problem solving and Demonstration method in the Teaching learning of Commerce in Secondary Schools. Again, the method was found out to be gender friendly as the result from the test of

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hypotheses showed no difference existed between the performance of male and female students in the learning ofcommerce at the secondary schools. Based on the findings and conclusion, five recommendations were made, among which includeteachers in senior secondary schools should incorporate cooperative, problem and demonstration methods in their teaching of commerce to improve students‘ performance. The teachers of commerce in the senior secondary schools of Kaduna Stateshould be encouragedto expose students to the learning of commerce through these methods.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER ONE

 

INTRODUCTION

1.2       Background to the Study

 

Kaduna State is one of the thirty six states in Nigeria. The state has twenty three local Government Areas, and the following twelve educational zones: Anchau, Birnin-Gwari, Giwa,

GodoGodo, Kachia, Kaduna, Kafanchan, Lere, Riga-Chikun, Sabon-Tasha, Zaria and Zonkwa. These educational zones have many secondary schools under their supervision with quite a number of teaching and non-teaching staff. The secondary schools offer a variety of subjects that give the students background to pursue higher education after their completion and success in the Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE). Commerce as one of the subjects in the senior secondary school (SSS) equips the students with the innovative knowledge and skills towards future endeavour.

Teaching Methods vary in the learning processes. However, with the improvement in and application of technology today, the teaching methods have improved the students‘ learning process in the secondary schools in Kaduna State. Teaching methods deal with the way or procedure in which information is presented to learners or the refinement process which the teacher uses in or employs to make instruction more effective when using a behavioural method. The teaching methods place emphasis on the role of the teachers and non-teachers alike, in supporting the learners‘ development and providing support structures to get to that next stage or level. Methods of teaching are applied in the classroom where the teacher uses the chalkboard and other teaching materials and skills such as textbooks, lesson plans, lesson notes, teaching

 

aids, time, voice management, self-management, class management, and class participation. Classroom communication is important to the teacher in adapting the chosen method to use in the teaching subject and means of assessment of the students‘ perception on the contents of materials used during the learning process in retaining learning.

In the last decade, there has been a downturn in the performance of students in secondary schools in Kaduna State, particularly in Commerce as a subject. The situation is leading to a drop in their performances in SSCE which includes West African Examination Council (WAEC) and National Examination Council (NECO). The poor performance of students could be attributed to poor teaching methods. Many teaching methods and approaches have been introduced but have not been able to improve on the achievement of male and female students in Commerce. Cooperative demonstration and problem-solving methods are apparent to be more effective teaching methods in teaching Commerce at the secondary schools in Kaduna State. However, the extent of effects of these teaching methods on the performance of the secondary school students in Commerce is yet to be determined. The focus of this study is to systematically track the effects of cooperative, demonstration and problem-solving methods on the performance of secondary school students in commerce in Kaduna State.

Cooperative method of teaching is an organisational structure in which a group of students pursue academic goals through collaborative efforts. Students work together in groups of few people, draw on each other‘s strengths, and assist each other in completing a task. Cooperative teaching is the instructional use of small teams so that learners work together to take advantage of their own and each other‘s learning. In cooperative teaching, students are placed in groups of two or six individuals to work on a definite assignment. Cooperative teaching tasks vary widely, ranging from explaining and understanding a new concept to solving a new problem, analysing a situation, or confronting a dilemma. In a typical task, students might share individual‘s knowledge with their group or have specific roles to play, and the group would be jointly responsible for arriving at an agreed-upon solution. Demonstration method involves the actual carrying out of a process in a manner that the students will be able to understand the principle. It involves telling of and showing how to do or perform an operation, a process or an experiment. As the teacher performs the operation, students observe and as such, can easily imitate the performance; people have always learnt by conscious imitation.

Problem-solving method is the method that prepares for future or near future challenges by facing real-life, or real-like problems in their learning environment, and finding appropriate solutions to them. Every society expects from its education system a preparation that enables the individuals to become effective. Problem-solving method places emphases on how to learn independently as a student. It is the most convenient approach to achieve the aims of teachinglearning process. The problem-solving method is a based learning that is applicable to almost all areas including Commerce. It enhances the process of choice, the most effective and beneficial tool and behaviour among different potentialities in reaching the goal.

Apart from these three methods, there are many other methods of teaching in secondary school. However, none has been quite predominant in the teaching approach that is therefore considered appropriate and effective in achieving the objective in the learning of Commerce.

Based on the poor performance of students in Commerce, there seems to exist teaching gap. Therefore, there is need to search for effective methods which would be suitable for increasing the level of performance in Commerce in secondary school students of Kaduna State of Nigeria, and this therefore constitutes the background information on which the study will be conducted.

 

 

1.3 Statement of the Problem

 

Over the years, concern in education has been on effective delivery of instructions at various disciplines in secondary schools across the globe. As in the case of most other subjects, performance in Commerce has been low and it can be linked to poor teaching methods. Many teaching methods and approaches have been introduced but could not improve on the achievement of male, and female students alike, in Commerce. Cooperative demonstration and problem-solving are projected to be effective teaching methods that will be applied in Commerce teaching at the secondary schools in Kaduna State. In the 2013 WAEC and NECO examinations, the statistics from the Kaduna State Ministry of Education revealed that, out of the six thousand seven hundred and ninety five (6,795) students who sat for Commerce in May/June WAEC examinations, only 5% scored ―A‖, 7% scored ―B‖, 8% scored ―C‖, 11% scored ―D‖, 18% scored ―E‖ and 51% scored ―F‖. And in June/July NECO examinations of the same year, 8% scored ―A‖, 6% scored ―B‖, 9% scored ―C‖, 14% scored ―D‖, 16% scored ―E‖ and 47% scored ―F‖.

Prominent among the factors which have been identified as contributing to the low level of performance in Commerce is poor methods of teaching adopted by the teachers (Osokoya, 2011). The frequent uses of same texts and methodology in the learner variables such as gender and home background, lack of organised methods for concept formation, teacher characteristics and memory skills in the teaching process can be the causes of discouragement in learning attitude. It has therefore become apparent that, the lecture teaching method that is currently predominant in secondary schools is inappropriate and very ineffective for achieving the goal of Commerce as a programme. Consequently, there is need to search for more effective methods which would be more suitable and efficient for promoting the students‘ performance in Commerce in the secondary schools beyond the present position and to actualize the current need on Commerce in the new curriculum requirements (Michael, 2012).

There is no single method that can be regarded as best for every teaching situation. Ada (2005) suggests that there are numbers of criteria available that may guide the teacher in the choice of any given method of teaching which include the contents to be taught, objectives to be achieved, time available, number of students, teachers‘ preferences and individual differences, the type of lesson, facilities available and, needs and interest of the class. Excellent teaching is the result of exposing students to certain experience through adequate guidance and providing appropriate learning activities so that they acquire the best form of learning. In spite of the efforts made by teachers and learners, we discover that often, learning still falls short of the desired expectations. This deplorable situation urgently requires Commercial teachers and curriculum planners to pay attention so as to curb the problem quickly before too much effort and time are wasted (Owolabi, 2008).

These methods (cooperative, demonstration and problem-solving) could be better alternative in the teaching of Commerce than other methods such as discussion, project and assignment. However, no evidence is available to the researcher about the effectiveness of any methodology in teaching Commerce as a subject in the secondary schools in Kaduna State.

Based on this, the researcher is therefore interested in finding their relative effectiveness as methods that could be adopted for teaching Commerce for better performance of secondary school students. In other words, the concern of the researcher is to establish the effectiveness of cooperative, demonstration and problem-solving methods on performance of Commerce as a subject in the secondary schools in Kaduna State of Nigeria.

 

1.4 Objectives of the Study

 

The major objective of this study is to determine the effects of cooperative, demonstration and problem-solving methods on the performance of secondary school students in Commerce in Kaduna State. The specific objectives are to:

1. determine the effect of Cooperative teaching method on the performance of Secondary

School Students in Commerce in Kaduna State, Nigeria.

2. determinethe effect of Problem-solving teaching method on the performance of Secondary

School Studentsin Commerce in Kaduna State, Nigeria.

3. determine the effect of Demonstrationteaching method on the performance of Secondary

School Students in Commerce in Kaduna State, Nigeria.

4. Establish the differencein performance between Male and Female secondary School

Students taught Commerce usingCooperativeteaching method in Kaduna State, Nigeria.

5. establish the differencein performance between Male and Female secondary School Students taught Commerce using Problem-solving teachingmethod in Kaduna State, Nigeria.
6. establish the differencein performance between Male and Female Secondary School Students taught Commerce using Demonstration teaching method in Kaduna State, Nigeria.
7. establish the comparative effects of Cooperative, Demonstration and Problem-solving teaching method on the performance of Secondary School StudentstaughtCommerce in

Kaduna State, Nigeria.

1.5 Research Questions

 

The following research questions are formulated to guide the study:

1. What is the effect of Cooperative Teachingmethod on the performance of Secondary

School Students in Commerce in Kaduna State, Nigeria?

2. What is the effect of Problem-solvingTeachingmethod on the performance of Secondary

School Students in Commerce in Kaduna State, Nigeria?

3. What is the effect of Demonstration Teachingmethod on the performance of Secondary

School Students inCommerce in Kaduna State, Nigeria?

4. What is the difference in the performance ofMale and FemaleSecondary School

StudentstaughtCommerce using Cooperative Teachingmethod in Kaduna State, Nigeria?

5. What is the difference in the performance ofMale and Femalesecondary School StudentstaughtCommerce using Problem-solvingTeaching method in Kaduna State, Nigeria?
6. What is the difference in the performance ofMale and Femalesecondary school students taughtCommerce using Demonstration Teachingmethod in Kaduna State, Nigeria?
7. What are the comparative effects of Cooperative, Demonstration and Problem-solving teaching methods on the performance of secondary studentstaught Commerce in Kaduna

State, Nigeria?

1.6 Research Hypotheses

 

The following research hypotheses were formulated in order to further probe the research questions of the study:

1. Cooperativeteaching method has no significant effect on the performance of secondary

School Students inCommerce in Kaduna State, Nigeria.

2. Problem-solvingteachingmethod has no significant effect on the performance of Secondary School students in Commerce in Kaduna State, Nigeria
3. Demonstration teachingmethod has no significant effect on the performance of secondary School Students in Commerce in Kaduna State, Nigeria
4. There is no significant difference between the performance ofMale and Femalesecondary school students taughtCommerce using Cooperative Teachingmethod in Kaduna State, Nigeria.
5. There is no significant difference between the performance ofMale and Femalesecondary school students taught Commerce using Problem-solvingTeaching method in Kaduna State, Nigeria.
6. There is no significantdifference between the performance ofMale and Femalesecondary school studentstaught Commerce using Demonstration Teachingmethod in Kaduna State, Nigeria
7. There is no significant difference between the effects of Cooperative, Demonstration, and Problem-solvingteachingmethods on the performance of secondary school studentstaught

Commerce in Kaduna State, Nigeria.

          2.6       Significance of the Study

 

The findings of the study wereexpected to be of benefit to Students,Teachers of Commerce, Schools Inspectorate Units of Federal and State Ministries of Education,communities and researchers..

Students will be able to acquire more knowledge in the learning of Commerce concepts.For the teachers of Commerce, this is by using the types of methodology that will play important role in the teaching-learning process because the teachers of commerce stand a better chance of reaping from the result of this study, as the study suggests methodology that will assist them in selecting the appropriate teaching method that can enhance students‘ performance. The findings of this study will contribute to the body of existing knowledge with regards to the lecture teaching and demonstration methods which enhances students‘ performance in Commerce in the secondary schools in Kaduna State of Nigeria.

This study will help the schools inspectorate units of the Federal and the State ministries of education in achieving the objectives set by the ministries for students of Commerce. This is because students‘ performance will be enhanced and the skills as stated in the National Policy of Education will be achieved. Equally, curriculum planners can benefit tremendously from the findings of this study because, it will serve as an eye-opener in helping them to suggest relevant teaching methods for teaching different topics in the curriculum contents. In addition, the government has a lot to benefits to derive from the findings of this study, through successful implementation of strategy policies in the secondary school system.

The communities will also gain from the findings of this study in order to encourage youths in the learning of Commerce as a vocational subject taught in the secondary schools which foster skills development in the community.Finally the study will serve as a referral document for further research on other subjects in the secondary school for better teaching and learning

          2.7       Assumptions of the Study

 

The basic assumptions of this study are that:

1. The Students are intelligent enough to study Commerce at the Secondary Schools level…
2. All other variables, such as Parental, andPeer influences, school environment were assumed to have the same influence on students‘ performance in Commerce Kaduna

State.

2.8 Delimitation of the Study

 

The study is delimited to public Secondary Schools that offer Commerce in Kaduna State of Nigeria. Only senior Secondary Schools in Giwa Educational zone was used and senior secondary yearone (SS1) was used and those schools that have candidates for Senior School

Certificate Examination (SSCE). It was delimited to the use of three teaching methods namely; Cooperative, Problem-solving and Demonstration in Teaching Commerce. This is because, they are the methods that the researcher chose for the study. Only students in SSS I  class was used in the study because they have experience in the learning of Commerce for one year and were not too busy like the SSS III students that are preparing for their final exams. The topic chosen for the study was Production. This is because, it was one of the topics in the curriculum for the SSS I in their scheme of work for second term. It was based on this that these methods of teaching commerce in the secondary schools were used

INFLUENCE OF COOPERATIVE, PROBLEM-SOLVING AND DEMONSTRATION TEACHING TECHNIQUES ON PERFORMANCE OF SECONDARY SCHOOL PUPILS IN COMMERCE IN KADUNA STATE, NIGERIA