Utilization of Instructional Material and Effective Teaching of Government among Secondary School Teachers
Abstract
The study investigated the use of utilization of instructional materials and effective teaching in Government among secondary school teachers in Etim Ekpo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. In carrying out the research, three research questions were formulated to guide the study based on the objectives. Literature was also reviewed on the subject and a description survey research design was employed. Simple random sampling technique was used to select ten public secondary school in Etim Ekpo Local Government Area. Thirty government teachers were also selected as samples for the study. A research design questionnaire was the major instrument used in collecting the data for the study which were analyzed using simple percentage statistical tool. Result showed that there were significant relationship between the use of instructional materials and teaching effectiveness among government teachers. Based on these findings, recommendations were made for government and teachers on how to provide, use and utilization of instructional` materials for effective teaching.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Utilization of Instructional Material and Effective Teaching of Government among Secondary School Teachers
1.1 Background of the Study
The essence of education is to raise people knowledge with good conduct and behaviour to be able to fit into the society and function well. The process, which is planned and run in the school, is referred to as formal education.
The importance of education is to mould individuals’ character for positive behavioural change, acquisition of knowledge and skills for the development of his or her society. Academic achievement of students in any school subject, including government is very crucial and should be measured entirely on the availability of instructional materials.
Thus, instructional materials enormous contribution towards academic performance in all levels of education, from the above assertion, it is imperative to realize that good or poor academic performance in government is senior secondary schools depends on the usage of instructional materials by the teachers while teaching government in the classroom. The study intends to investigate the essence of instructional materials and effective teaching of government among secondary teachers in Etim Ekpo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.
Instructional materials refer to those materials used to facilitate the teaching and learning process. They include textbook, charts, pictures, newspapers and images. Thus, the essence of education is to impact skills, attitudes, beliefs, ability to reason, knowledge and any other meaningful behaviour which enable one to adjust and interact effectively with other individuals to thing and even outside his or inadequate environment. Through the acquisition of skills, it enables an individual to proceed into the actualization of the individuals’ destiny.
Indeed, instructional materials provides concepts and attitude to the students which improved their skills, ability to reason and make him/her informed about what is going on in the global village.
Education has helped to bring the entire world into an entity through the information and knowledge it provides. Education has helped to reduce the problem of language barrier.
Through instruction and teaching by one’s teacher, such individual could acquire different languages outside the traditional language.
Education has been on means to an end. A country is developed as a result of instruction, created by education. It serves as a catalyst to governmental principles, policies and laws. Instructional materials are aids to teaching and learning. They help to raise learning from verbalization to practical aspect of teaching and learning. (Clark, 1997) observed that “instructional materials make teaching and learning interesting, easy and amusing. It makes learning more effective”.
In another development, the use of instructional materials makes difference continent to shape their rules and regulations, to accommodate the other.
Utilization of Instructional Material and Effective Teaching of Government among Secondary School Teachers
This they do to provide then with the socio-cultural and political differences and how to adjust the traditional socio-cultural and political way, and accommodate others. An instructional material makes students understanding much, more and easier. When the teacher makes use of working models, it makes the teachers’ task easier and more effective.
Olardi (1990) has highlighted the impact of instruction materials that teachers use to improve the students from understanding and perception of the subject as an enhanced aid. They bring clarity and create recognition that allows them to have a realistic knowledge of the subject. They enhance learning, improve the competence of learners to makes learning more meaningful to students.
In Etim Ekpo Local Government Area, teaching and learning of government through the use of instructional materials and facilitate, stimulates and aids students to take active interest in any topic introduced by the teacher. It provides both the teacher and students with relevance and meaningful source of information. Kay (2008) noted that
“instructional materials stimulates the students desire to learn. They assist learning process by making assimilation and memorization of knowledge easer. Also, they help to hold attention include greater acquisition and as well as objectives which may be in accessible to many students”.
Most of the knowledge acquired by students is from reading and understanding of various form of information from textbooks, magazines and newspapers. They are useful educational tools because they assist students to learn meaningfully, effectively and efficiently (Elindero, 1994). According to Okorie (1998), teachers depends on the textbooks as the primary means of acquiring information that are basic regarding the subject being covered in the class. He further stated that, recommendations of textbooks provide detailed explanation covering fundamental information in planning for lesson.
Leo (1971) stated that “textbooks also provide orderly instruction to a discipline or a subject area”. It enables students to acquire knowledge on their own by providing basic facts, concepts and generation acquired for the study”. Simon (1972) noted that “textbooks can be available adjusted provided it is selected wisely”. He posited that textbooks are essential in helping the teacher to provide on organization or structure for the subject.
Elington and Ear (1998) emphasized that “instructional charts appeal to the sensory organ and as such makes the performance of students effective. He further posited that learning, seeing, looking and listening are primary means of human learning. What learners hear, see, look and listen influence their performance at school.
Clark (1997) stated that “instructional chart help in developing the child mind since the mind is like blank and to educate the teacher through the use of instructional materials like charts, pictures and posters. As observed by Dienye (1994), charts and pictures are valuable visual instructional materials used in summarizing significant combination of draw work, symbols and cut whose values lay in the capacity to focus attention and convey certain types of information in condensed summarized form.
Pictures and pictorial presentation is very vital and is able to create a testing image in the memory of students during learning.
According to John Kilner (2003), newspaper is very vital tool in a curriculum. It link together awareness of current affairs, forms of communication and the news. Indeed, newspapers offer a daily context for much of what is studied. This is important because many students have an ongoing issue with relevance events.
Fafunwa (1967), pointed out that newspapers are best used in providing insight into the moral dimension of democratic politics, they also show daily events of a democratic society.
Abdulahi (2008) agreed that, newspaper in the classroom keeps students informed, motivates them to read and make reading interesting.
According to Eze 92001), charts are used to translate abstracts stimulus to concrete learning experience. Exe noted that, “instructional chart used by teachers catches and holds students attention and helps students to maximize retention and minimize forgetting”.
The presentation of charts, while teaching helps to motivate learners to interpret symbols, signs and illustrations. Nnoli (1988) stated that instructional materials are those resources that the teachers and students use to influence the effective teaching and learning process. It is the creative use of probability of the students which will make them learn and improve their performance of the skills that are to develop. Furthermore, instructional materials mean materials that aid the teaching of a subject.
Egwu (2008), defined instructional materials as audio visual materials or as innovation in teaching and learning. This involves the use of human efforts appropriate choice design and utilizations of objects to ensure effectiveness.
Utilization of Instructional Material and Effective Teaching of Government among Secondary School Teachers
Eya (2004), instructional materials stimulate teachers interest; help both the teachers and students to overcome physical limitation system of teaching and learning process.
As a system, it cannot by separate from classroom teaching, otherwise it could paralyze the entire system or process when neglected.
Emezie (2010), states that instructional materials include those materials and service used in learning situations to supplement the written or spoken words in the transmission of knowledge, attitude and ideas. They are materials that facilitate teaching and learning activities and consequently the attainment of the lesson objectives they help in making teaching and learning real and meaningful.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
The fallen standard of teaching and learning in Etim Ekpo public secondary schools could be attributed to the following factors such as;
- Lack of instructional materials during teaching and learning process.
- Inability of a teacher to improvise with regard to instructional materials when not available.
- Poor funding of public secondary schools by government.
- Corruption is everywhere and this affect instructional material in schools by school head teachers as principals’ provision of instructional material in our educational sector.
Even when the instructional materials are provided, what most principals do is to package them sell them to private schools and use the proceed personal use as teachers and students await these instructional materials to guide them in teaching and learning, the principal keep giving them one reason or other and this affect students method of learning and teachers means of impacting the knowledge.
Ewudo (2009) observed that any schools in the state cannot boast of instructional materials. He states that every government should contend with the issue of making education her priority to help improve the standard of learning by providing the required instructional materials to schools. Rubin (2010) holds the view that government should provide funds to principals who monitors the teaching staff to help principals provide the instructional materials needed by the students at all time.
1.3 Purpose of the Study
Generally, the purpose of this study is to investigate into the use of instructional materials, and effective teaching in government among secondary school teachers in Etim Ekpo Local Government Area. Specifically, this study aimed at the following objectives:
- To determine the relationship between the use of chart and teaching effectiveness in Government.
- To determine the relationship between the use of map and effective teaching of Government.
- To determine the relationship between the use printed materials and effective teaching of Government.
Utilization of Instructional Material and Effective Teaching of Government among Secondary School Teachers