ABSTRACT
The study is
titled effect of lecture and questioning instructional methods on students’
academic achievement in social studies in Lagos state schools. The purpose of
the study is to find out the relationship between the use of lecture method of
instruction in social studies compared to the use of questioning method and the
effect on the academic performance of students in the subject. Four research
questions and four research hypotheses were set to guide the study. A
researcher made questionnaire was used for data collection 15 secondary school
teachers of social studies and 150 students constitute the sample of the study.
The summary of findings include- there is significant relationship between the
use of lecture method by teachers and the academic performance of students,
there is significant relationship between the use of probing questions method
by teachers and the academic performance of students, there is significant
difference in the performance of students when either the lecture or probing
questions method are adopted by teachers and teachers’ skill in the use of
either lecture or probing questions
method does significantly affect the performance of students in social studies.
The study recommends that teachers should use more of learner centered instructional
methods like probing questions to enhance the interest and performance of
students in social studies, that students should be more active during lessons
and not just take notes and school authorities should monitor the teaching
methods employed by their teachers which ultimately affect the academic
performance of their students.
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
Title page
Certification ii
Dedication iii
Acknowledgement iv
Abstract v
Table of contents vi
Chapter one: Introduction
Background to the study 1
Statement of problem 5
Purpose/objective of the study 8
Research questions 8
Research hypotheses 9
Significance of the study 10
Chapter two: Literature review
Understanding the nature and goals of social studies
Effective teaching of social studies 11
Comparing the lecture and the questioning methods
of teaching social studies 21
Questioning method in teaching social studies 24
Summary 30
Chapter three: Methodology and
procedure
Research design 31
Population of the study 31
Sample of the study 31
Sampling technique 32
Validity of the instrument 33
Reliability of the instrument 33
Method of data collection 33
Method of data analysis 33
Chapter four: Data analysis and presentation of results
Introduction 35
Analysis of bio-data of the respondents 35
Hypotheses Testing 38
Chapter five: Discussion of findings, recommendations and suggestions
for further research and conclusion
Discussion of
findings 43
Suggestions
for further research 45
Conclusion 46
Recommendations 47
Appendix 50
References 56
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
An instructional
or teaching method comprises the principles and methods used for instruction.
Commonly used instructional methods include class participation, demonstration,
recitation, memorization, etc or combination of two or more of these methods.
The choice of instructional method or methods to be used depends largely on the
information or skill that is being taught and may also be influenced by the
aptitude and enthusiasm of the students. (labspace.open.ac.uk/mod/resource/vi).
No one single
method of instruction will work well with every learning objective or for every
student in the same classroom. However, recent research in education has
demonstrated that some methods are more effective than others for bringing
about student learning. Good teaching method(s) bring about the desired
students learning; the majority of students in a classroom will respond
positively and demonstrate academic growth when instruction is appropriately designed
to meet their learning needs. (Dr. Barbara J. Tewksbury and Dr. R. Heather
Macdonald, 2005).
Olalekan (2002)
noted that the following are expected to be taught in social studies:
a.
The facts and theories i.e. basic principles
b.
The doing i.e. basic skills
c.
Competency, problem solving i.e. application
d.
Attitudes, values and ideas.
Not all teaching
methods work equally well with all students and not all students learn at the
same rate or struggle with the same learning issues. When a teacher works with
any group of heterogeneous learners, managing the diverse needs of the group
can be challenging but also rewarding. If the teacher’s roles as producers,
seekers and disseminators of knowledge are to be validated, then students have
to be educated using different approaches, methods and options depending on the
subject being taught.
Barth (1993)
defines social studies as the interdisciplinary integration of the concepts of
social science and humanities for the purpose of practicing problem solving and
decision-making for developing citizenship skills on critical social issues.
Therefore,
primary purpose of social studies is to help young people develop the ability
to make informed and reasoned decisions for public good, as citizens of a
culturally diverse, democratic society in an interdependent world. A teacher of
social studies must carefully and purposefully select his/her instructional
method(s) to achieve this primary objective in the students.
The world ‘social’
indicates that the subject deals with the ways humans act together in a social
situation to solve the problems inherent in being alive, group-oriented and
able to affect the environment.
Students need to
learn to put social studies to use in their own lives, by developing strategies
for becoming good citizens, globally aware individuals and productive adults.
This is a lifelong process that requires not a knowledge of facts but also an
understanding of how to find necessary information and how to process it.
Teaching is
communication, and communication is dependent largely on the way the message in
presented. The choice of teaching method determines the meaning and impact of
the message being conveyed.
Instructional
methods that:
a.
isolate students from actual exercise of
responsible citizenship, that lay emphasis only on reading about citizenship or
future participation in the larger social and political world
b.
lecture classes in which students sit passively:
classes in which students of lower ability levels are deprived of the knowledge
and learning opportunity that other students receive
c.
methods that assume that students are ignorant
or uninterested in issues raised in social studies all the above should be
greatly decreased in teaching social studies (Best Practice: New standards for
Teaching and Learning in America’s Schools by Steven Zemelman 1993).
Methods that
emphasize the following should be increased:
a.
in-depth study of topics in each social studies
field which help students discover the complexities of human interaction.
b.
activities that engage students in inquiry and
problem solving about significant human issues.
c.
participation in interactive and co-operative
classroom study processes that bring together students of all ability levels
(Steven Zemelman 1993).
In this study
the method considered most appropriate and suitable to achieve effective
learning in social studies, which should be emphasized above other methods is
probing questions as against lecture method.
Statement of Problem
Teaching social
studies in Nigeria is linked to the Philosophy of Nigeria Education which is to
inculcate National Consciousness, National Unity, the right type of values and
attitude for the survival of the individual and the Nigerian society; to train the
minds in the understanding of the world around, to train the minds to acquire
appropriate values, ethnic beliefs, skills, abilities and competences both
method and physical as equipment for individual to live in and contribute to
the development of the society (National Policy on Education-NPE 2004).
Teachers in
secondary schools are aware of the various teaching methodologies for teaching
social studies as a subject in Junior Secondary School; however, most teachers
do not use the appropriate teaching methods applicable to the different
contents. Teachers find it easy to use the lecture method which does not
encourage active learning and is mostly unsuitable for effective teaching in
social studies.
Social studies
courses are regarded as relatively unimportant subject matter whether in
primary or junior secondary school level. This perception leads to diminished
attention paid to social studies as a serious subject area, yet in the overall
development of the intellect of students, no other subject matter content holds
as much promise. The consequences of poor understanding and appreciation of
social studies are everywhere e.g. surveys have shown that not all registered
voters actually vote in national elections, many secondary schools and tertiary
institutions students continue to cheat in assignments tests and exams i.e.
examination malpractices continue to increase (Bob Kizlik, 2013). Many
Nigerians are not conversant with the duties of citizens stated in Section 24
of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria nor the fundamental rights of citizens
stated in Section 33 – 44 of the same Constitution i.e. pervasive ignorance of
the citizenry. There is also a clear disconnect between intentions and outcomes
of our schools curriculum in social studies e.g. the topic of Citizenship, the
learning outcome is good citizenship, it is a big question whether this outcome
has been/is being achieved among our pupils / students. (Bob Kizlik, A Purpose
for Social Studies; ADPRIMA;org, updated December 26, 2013).
Over the years,
the very unimpressive performances of students in social studies in the Junior
Secondary School Certificate Examinations in Nigeria have been concern of all
stakeholders in education (Ede O.S Iyamu, 2005).
Further studies
have attributed poor achievement of students in social studies largely to the
use of poor instructional strategies (Unachukwu, 1990), inappropriate medium of
instruction (STAN, 1992: Adeyegbe, 1993); and faulty methods by teachers (Igba,
2005). Overdependence on conventional teaching method by teachers appears to be
the main culprit in this preponderance of ineffective instructional strategies
used in teaching social studies (Igba, 2005).
There is
therefore the need to look for an effective instructional strategy to teach
social studies concepts which should fbe innovative and learner based in order
to combat the high failure rate of students in social studies (Dr. Usulor,
Benjamin, E. 2012).
This study is
aimed at finding out the relationship between the teachers’ teaching method in
the classroom and the achievement of students in social studies during
examinations.