METHOD OF INSTRUCTION: A PROBLEM OF LEARNING CHEMISTRY IN SECONDARY SCHOOL

1.0 Introduction

1.1 Background of the Study

Chemistry is an experimental science and cannot be separated from laboratory work. For students to have meaningful learning coupled with in-depth understanding of chemistry, they need to be able to conduct experiments and be familiar with a range of laboratory skills. It is therefore necessary to give them supplementary experience in laboratory work. But not knowing the concept behind the experiment, results many students struggling to collect data and analyze the experimental results. They are busy creating and developing their own understanding of the principles associated with that data. This sort of problem happens at the secondary school level where students struggle with the preparation of numerous types of laboratory reports as their necessary responsibilities (Barbara, Gary, and Lyubov, 2003). To Retno Dwi Suyanti,(2010), chemistry is a part of science that is seeking the answers to the questions of what, why and how natural phenomena relates to the composition, structure and properties of a substances. There are two issues related to chemistry, i.e. as the products (chemistry knowledge in the form of facts, concepts, principles, laws, and theories) and and also as the processes (scientific work).

Education can be described as a conscious effort by the instructor (teacher) to bring about a positive change in the life of the learner(s). It is also defined as the sum total of all experiences which occur in humans’ life from birth to death. It is a process by which any society through schools, colleges and other institutions deliberately transmits knowledge, values and skill from one person to another. To Anasi, (2012) education is described as a key component of personal and national development. It is a process of becoming the best people can be in life, in that it provides mankind with knowledge and information which could bring about desirable changes in the way people think, feel and act. To Battle and Lewis, (2002) in this period of globalization and technology revolution, education is considered very important for every human is linked with an individuals’ well-being and opportunities for better living. It ensures the acquisition of knowledge and skills that enable individuals to increase their product in productivity which also lead to new source of learning which enhances the economic growth of a country (Saxton, 2000). Education has been recognized as an instrument “par excellence” as by the Federal Government of Nigeria (NPE 2012). It is the most important instrument of change that leads to societal transformation and self-actualization.

To achieve this great aim of societal transformation through education, the Nigerian education has been segmented into various stages including pre-primary, primary, secondary, tertiary and vocational education in other to provide a learning module for a target age and a class of learners. School provides knowledge about all aspect of life in a society to enable learners to understand the history, current trends and also be able to project future occurrences (Federal Republic of Nigeria 2004). Specifically, secondary education serves as a bridge between the primary and tertiary education and its broad goals includes the preparation of the child for useful living within the society (FRN, 2004), a just and egalitarian society, a great and dynamic economy.

A close look at the educational sector in Nigeria has revealed diverse problems and challenges in this 21st century that threaten the possibility of attaining the lofty goals clearly spelt out in the National policy on Education. The bulk of the problems and challenges have been found to center on the performance of learners. According to Simon and Collins (2003), there is a declining student’s interest in science courses and career is a worldwide concern that has prompted science education reform effort on an international scale. As science has become ever more deeply embedded in our everyday life, how ordinary people perceive science has attracted growing attention not only from the scientific community, but also from social scientists (Simon and Collins, 2003). A significant amount of research in science education is devoted to understanding words we improve the quality of science education and increase enrolment in science courses. One of the key factor in learning science teachers and student’s attitude towards science subject (Opara, 2011). One of such science areas that has received scientific attention is Chemistry.

The formal investigation about influence of these factors on students’ academic performance is dated back to the 17th century (Mann, 2005). Generally, these factors include gender, ethnicity, socio-economic status of parents, age of the learners, methods of teaching studying habit, student teacher relationship, availability and utilization of instructional material and school climate. Unfortunately, defining and measuring the quality of education is not a simple issue and the complexity of these process increases due to the changing values of quality attributes associated with different scholars and researchers view (Blevins, 2009 and Parri, 2006).

Teaching involves the impacting of knowledge, skills and attitudes to an individual. It is an investment in human capital and a key determinant of economic growth. World Bank, (2007) observed that Secondary education will be one of the key factors for increasing economic growth and social development, as education is a tool for economic growth. Ibrahim (2005), noted that despite efforts made at national level by the Kenya Government to encourage students to study science, the students’ performance is still poor, especially in Chemistry. According to Kenya National Examination Council (2009), KCSE Report, practical examinations are the major contributing factor to poor academic performance in sciences since students are not exposed to facilities as required.

Science teaching is a process of impacting knowledge, skill and attitude to learners. Science is a human activity where people are actively searching, seeking and verifying new knowledge. It is tentative, empirical and subjective.

Instructional Delivery refers to the interaction among the student, the teacher, the content, and the knowledge/skills/dispositions students will need for learning and collaborating with others in a diverse society and rapidly changing the world. The process of instructional delivery involves applying a set of skills to support student’s engagement.

It has been proven that teachers have an important influence on students’ academic performance. They play a crucial role in this educational attainment because the teacher is ultimately responsible for translating policy into action and principle based on practice during interaction with the students (Kara 2013) concluded that the most important factor that influences students learning is the teacher. Teachers are standing as the interface of transmission of knowledge, values, and skills in the learning process to the students. If the teacher is ineffective, students under the teachers care will achieve inadequate progress academically. Hence, teaching methods adopted by teachers affect students’ performance.

Teachers have their personal methods of teaching which they carry out from one learning situation to another and they also moderate their methods to suit the content, for example teaching method in the laboratory will be different from that in the classroom. Instructional delivery technique is affected by the teacher’s beliefs about what is good teaching, their personal preferences, personality and abilities, and the content to be impacted as evidence in the example given above. Instructors develop a teaching method based on their beliefs about what constitutes good teaching, personal preferences, their abilities, and the norms of their particular discipline.

According to Wikieducator (2009), the various teaching techniques can be classified as lecture method where the teacher is responsible for providing the learning experience to students and students are recipients of the experience. Demonstration or personal model; wherein the teacher demonstrates or models behaviour but student participation is then necessary for learning, discussion method which is a guide by the side model, with the responsibility of learning predominantly with the learners; and Discovery method where the teacher delegates and is entirely responsible for learning, from motivating themselves to self-evaluation during learning. In each of these methods, students respond differently thereby leading to variation in their level of comprehension and performances. It is against this background that this study examines the Method of Instruction Problem of Learning Chemistry in Secondary School of Bodinga Local Government of Sokoto State, Nigeria.

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1.2 Statement of the Problem

The problem of selecting effective instructional delivery techniques (teaching method) for the teaching and learning of chemistry in Nigerian secondary schools has become a sensitive issue that needs urgent attention. It has been observed that the issue is affecting the performance of students both in internal and external examinations adversely. It has also been discovered that the poor academic performance of students is related to the conventional teaching methods used to teach by the chemistry teachers. This study therefore aims at investigating the Method of Instruction Problem of Learning Chemistry in Secondary School of Bodinga Local Government of Sokoto State, Nigeria.

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1.3 Aim and Objectives of Study

The aim of the study is to determine Method of Instruction Problem of Learning Chemistry in Secondary School of Bodinga Local Government of Sokoto State, Nigeria. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:

1. To examine the influence of discussion method on the academic performance of chemistry students.
2. To determine the influence of demonstration method on the academic performance of chemistry students.
3. To examine the factors Responsible for student’s academic performance in Secondary School of Bodinga Local Government of Sokoto State
4. To examine the challenges for student’s academic performance in Secondary School of Bodinga Local Government of Sokoto State

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1.4 Research Questions

The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:

• What is the influence of discussion method on the academic performance of chemistry students?
• What is the influence of demonstration method on the academic performance of chemistry students?
• What are the factors Responsible for student’s academic performance in Secondary School of Bodinga Local Government of Sokoto State, Nigeria?
• What are the challenges for student’s academic performance in Secondary School of Bodinga Local Government of Sokoto State, Nigeria?

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1.5 Research Hypothesis

In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.

Hypothesis One

• H0: There is no significant influence of discussion method on the academic performance of chemistry students.
• H1: There is significant influence of discussion method on the academic performance of chemistry students.

Hypothesis Two

• H0: There is no significant influence of demonstration method on the academic performance of chemistry students.
• H1: There is significant influence of demonstration method on the academic performance of chemistry students.

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1.6 Significance of Study

This research study would be significant in the following ways;

1. This work will help Chemistry teachers to use appropriate teaching methods when teaching chemistry to students in order to improve students’ academic performance in the subject.
2. Teachers will in general find this work useful when selecting students centered and practical instructional approaches.
3. This research will be of immense help to curriculum planners, chemistry teachers, students, public and government in their quest to upgrade the nation education standard.
4. This research will also help the government to use the research findings in decision making to upgrade the nation’s education standard.

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1.7 Scope of the Study

The study focuses on Method of Instruction Problem of Learning Chemistry in Secondary School of Bodinga Local Government of Sokoto State, Nigeria. Many factors could contribute to students’ poor performance but for the sake of this study; demonstration, lecture, discussion methods as well as gender difference among students were selected for the study. The scope of this study covers only public secondary schools in the study area.

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1.8 Limitations of the Study

During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:

1. Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
2. Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
3. Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
4. Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

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1.9 Definition of Terms

Instructional Methods: These are methods teachers use to help students become independent, strategic learners. These methods become learning strategies when students independently select the appropriate ones and use them effectively to accomplish tasks or meet goals.

Academic Performance: This refers to secondary school student’s achievement students in test and examination.