AN EXAMINATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TEACHING METHODS AND SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENT ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN NIGERIA
THE STUDY’S BACKGROUND The basic goal of every level of education is to effect fundamental change in the student (Tebabal & Kahssay, 2011). Teachers should use suitable teaching approaches that best fit particular goals and level exit outcomes to support the process of information transfer. In the past, many teaching practitioners used teacher-centered strategies to convey information to students rather than student-centered methods. Until now, issues concerning the efficacy of instructional approaches on student learning have constantly piqued the attention of educational researchers (Hightower et al., 2011).
Furthermore, research on teaching and learning is always looking at how various teaching approaches affect student learning progress. Surprisingly, the majority of students’ low academic performance is essentially connected to instructors’ use of inadequate teaching techniques to impart information to pupils (Adunola, 2011). Significant research on the efficacy of teaching approaches suggests that the successes of learners often reflect the quality of instruction. Ayeni (2011) defines teaching as a process that entails bringing about desired changes in learners in order to attain certain objectives. Adunola (2011) contends that in order for a teaching approach to be successful, instructors must be familiar with a variety of teaching tactics that take into account the amount of complexity of the topics to be addressed.
As an educator, the researcher has always been attracted by the link between teaching techniques and students’ academic achievement, particularly in the context of 21st-century education. There seems to be something about teaching that opens the door to learning. True, effective learning is dependent on a variety of elements that are not entirely linked to the instructor, but the techniques that a teacher employs continue to play a vital influence in student learning and academic progress.
The issues that educators encounter in the twenty-first century are so numerous that using improved teaching techniques is more important than ever. Gibbs and Jenkins (1992) argue that although the environment of class and society has changed, instructional techniques have stayed constant. Several recent studies have attempted to address issues that affect teaching methods and students’ learning today, such as educational technology integration (Abbitt, 2011), teachers’ roles (Webb, 2009), the classroom environment (Doll et al., 2010), understanding the adult learner (Kisamore, Aldridge, Alexander, & White, 2008), length of the class session (Coskun, 2011), increasing class size in schools (Gibbs & Jenkins, 1992), and students’ attitudes (Ak (Schul, 2011).
Teaching method studies are not new in educational research. Several studies have been conducted in this area. Pascarella and Trenzini (2005) compiled a list of research projects done in this field during the last three decades. Feldman and Newcomb (1973) highlighted decades of comparable research investigations in the field of teaching techniques prior to then.
These demonstrate greater interest in and understanding of teaching practices and learning theories. According to Svinicki (2000), the number of research on teaching techniques completed over the previous decades is so large that it would be difficult to go through them all in detail. For many decades, the objective of education has been to find better teaching techniques in order to deliver the greatest learning possible. However, there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all teaching style.
Flexibility is essential when it comes to modifying teaching approaches in the classroom. Because every teacher is unique, the tactics they use and the manner in which they employ them will be determined by the setting and scenario of their class, as well as their own personality and prejudices (McCornac & Phan Thuy, 2005).
Every teacher and student should be concerned about the impact of instructional approaches on student learning. Various research has been conducted in the realm of education in an effort to quantify instructional approaches. Robinson and colleagues (1990) performed a case study on numerous teaching approaches in schools to investigate the reasons for their utilization as well as perceived efficacy. Their findings revealed that different teaching styles do alter teaching efficacy.
According to Keene (2008), each student learns best when his experiences, talents, aptitudes, and interests are reflected in his tactics and goals. Similarly, there is no universal technique of instruction. Although academics often identify many teaching techniques, the different teaching approaches overlap in definition and implementation; none are mutually incompatible. One of the various instructional learning styles classified as exploratory or activity-based is the demonstration approach.
It is an approach that, via its variety of impact activities, has the potential to improve learning. It has the traits required for personalized training and hence has a significant potential for making the teaching-learning process difficult and gratifying. There is a fundamental break from the direct teaching paradigm, in which the instructor engages students in order for them to learn.
Students are encouraged to inquire. In summary, the student is considered as an inquirer, knowledge seeker, and problem solver. These characteristics are essential for problem-solving and are key to the demonstrative approach to education. As a result, there is rising concern over the use of demonstrative techniques in government education in Nigerian secondary schools.
Much study attention has recently been focused on the teaching of government in Nigerian Secondary Schools in order to determine the sufficiency and appropriateness of the instructors’ style of teaching, as well as the efficacy of education. Investigation of the employment of the display instructional approach in government teaching in Nigerian secondary schools seems to have focused mostly on teachers’ frequency of use of this technique and sparsely on the application of crucial factors determining its successful usage. In other ways, no study focus has yet been dedicated to the efficacy of teaching government by demonstration.
The use of the demonstrative instructional method as an innovative instructional practice can only be executed successfully if instructors have the necessary information, skills, and abilities linked to its use in the classroom. Competence is defined as the ability to regulate, actively struggle with, and conquer life challenges via the application of cognitive, social, and scientific abilities.
As a learned feature, the quantity held by people may therefore be assessed and developed via appropriate and consistent participation in activities. Teachers’ knowledge and comprehension of the difficulties surrounding demonstration teaching constitute skills for the demonstration method of governance. These include questioning skills and recognizing occurrences that lend themselves to the demonstration. Others are how to encourage pupils’ curiosity and independent thinking (Brown, 1999). They also contain the capacity to elicit inquiries from pupils (Kona, 2000). The current concern for Nigerian government teachers regarding the acquisition of these qualities stems from the fear that, because most of these teachers have been used to an expository teaching approach, and given the country’s current shortcomings in teacher education, their awareness, equipment, orientation, and willingness to embrace and effectively use the demonstration technique as a mode of teaching are bound to be suspect. This activity strategy is sometimes misinterpreted and so incorrectly implemented.
This research seeks to explain the notion of activity in relation to the demonstrative method of teaching and experimentally prove its impact on the accomplishment of SS 2 students in Secondary Schools. The discussion technique has been extensively acknowledged and suggested as a useful approach to teaching in secondary schools by several educators (Phipps & Osborne, 1988). The discussion technique is a teaching style in which contact is key and necessary (Binkley and Tulloch, 1981). Students engage in the learning process during discussion sessions by submitting issues, understanding the aspects involved with the problems, generating potential solutions to the problems, putting the solution(s) into action, and assessing the consequences of the solution.
Nowak, Watt, and Walther (2004) defined this perspective and presented evidence that the demonstrative technique is typically successful in teaching sciences, mathematics, mechanics, and vocational and technical education subjects. According to Gokhale (1996), a technologist’s professional performance is strongly tied to his/her capacity to adapt information obtained in the academic setting to real-world problems. Much of what students learn comes from watching others. A demonstration bridges the gap between “knowledge of” and “ability to accomplish.” According to research, demonstrations are most successful when they are accurate, learners can see and comprehend what is going on, and short explanations occur throughout the presentation (Saskatchewan, 1988).
Because effective teaching, among other aspects, plays an important role in improving performance, this research tried to determine which kind of instruction best facilitates learning in secondary schools by shining a light on the various techniques of secondary school teaching.
PROBLEM STATEMENT Given the importance of government in the Nigerian Senior Secondary School Curriculum and the nature of the topic, there is an undeniable necessity to teach it efficiently and in an effective manner. One of the issues impacting government teaching and learning is the meaningfulness of the topic, the sustainability of the techniques, and, most likely, the instructor who handles both the subject and the method. There are few published studies on the use of demonstration in teaching government, especially in the Ibiono Ibom Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom state, where this study is being conducted, as far as the researcher is aware.
Ineffective government instruction at Senior Secondary Schools has resulted in low examination performance. As a consequence, a more efficient and outcome-oriented approach was required. What a teacher does in the classroom is influenced by his attitude to learning circumstances. Students’ unfavorable attitudes about learning, on the other hand, may be connected to the style of education (Dyer, 1995).
Though instructors with high morale, motivation, and knowledge mastery are crucial, as are learner challenges and the ability to promote learning (Zadra, 2000), the right use of an effective teaching approach is vital to successful teaching and learning. Understanding how teaching approaches impact student learning may help educators choose strategies that promote teaching quality, effectiveness, and accountability to students and the public.
It may also assist them in staying current with information technology, and globalization, and avoiding the status quo (Foster, Pinkest, and Husman, 1991). What to teach, when to teach, and how to educate are all important considerations when planning for successful vocational education instruction. The instructor must not only teach the most relevant, interesting, and valuable things to individual pupils, but he must also identify and implement a solid and well-researched teaching approach that ensures higher comprehension while also stimulating and motivating the students.
Depending on the context, several techniques of education have been used to pique pupils’ attention. This low accomplishment has been linked to a variety of reasons ranging from the socioeconomic background, IQ, student attitude, and instructional methods used by instructors. According to Tawari (1986), instructional approaches that enable student-centered activities for developing reasoning and process abilities via a scientific approach are glaringly absent.
The instructor must motivate, promote, and sustain active engagement of pupils via the selection of suitable teaching techniques for successful teaching to take place. This would need a balance between what is taught and how it is taught. Thus, effective vocational education instruction is dependent not only on the instructors’ grasp of the subject matter but also on the teaching technique used. As a result, Ogbonna (2000) believes that one of the most significant aspects of teaching is the teacher’s teaching technique. THE STUDY’S OBJECTIVES
STUDY HYPOTHESIS The following null hypotheses are proposed for testing at the 0.05 level of significance:
THE STUDY’S IMPORTANCE The research is relevant in a number of ways: it will assist to raise instructors’ knowledge and comprehension of the usage of most instructional techniques.
The findings may also give instructors with feedback on their teaching competencies in the most regularly utilized teaching approaches as a foundation for improving their instructional practice and thereby improving performance. To facilitate proper curricular policies and programs for effective teaching and learning, curriculum planners and educators, as well as government and educational administrators, require empirical data on the overall teaching method and activity teaching competence of government teachers in Senior Secondary Schools.
LIMITATIONS AND SCOPE The objective of this study is to the influence of instructional activity strategies (discussion, demonstration, lecture, and questioning approach) on the performance of Senior Secondary School Students in government. Students in SS 2 are the primary target audience. These student groups are thought to have been exposed to the subject’s knowledge, attitude, and skills. The study addresses performance utilizing all of the regularly utilized instructional methods. STUDY LIMITATIONS
OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF Words It is critical in this research to define the terms that will arise throughout the work as they are utilized within the framework of the study for clarifying reasons.
