THE USE OF AUDIO VISUAL AIDS IN TEACHING SOCIAL STUDIES IN JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL

1.1 Introduction

Social Studies Curriculum as a policy document and academic programme was introduced to educational system in Nigeria with the aim of inculcating positive values and building of better Nigeria. This could be possible only when there is effective implementation of social studies curriculum at all levels of education. There is a problem of non-availability of audio/visual for which teachers alone may not be blamed. The heads often do not motivate the teacher in terms of providing instructional materials. Furthermore, most school lack of funds and as a result, they find it difficult to purchase the required audio/visual aid. Generally, failure to use audio/visual material in the teaching of Social studies result in lack of interest among student in learning activities which affect performance in school and pupils not being able to assimilate lesson at their own rate and pace.

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, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.

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1.2 Background of Study

Teaching and learning activities are interesting when instructional materials are used effectively and efficiently in a classroom-teaching situation. It is necessary for the teacher in the learning of social studies in Nigeria to use visual aid material as instructional tools in order to make their teaching more interesting that is to arouse the learning interest, sustain their attention for effective learning. But the problem in many secondary schools in Edo State as elsewhere in Nigeria is that of the instructional material like audio/visuals are not available and even where they are, the teachers do not use them effectively.

The reason for this attitude may be because teachers engage themselves in so many other relevant or irrelevant activities. The desire and haste of some teacher to cover the syllabus or scheme of work instead of making their teaching more meaningful and impacting. Often time some teaching goals depend on material for planning and utilization of instructional material for some teacher the production of instructional material is only for passing their examination the training college and not for actual use in the classroom.

Vikoo (2003) observes that the most suitable instructional materials for the effective teaching and learning of the English Language at this information age are audio – visual materials. He describes the audio – visual materials as the instructional system which uses the operations of the scientific and technological equipment combining both visual projections and sound productions to provide tangible experiences to learners. Some of such materials are computer assisted instruction, video – taped instruction and film shows.

Social Studies Subject was introduced in the Nigerian School Curriculum as part of the instrument for achieving national development (National Policy on Education (NPE) 1981). This was what informed its designation as part of the core curriculum at different levels of education in Nigeria.

Social Studies curriculum development agencies such as the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) and experts further identified and disseminated the curriculum goals or purposes of the subject in the school curriculum. These include citizenship education, reflective inquiry and social science education, (Barth-shermis, 1920; Barth-Norris, 1976; Dubey and Barth, 1980; Olawepo, 1984) among others. These broadly stated goals must be clare to, and recognized as important as well as attainable by teachers and other participants connected with the Curriculum if the intentions or purposes must be realized and the investment of effort is to be considered worthwhile (Feather, 1982; Meece, Blumenfeld, & Hoyle, 1988). These intentions or purposes are prima facie stated with clarity, but their perception or conceptualization by teachers and scholars is still in doubt as Onyabe (1980) observed that the philosophy, content and methodology of social studies has remained vague to both scholars and teachers. The incidence of conflicting conceptions of social studies curriculum is a cause for concern for three major reasons. First, the anchor or strategic position of purposes or intentions in the curriculum development process (Pratt, 1994) as illustrated in Tyler (1949) (Linear) and Wheeler (1980) (cyclic) curriculum models, among others.

Therefore, in Kano State, Kumbotso Local Government Area where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Application of Audio Visual Aids in Teaching Social Studies in Junior Secondary School.

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1.3 Statement of Problems

In order to gain the required competence, audio – visual materials are specifically used in instructional activities to mitigate the instruction problems and improve knowledge of both teachers and students in relatively short time. Incidentally, the failure rate of the students is disturbing. It is observed that most teachers of Social studies in the secondary school do not use audio/visual aid to promote learning of this crucial subject.

This poor performance may imply that the students have not grasped the basic language skills. Secondly, it suggests that the teachers may use it on a minimal level or may have ignored the use of the materials in their classroom practices. Thirdly, the training of the teachers may contribute to its success or failure in the students’ performances. Again, there is controversy on gender differences. It is not certain whether female and male teachers react differently in the extent of use of audio – visual aids.

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1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study

The aim of the study is to examine the Application of Audio Visual Aids in Teaching Social Studies in Junior Secondary School. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:

1. To determine the degree of the use of audio – visual aids in teaching the Social Studies.
2. To find out the level of the use of audio – visual aids to improve the students’ performances in Social Studies.
3. To examine whether the male and female differences affect the extent of use of the audio – visual aids in teaching and learning in Junior Secondary School in Kumbotso Local Government Area
4. To ascertain whether the difference in the education of the teachers affect the extent of the use of the audio – visual aids in the teaching and learning of the Social Studies in Junior Secondary School in Kumbotso Local Government Area
5. To examine the effect of audio/visual aid material in student’s performance.

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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:

• Does the degree of the use of audio – visual aids impact teaching the Social Studies?
• Does a male and female difference affect the extent of use of the audio – visual aids in teaching and learning in Junior Secondary School in Kano State Kumbotso Local Government Area?
• Are audio/visual aid provided for use in the teaching of social studies in school?
• Is it through the government provision that the aid is made available, or is it the school authority concerned that makes the provision?
• What is the level of the use of audio – visual aids to improve the students’ performances in Social Studies?
• What are the difference in the education of the teachers affect the extent of the use of the audio – visual aids in the teaching and learning of the Social Studies in Junior Secondary School in Kano State Kumbotso Local Government Area?
• To what extent does the teacher use audio – visual materials in learning Social Studies in Junior Secondary Schools in Junior Secondary School in Kano State Kumbotso Local Government Area?

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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 is no significant difference in the achievement of male and female Social Studies students taught with audio – visual material.
• H1: There is a significant difference in the achievement of male and female Social Studies students taught with audio – visual material.

Hypothesis Two

• H0: Teachers do not make use of audio – visual material in teaching and learning Social Studies in Junior Secondary School in Kumbotso Local Government Area
• H1: Teachers do make use of audio – visual material in teaching and learning Social Studies in Junior Secondary School in Kumbotso Local Government Area

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1.7 Significance of Study

The significance of this study is to examine the importance of audio/visual aid in the teaching of reading Social studies in secondary schools. This study will aid in spelling pronunciation and fluency of student in reading.

It will suggest meaningful way of handing the aid to bring about positive change in the student-reading pattern. It will also help to suggest relevant aid to be used for each of the class concerned it will as well suggest areas and how to make the aid available to the school that are lacking.

The study will inspire teachers and inspectors of the State and Federal Ministries of Education to improve their competence and performance by adopting instructional audio – visual materials to suit their proper use in the classroom. This will improve the teaching and learning of Social Studies in particular and other subjects in general. This study also will help educational planners to lay more emphasis on teachers’ use of the audio visual instructional materials when drawing up a Social Studies curriculum.

Finally, this study shows that each of the students has absolute control of his potentials and as such is capable of developing his potentials and attains high academic excellence commensurate with those potentials through the use of audio – visual ads.

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1.8 Scope of Study

The study focuses on the Application of Audio Visual Aids in Teaching Social Studies in Junior Secondary School in Kumbotso Local Government Area, Kano 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

Instructional material: instructional materials are to be defined as items that are designed to serves as a major tool for assisting in the instruction of a subject or course.

Academic Performance: can be defined as the outcome of education, the extent to which a student, teacher or institution has achieved their educational goal. Academic achievement is commonly measured by examination or continuous assessment.