THE EFFECT OF POOR TEACHER - PUPIL RELATIONSHIP ON ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF BIOLOGY STUDENTS

1.1 Introduction

Teacher-student relationship is the quality of interaction between the teacher and the students that could lead to achievement outcome. Relationship between the two sometimes, is largely provided by the teacher. According to Ali et al., (2014), biology which is the fundamental science subject has been known to continuously record low students’ enrolment, interest and poor achievement levels in all internal and external examinations (Ali et al., 2014).

The teacher determines the quality of relationship and this usually would depend to a large extent on the teachers’ personality. The problem of poor academic achievement among secondary school students has become a serious social problem for the entire social and economic system. Ezeh (2013) articulated that biology is a unique subject that deals with living things. It was once a compulsory subject for science students in the Senior Secondary School (Ezeh, 2013).

As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitation of the study and Definition of terms.

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1.2 Background of Study

Biology is the study of living things and concerns itself with the study of the structural, behaviour, distribution, the origin of plants, and animals and their relationship with their environment (American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language 2009). Abugu (2007) stated that biology is natural science in which we study living organism plants and animals. The knowledge of biology helps in checking environmental degradation such as Desertification, Erosion, Water Hyacinth, Land, Air and Water Pollution.

Education is a highly rated public venture used as an instrument par excellence in natural development. Also Education is a process of receiving or giving systemic instruction especially at school or university, a new system of public education. According to fafunwa (2004) Education is an aggregate of all the process by means of which a person develops abilities and other forms of behaviour of positive value in the society in which he lives.

According to Igbo (2006) Education is the process by which society deliberately transmit its cultural heritage through institutions such as schools, college and universities. It also prepares a person to perform justly, skillfully and magnanimously in war or at peace on the bases of acquired knowledge, skills and attitudes.

Education is the process of remarking experience; giving it more socialized value through increased individual experience by giving the individual better control over his own powers Ozochi (2009). Credence is given to this view by National Objectives of Nigeria Education as seen in the second National Development Plan and endorsed as the necessary foundation for the National Policy on Education (NPE). According to NPE (2004), the following are the aims and objectives of Education:

1. The inculcation of the national consciousness national unity
2. The inculcation of the right type of values and attitudes for survival of the individual and the Nigeria society.
3. The training of the mind in the understanding of the world and
4. The acquisition of appropriate skills, abilities and competencies both mental and physical as equipment for the individual to live in and contribute to the development of his society.

According to Olumba (2003), these aims can never be actualized if there are poor relationships existing between the teacher and his pupils. Bringing these aims to reality depends on the orientation of teachers and pupils in the educational system because good education requires trained and committed teachers, who will carry the pupils along with them to achieve the educational goals.

The purpose of introducing this study is to make the teacher-pupils relationships among biology teachers and their pupils in discharging their respective duties in order to achieve the aims of the National Policy on Education.

According to Asikhai (2010), education at secondary school level is supposed to be the bedrock and the foundation towards higher knowledge in tertiary institutions. It is an investment as well as an instrument that can be used to achieve a more rapid economic, social, political, technological, scientific and cultural development in a country. It is rather unfortunate that the secondary schools today are not measuring up to the standards expected of them. There have been public outcries over the persistently poor performance of secondary school students in public examinations. Students’ achievement in Biology subject in Senior Secondary Certificates Examination (SSCE) has been unsatisfactory over many years. Various reasons have been attached to this problem by scholars.

Therefore, in Enugu East Local Government Area where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Effect of Poor Teacher - Pupil Relationship on Academic Achievement of Biology Students.

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1.3 Statement of Problem

Investigation revealed that poor performance in the field of science is caused by the poor quality of science teachers, overcrowded classrooms and lack of suitable and adequate science equipment among others. Students perform poorly in biology because; the biology classes are usually too large and heterogeneous in terms of ability level. It is unfortunate that a good number of pupils have lost virtues of good behaviour since their teachers did no longer show the love, care and affection.

The school system generally in Enugu urban has seen associated with poor academic performance, formation of bad gangs by pupils, perpetual hatred to teachers, neglect of some subjects which then gave rise to serious problems for the realization of educational objectives.

In the sight of the above problems, the researcher therefore intend to carry out this study in order to emerge with some empirical data relating to the extent to which poor teacher – pupil relationship has contributed to the non effective academic achievement of biology students in Enugu South Local Government.

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1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study

The aim of the study is to investigate the Effect of Poor Teacher - Pupil Relationship on Academic Achievement of Biology Students in Enugu East Local Government Area. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:

1. To identify the factors that affect the relationship between effective biology teacher and students academic performance;
2. To determine the extent to which biology teacher use leisure time to engage the pupil in a friendly chat;
3. To ascertain the biology students' communication extent with their biology teachers in the classroom;
4. To examine the level of freedom given to pupils by teachers in biology class;
5. To find out the extent to which biology teachers use praises on the pupils in their class; and
6. To investigate the extent to which biology teachers punish and react towards pupils in the class whenever their attention is needed by them.

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1.5 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:

• Are there factors that affect the relationship between effective biology teacher and students’ academic performance?
• To what extent does biology teacher use leisure time to engage the pupil in a friendly chat?
• What is the biology students' communication extent with their biology teachers in the classroom?
• What is the level of freedom given to pupils by teachers in biology class?
• To what extent does biology teachers use praises on the pupils in their class?
• To what extent does a biology teacher punish and react towards pupils in the class whenever their attention is needed by them?

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1.6 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 are no contributory factors responsible for poor performance of students in Senior Secondary School Biology Examinations
• H1: There are contributory factors responsible for poor performance of students in Senior Secondary School Biology Examinations

Hypothesis Two

• H0: Student’s behavior and attitudes towards biology teacher have no significant relationship with their performance in Biology.
• H1: Student’s behavior and attitudes towards biology teacher have significant relationship with their performance in Biology.

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1.7 Significance of Study

The result obtained from the study will benefit the following people (Government, Teachers and Students):

1. Government: The study will help to motivate the Government to equip secondary schools with necessary practical equipment for the teaching of biology.
2. Teachers: This will assist classroom teachers in the organization of practical that would help to develop skills and knowledge in the students. It will also enable trained teachers to adopt those teaching and learning methods that would aid them in organization of their subjects matter for the students.
3. Students: When students understand more, the importance of biology practical skills, they are equipped to secure employment and this would in no small measure make them contribute meaningfully to the development of the society. Practical method of teaching can also increases the interest of the students to practical works.

This study will be of immense benefit to other researchers who intend to know more on this study and can also be used by non-researchers to build more on their research work. This study contributes to knowledge and could serve as a guide for other study.

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1.8 Scope of Study

The scope of this research is focused on the Effect of Poor Teacher - Pupil Relationship on Academic Achievement of Biology Students in Enugu East Local Government Area of Enugu State.

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1.9 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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1.10 Definition of Terms

Biology: It is defined as the study of life and structure of living things. Biology is the study of living things and concerns itself with the study of the structural, behaviour, distribution, the origin of plants, and animals and their relationship with their environment (American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language 2009).