Learning Style and Academic Achievements of Junior Secondary Students in Home Economics

LEARNING STYLE AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS OF JUNIOR SECONDARY STUDENTS IN HOME ECONOMICS

 

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the study was to investigate learning style and academic achievements of junior secondary schools students in Home Economics in Uruan Local Government Area. Two research questions and two hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. The research design adopted for this study was quasi-experimental research design.  The population consisting of all the junior secondary school students in Uruan Local Government Area.

The simple random sampling technique was used in the study, maximum of 50 students were randomly selected from each of the four secondary schools that was selected which is made up of two hundred (200) students. The instrument for data collection includes Home Economics Achievement Test (HEAT) which consists of ten (10) questions. The resulting data were analyzed using independent t-test. It was concluded that the two hypotheses were rejected. Based on the findings, recommendations were suggested, which include: Home Economics teachers should used visual learning styles to teach because it is most appropriate for students. 

 

Learning Style and Academic Achievements of Junior Secondary Students in Home Economics

 

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1   Background to the Study

Research in recent years has focused on identifying the key factors that promote academic success among students whose demographic learning styles and school circumstances place them at high risk of failure. A learning style means an individual natural or habitual pattern of acquiring knowledge. Keefer (2014) defined learning style as the composite of characteristic, cognitive, affective and physiological factors of how a learner perceives, interacts with and responses to the learning environment.

Learning style are points along a scale that help us to discover the different forms of mental representation. Felicetti (2013) defined learning style as those educational conditions under  which a student is most likely to learning.

Marzano(2012) found that graphics and textile representations of the subject matter had noticeable effects    on learning outcomes regardless of any attempt to match them with learner’s learning style. Another study found that    visual representations through the use of pictures was advantageous for all students irrespective of a high or low learning style preferences for visual image. Dunn(2015) found that dramatic improvement in students achievement in cases where learning style have been taken into account show that the way things are taught had a greater impact than the content covered in a course of study. It is believed    that when teachers are able to analyze the differences and needs of their students, the educational process is likely to become optimized for both students and teachers.

According to Merrill (2013), he argues that most students are unaware of their learning styles and if left on their own, they are unlikely to start a new way of learning.  Thus, knowledge of one’s learning style can be used to increase self-awareness about their strength and weakness  as learners. All learners have individual attributes relating to     their learning processes. These might have cause frustration to a good number of learners as they witness that their learning preferences are not accounted for by many   teachers.

However, this research tends to agree that it is important when designing learning programs to match the  presentation with the nature of subject, such as providing correct learning methods, strategies and context  (Cofield, 2019).

 

1.2    Statement of the Problem

There have been identified poor scores in secondary school students’ examination in home economics. This   indication points to how level of academic achievement and skill acquisition among students. A number of factors have been reportedly said to be responsible for this low level achievement, one of these assumed factors is learning style.

The Researcher therefore sought to identify the types of learning styles that could be used to improved academic achievement of students in home economics and also confirm whether learner’s learning style have any relationship on students’ academic achievement.

Learning Style and Academic Achievements of Junior Secondary Students in Home Economics

1.3   Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this research aimed at investigating the influence of learning styles and academic achievement in home economics in Uruan Local Government Area.

Specifically, this study sought to determine:

1. The difference in the mean achievement scores of student studying with auditory learning styles on Home Economics.
2. The differences in the mean achievement scores of student studying visual learning style in Home Economics.

 

1.4  Significance of the study

The findings of this research are expected to benefit various individual, groups, and institutions.

1. The finding of this study will be of immense benefit to teachers, students, parents and the society as it will enable the teacher to adopt right instructional strategies and materials which will facilitate in effective teaching and learning.
2. This study will help the educational administrators adopt appropriate administrative strategies in enhancing instructional delivery.
3. The study will be of great significance to future researchers who may wish to carry out more studies on the topic related to learning styles of students.

Learning Style and Academic Achievements of Junior Secondary Students in Home Economics

1.5  Research Questions

1. To what extent is the academic achievement of students using auditory learning style and those without?
2. To what extent is the academic achievement of students using visual learning style and those without?

1.6   Research Hypotheses

1. There is no significance difference between student using auditory learning style and those without auditory learning style.
2. There is no significance difference between student using visual learning style and those without visual learning style.

 

1.7   Limitation of the Study

       This study was limited due to financial constraint and     time factor.

1.8   Delimitation of the Study

The study focuses on examining students learning styles and their academic achievement in home economics in four (4) junior secondary schools in Uruan Local Government Area.

 

1.9   Definition of Terms

The following terms were used during the cause of the study:

Auditory Learning Style: This is refers to a learning style in which the learner learn through hearing the information passed which might be through the use of human voice, recorded tapes, and audio compact disc.

Visual Learning Style: This is a learning style in which ideas, concepts, data, and other information are associated with images, charts and graphics.

Learning style: This is refers to an individual’s natural or habitual pattern of learning or acquiring knowledge.