ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to establish the relationship between teaching methods and students‟ performance in public secondary schools in Lagos State. The objectives of the study are: to find out the learning/teaching methods used in teaching in public secondary schools in Lagos State, to determine the level of students‟ academic performance in public secondary schools in Lagos State and to establish the relationship between teaching methods and students‟ academic performance in public secondary schools in Lagos State, Nigeria. The research adopted a descriptive survey design. The target population was 2334 population from 16public schools in Lagos State. Sampling was done through stratified, purposive and simple random sampling methods. The sample size was 96 respondents, including 4 head teachers, 4 directors of studies, 40 teachers and 48 students obtained using proportional stratification. Structured and semi structured questionnaires were used as data collection tools; interview and documentary analysis was also used. Data collected were analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. Data was analyzed according to the objective of the study. The use of SPSS (statistical package for social sciences) software version 20.0 helped to generate the frequencies, mean and percentages which were used to discuss the findings of the study. The results of the study indicated that students centered method was the most practiced by teachers (group discussion, debate, group work presentation, reading exercises) as shown by high mean of3.49 followed by teacher centered method as shown by low mean of 2.51.The results of the study also revealed that there is poor performance as evidence by inability of students to communicate in English language, difficulties in reading and understanding English language, and poor performance in mid-term, end of term and national examinations as shown by low mean of 2.18. Concerning the third objective of the study, the findings of the study indicated a positive relationship between participatory method and students‟ performance on the correlation coefficient of .586** and low a positive relationship between non participatory method and students‟ performance on the correlation coefficient of .493**. The study recommended that traditional methods should not be used in teaching and learning process. The study also suggested other areas for further research as the same study should be carried in other state before generalization is done and similar research also should be conducted in private schools to know the teaching conditions.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the study
Students are different based on their ability in learning motivation levels, and how they respond to instructional practices. Once a teacher comprehends the learning differences of his/her learners, it becomes easier for them to design more effective or appropriate teaching methodology to resolve the different learning needs of their students. There are two different categories that have had important implications in teaching – learning process, including: different learning styles, and different methods (in taking in and processing information), learning approach, and intellectual development levels. This study focuses on the different learning styles. Learning style is defined as the student's consistent behaviour of responding to teaching activities and using stimuli in the context of teaching (Cushman, 2006).
In his study, Keefe (2003) defines learning styles as the constitution of characteristics; intellectual, emotional, and physiological elements that serve as reasonably stable needles of how a learner perceives, interacts with, and responds to the learning environment. Therefore, this assertion is less concerned with what learners learn, but rather how they prefer to learn. Learning styles are points along a scale that help us discover the different forms of mental representations; however, they are not good characterizations of what people are or are not like. Prevalently, students learn new things by insight or listening to someone talking to them, it sometimes happens through reading about new conceptsin order to understand them, or perhaps see a demonstration.
Learning styles can be defined as a set of behaviours, and attitudes that improve learning in any situation. It is concerned with modalities of how students learn and how teachers teach, and how both parties relate. Each baby is born with dynamic traits geared towards particular trend or direction, and these inherent characteristics are influenced by extrinsic factors among others include; environment, culture, personal experiences, and developments (Cushman, 2006).
Each learner compounds dissimilar and dependable preferred customs of perception, organization and learning retention. These learning modes are the pointers of how learners perceive, relate, and respond to the learning environment. Students accommodate different self-styled methods of learning, and they learn differently from one another. Several studies have been conducted in regard to same concept, unfortunately there is no consensus on its definition; Nevertheless, all studies concur that individuals differ in how they learn (James & Gardner, 2000).
Proponents for the use of learning styles in education said: teachers should assess the learning styles of their students and adapt their classroom methods to best fit each student's learning needs. In spite of the fact that there is concrete published evidence that vindicates the differences in individual thinking and learning competencies of learners, very few empirical studies have reliably tested the validity and reliability of using different learning styles in teaching-learning process and that students would be able to learn best once taught in the methods that seem to be more appropriate for their learning needs (Pashler, 2008). The critics augment that there is no critical evidence that assures that student's learning style produces better outcomes (Klein, 2003). Taken together, reviewing the previous studies suggest that researchers need to take caution in evaluating performance based on a single outcome measure, as each learning style has its strength in specific tasks. Therefore, different subjects were used to measure student overall performance.
In the study, academic achievement was measured using the result of the secondary examination in grade twelve in five main subjects namely, English, mathematics, science, history and geography (De Vaus, 2008). Cognitive styles have been investigated in many countries, such as in the United States. As it was indicated, it is important for educational psychologists to know how learning styles influence pupils‟ academic achievement in different countries, and from there to design possible means of intervention for promoting effective learning and academic achievement. This study will provide a brief overview of the learning styles literature, outlining the major classification theories and the pedagogical strategies employed in Teaching and the outcome generated by use of different teaching styles.
1.2 Problem statement
Most Nigerian school teachers have not established how learners learn languages, Particularly English. With the current low achievement in English, it is evident that learners have not yet learned how to learn or discovered their preferred teaching methods for different learning material or content in this subject (James, 2005). Also, teachers have not understood the diversity of their learners in a typical classroom, and they keep on embracing the same traditional teaching methods in every context.
In consequence, students become bored and inattentive in class, perform poorly in tests, get discouraged about the subject, the curriculum, and themselves, and in some worse cases drop out of school. Teachers whose efforts are futile leading to poor grades, unresponsive or hostile learners, poor attendance and dropouts, are demoralized in their teaching job and subsequently disengage their professional commitment (James, 2005).Top-down policy formulation and implementation such as medium of instruction policy in Nigeria, with limited teacher participation exacerbates the teacher de-motivational levels which in most cases leads to psychologically disengagement of the teaching efforts and hence exercise silent resistance against the reforms (Obilan, 2021). Some recent research studies such as Andersson et.al, have underlined the incongruity between Nigerian learners‟ English language abilities and the cognitive academic requirements they meet in advanced phases of education (Andersson, Kagwesage and Rusanganwa 2012; Andersson and Rusanganwa 2011; Kagwesage 2012; NUR 2010; Parliament of Nigeria 2010). Reasonably, if language abilities do not match with the conceptual requirement, this would lead to frustration and a request to change the medium as Obilan (2015) revealed that teachers‟ usage of English as a medium of instruction is still low and greatly impacts their pupils‟ participation in the classroom as teacher‟s use of English in Gakenke schools. It is due to this backdrop therefore, it became imperative to investigate the teaching methods preferred by learners and how they relate to academic achievement so as to develop more appropriate methods to enhance academic performance. It was for this reason this study was conducted.
1.3 Objectives of the Study
1.3.1 General Objective
The general objective of this study was to investigate the effect of teaching methods on the performance of students in public secondary schools in Lagos State, Nigeria.
1.3.2 Specific Objectives
i. To investigate teaching methods used in teaching in public secondary schools of Lagos state,
ii) To examine the level of students‟ performance in public secondary schools of Lagos state,
iii) To establish the relationship between teaching methods and the students‟ performance in public secondary schools in Lagos state, Nigeria.
1.4 Research Questions
The study was guided by the following research questions
i. What are the types of learning/teaching methods applied in teaching in public secondary schools of Lagos state?
ii. What is the level of students‟ academic performance in Lagos state?
iii. Is there any relationship between teaching methods and students‟ academic performance in public secondary school in Lagos State?
1.5 Significance of the Study
The study will be beneficial to the school head teachers, students, parents and other educational stakeholders in Nigeria. The findings of this study may be helpful to the Government of Nigeria in solving the escalating problems of Teaching methods that are widely spread in Public secondary (public school) Schools. The findings of this study may help the head teachers to make their students respect of school rules and regulations, regular school attendance, team work activities and having good social relationships with others not only in Lagos State but also in other schools in the country at large. It will help the educational leaders to provide preventive measures against failure in Schools.
1.6 Limitations of the Study
During conducting this research the following limitations are guessed to happen, the respondent‟s subjectivity was considered as limitation within this study, because the subjective responses would not lead to the true findings of the study and also during the data correction by using the questionnaires some of them would not be turned as they have been distributed among the respondents. Apart from that the respondents can imagine themselves that the information needed from them would be used in another unrelated purpose which would have the negative impact for them.
Another limitation which would happen is that the school head teachers, teachers and even the students would refuse to spend their time to give the information for the researcher‟s interest. To overcome these limitations the researcher provided a research authorization letter from University of Lagos (UNILAG) which can be used as an assurance of the academic purpose of the study and assured them about the confidentiality of the information they provide.
1.7 Scope of the Study
1.7.1 Geographical Scope
The study was carried out in Lagos State, South Western Region. The State of Lagos is one of the 36 states in Nigeria.
1.7.2 Content Scope
Concerning the content scope, our study was only limited on teaching methods and students‟ academic performance. In addition, relevant literatures related to the variables of the study was limited to more recent materials and the study focused on qualitative and quantitative approaches.
1.7.3 Time Scope
In time scope, this research focused on the period from 2013 to 2021 because this period allowed the researcher to recent data related to his subject. In addition, the study was conducted from October, 2021to February 2022.
1.8 Organization of the Study
This study consists of five chapters: The first chapter presents the introduction of research including the background of the study, statement of the problem, objectives of the study, research questions, significance of the study, scope and area of study, and research questions.
The second chapter is a review of literature which gives an overview of other scholar‟s opinions about teaching methods and students‟ performance. The third chapter states all the methodological aspects and research tool which was used to collect and analyse the data.
Chapter four deals with research findings and discussions while chapter five focused on conclusions and recommendations.
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