Effects of Framing and Team Assisted Individualised Instructional Strategies on Students Academic Performance in Basic Science and Technology in Junior Secondary Schools

EFFECTS OF FRAMING AND TEAM ASSISTED INDIVIDUALISED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES ON STUDENTS ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN BASIC SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ABAK LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA

 

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1       Background to the Study

As part of on-going national reforms in the education sector in Nigeria, the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) developed a 9-year Basic Education Curriculum (BEC) which has been approved for use in Nigeria primary and junior secondary schools since 2008. The BEC is geared towards facilitating the attainment of the core elements of the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS), as well as the goals of Education for All (EFA) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) (Obioma, 2009).

One of the core subjects at the junior secondary school (JSS) level is Basic Science which is considered as an indispensable catalyst to the creation of peace culture. As a core subject Basic Science has a compulsory status in the National Policy on Education and it is considered important in our everyday life. It is therefore cogent that research attention should be focused on how to ensure students’ achievement and interest in the subject.

Before the advent of BEC studies on the integrated science taught in junior secondary schools revealed that students’ poor performance in the subject was generally due to ineffective teaching methods (Unachukwu, 2010). Olarewaju (2013) ascribed the decline in students’ academic achievement to factors such as:

• Lack of qualified teachers
• Lack of motivation on the part of the students and teachers (Unachukwu, 2010)
• Persistent use of traditional teaching methods that encourage rote memorization.
• Home and cultural background of the students.

In order to improve students’ academic achievement in science, many studies have equally been conducted using carefully planned instructional strategies (Awofala, 2010 and Nneji, 2011). The new millennium in Nigeria has continued to witness various reforms in the social, economic and educational sectors. In the educational sector, new policies have been formulated with the aim of meeting the challenges of primary and secondary education.

In actualizing these policies and the need to situate the primary and secondary education in the context of the home grown National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS), and achieving critical targets of the goals of Education for All (EFA) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) developed a 9-year Basic Education and new Senior Secondary (SS) Curricula based on different curricula structures.

At the basic education level, the curriculum is divided into three components namely, Lower basic education curriculum for primary one to three, Middle basic education curriculum for primary four to six and Upper basic education curriculum for junior secondary year one to three (Awofala, 2012). As such, the teaching methods should not be static but rather dynamic for effective teaching and learning of Basic Science and Technology in secondary schools.

Basic Science is the bedrock on which modern day technological breakthrough is hinged. Different authors according to their own understanding have defined Basic science. Igwe (2013) defined basic science as a systematic study of the nature of the behaviour of the material and physical universe through observation, experimentation, measurement and recording. In addition, Esu (2014) defined basic science as a systematic, precise, objective way to study the natural world.

Basic Science is often an exciting and satisfying enterprise that requires creativity, skill and insight based on this Fape (2013) defined basic science as rationally structured knowledge about nature, which embraces systematic methods of positive attitudes for its acquisition, teaching, learning and application. The major goal of basic science education is to develop scientifically literate individuals that are concerned with high competence for rational thoughts and actions.

Basic science and technology in education system in Nigeria, was as a result of the re-alignment and restructuring made in the curricula for primary science and junior secondary school integrated science. According to NERDC (2007), the overall objectives of the curriculum re-alignment and restructuring were to enable the learners to:

–           Develop interest in basic science and technology

–           Acquire basic knowledge and skills in basic science and technology

–           Apply their scientific and technological knowledge and skills to meet societal needs

–           Take advantage of the numerous career opportunities offered by basic science and technology.

–           Become prepared for further studies in science and technology.

To achieve these objectives, the use of adequate and related instructional strategies becomes absolutely necessary. The application of appropriate and related instructional strategies for the teaching of Basic Science and Technology enable a holistic presentation of Basic Science and Technology contents to learners. It is clear that the teaching of Basic Science and Technology involves a system of activities deliberately and methodically created to induce students’ learning of specific content and the way in which students receive and process this information will be crucial to learning and this has been found to be influenced by their styles of categorization (Awolola, 2011 & Al-salih, 2010).

Style of categorization is described as the way individuals think, perceive, process and remember information. Students whose style of categorization preference is similar to that of their teachers have the tendency to profit more from improved learning experience.

Meanwhile, Akale (2010) stated that the teacher and the teaching methods adopted are the most pronounced and important factor that generally influence students’ academic achievement in Basic Science and Technology. Studies have shown that experienced and qualified teachers can utilize their skills and wealth of experience to manipulate all other factors to improve students’ interest, participation and performance in the science subjects.

However, Ugwu in Njoku and Ezinwa (2014) reported that most Basic Science and Technology teachers do not utilize teaching methods which have been identified to be effective in enhancing students’ achievement, as a result of initial inadequate and further pedagogical training of Basic Science and Technology teachers in Nigeria. Most teachers therefore resort to the use of lecture method in Basic Science and Technology instructions. Lecture method has been reported to encourage rote learning of facts and concepts. It makes the subject uninteresting and difficult, resulting invariably in poor students’ academic achievement (Njoku and Ezinwa, 2014).

Moreover, in the teaching of Basic Science and Technology, teachers are expected to have a good level of competence and mastery of the subject matter, as well as teaching/instructional strategies. This will enhance effective teaching which will lead to students’ enhanced understanding of the subject in the secondary schools. Teachers need to utilize teaching strategies that will not only develop the interest and attitude of the students in the subject, but will also foster the adjustment of their basic cognitive and social problems, and motivate them to learn the subject.

The Basic Science and Technology teachers should de-emphasize the use of teacher-centered and traditional “chalk-talk” approaches of teaching. They should rather embrace more innovative, student-centered and activity-based approaches of teaching, which have been reported to be more effective in realizing the objectives of Basic Science and Technology education (Olatoye, Aderogba and Aanu, 2011). Furthermore, innovative, student-centered and activity-based instructional strategies could be approached in several ways; it could be approached in form of individualized instructions, where students engage in activities of learning on individual bases. It could also be approached in cooperative manner, where students engage in activities of learning in small groups.

To investigate the effects of framing and team assisted individualized instructional strategies on student’s academic performance in Basic Science, students to be sampled for the study will be tested on the concept of renewable and non- renewable energy. Renewable energy is defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency thus: “Renewable energy includes resources that rely on fuel sources that restore themselves over short periods of time and do not diminish”, e.g. solar, hydro and wind energy. On the other hand, Non-renewable energy is energy that cannot restore itself over a short period of time and does diminish, e.g. coal, gas and oil.

The present study was undertaken to investigate the differential effects of framing and team assisted individualized instructional strategies on students’ academic performance in Basic Science and Technology in junior secondary schools in Abak Local Government Area.

 

Effects of Framing and Team Assisted Individualised Instructional Strategies on Students Academic Performance in Basic Science and Technology in Junior Secondary Schools

1.2       Statement of the Problem

Despite the concerted efforts, students’ achievement and performance in Basic Science and Technology remain low, mind boggling and discouraging at virtually every level of education. Thus, the need to focus more research on instructional strategies that have been found necessary since it can improve students’ achievement in the cognitive domains. Two of such strategies are; Framing and Team Assisted Individualization.

  It is evident that the use of instructional strategies involves students learning specific content, and the way in which students receive and process this information will be crucial to learning and this has been found to be influenced by their styles of categorization. Among the modern instructional strategies that have been investigated in science education in Nigeria and elsewhere, Framing (Akinsola and Minsky, 2015) and Team Assisted Individualization (Alaiyemola, 2015) have been found to be more promising in advancing students’ achievement in school subjects.

Thus, in the present study, the researcher posit that if metacognitive and cooperative learning strategies such as framing and TAI respectively are used to teach Basic Science and Technology, students could be empowered to take charge of their own learning in a highly meaningful fashion; increase their store of Basic Science and Technology knowledge and enhance remembering and transfer of learned content to novel situatiogns. Such students are likely to display an enhanced level of performance and attitudes irrespective of their style of categorization and gender.

These assumptions constitute the basis for the study which aimed at finding out the effects of framing and team assisted individualised instructional strategies on students’ academic performance in Basic Science and Technology in junior secondary schools in Abak Local Government Area.

 

1.3       Purpose of the Study

The main purpose of the study is to investigate the effects of framing and team assisted individualized instructional strategies on students’ academic performance in Basic Science and Technology in junior secondary schools in Abak Local Government Area. Specifically, the study is conducted to:

1. Determine the difference between framing and team assisted individualized instructional strategies on students’ academic performance in Basic Science and Technology.
2. Examine the difference between academic performance of male and female students taught Basic Science and Technology using framing and team assisted individualized instructional strategies.
3. Examine the effect of framing and team assisted individualized instructional strategies on students’ retention ability in Basic Science and Technology.

 

1.4       Research Questions

The following research questions were formulated to guide the study:

1. What differences exist among the performances of students in the concept of renewable and non-renewable energy in Basic Science and Technology when taught using framing and team assisted individualized instructional strategies?
2. What is the mean difference between academic performance of male and female students taught renewable and non-renewable energy in Basic Science and Technology using framing and team assisted individualized instructional strategies?
3. What differences exist among male and female students in the retention of the concept of renewable and non-renewable energy in Basic Science and Technology taught using framing and team assisted individualized instructional strategies?

An investigation of Effects of Framing and Team Assisted Individualised Instructional Strategies on Students Academic Performance in Basic Science and Technology in Junior Secondary Schools

1.5       Hypotheses

The following null hypotheses are formulated to guide the study:

1. There is no significant difference between framing and team assisted individualized instructional strategies on students’ academic performance in Basic Science and Technology.
2. There is no significant difference between academic performance of male and female students taught Basic Science and Technology using framing and team assisted individualized instructional strategies.
3. There is no significant difference in the mean retention scores of male and female students taught Basic Science and Technology using framing and team assisted individualized instructional strategies.

 

1.6       Significance of the Study

The research findings of this nature will: 

1. guide teachers on the choice of appropriate methods and instructional strategies for teaching of Basic Science and technology and other related subjects.
2. help students who have lost hope in doing well in science subjects that all hope is not lost as they can still do well in the subject through improvement in teaching strategies used by their teachers.
3. benefit secondary school teachers by helping them to understand the appropriate instructional strategies and techniques of teaching which could be employed in carrying out their duties in classroom.
4. benefit and aid all the stakeholders in this study, as the learning of Basic Science and Technology will be very enjoyable and the students will perform better in both internal and external examinations. It will also serve as a reference manual for future researchers on related topics.
5. help Government and educational administrators when making policy statement concerning teachers training and provision of facilities for secondary schools.

1.7       Scope of the Study

The study was restricted to the effects of framing and team assisted individualized instructional strategies on students’ academic performance in Basic Science and Technology in junior secondary schools in Abak Local Government Area. The study will be conducted using Junior Secondary school one (JSS1) Basic Science and technology students in the study area. The concept to be taught to JSS1students and used for data collection in this study is renewable and non-renewable energy.

 

1.8       Definition of Terms

Instructional Strategy: This is a technique or method used by an individual teacher to teach his or her lesson to the learners.   

Framing Instructional Strategy: Is a strategy designed to assist students as they organize topics, main ideas and details about reading assignments. It can also be used to help students think and talk about the key topic and essential related information of a particular lesson.

Team Assisted Individualized Instructional Strategy: Is an instructional procedure whereby two or more students with complement and interests combine their talents to plan, activate and evaluate the instruction for effective learning.    

Gender: It is a state of being   male or female with reference to social or cultural differences rather than biological ones.

Academic Performance: This refers to formative evaluation of students’ ability in a particular subject or summative assessment of students’ activities in the entire school.