CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Over
the years, the poor performance of students in public examinations has been
blamed on the wrong choice of teaching methods by teachers. Teaching and
learning activities have a lot to do with other variables, such as
instructional materials, teacher’s qualification, school environment variables,
students’ factors and so on. In this study, instructional material is the main
focus in order to unveil their effects on the academic performance of students.
The importance of Instructional Materials in any
teaching/learning Process cannot be over emphasized. This is for the fact that
such materials enhance, facilitate and make teaching/learning easy, lively and
concrete. Instructional materials are the devices developed or acquired
to assist or facilitate teachers in transmitting an organized knowledge, skills
and attitudes to the learners within an instructional situation (Nwachukwu,
2006).To be precise, an instructional material are educational resources used
for illustrating the content of instruction, thereby making learning more
concrete and less abstract. The sequence in which learners encounter materials
has direct effect on the achievement of the task. In providing closer
experience to real situation, instructional material enhances acquisition and
retention of factual information. Instructional material not only provide the
necessary concrete experience but also help students integrate prior
experience.
Accounting
is a discipline which is concerned with the process of collecting, recording,
presenting and analysing of financial information in a summarized form for the
users of financial statement. Accounting is concerned with the use to which the
book keeping are put, the analysis and interpretation. The keeping of
accounting books is essentially an art and the aims of those who study the
subject are essentially utilitarian. An accountant must not only be interested
in record keeping but also in the application of his professional competence,
knowledge and dexterity in presenting accounting information to assist
management and other users of accounting information in their respective
decision making
Financial
accounting is one of the subjects offered in the senior secondary school in
Nigeria, it is among the subjects taken in West African Senior School Certificate
Examination and National Examination Council School Certificate Examinations.
According to WAEC (2004) financial accounting is the most popular subject that
students offer among the vocational elective subjects.This subject equips the
recipients with the competency needed to keep basic accounting records. Many
students register this subject in secondary Schools but unfortunately they
perform poorly in external examinations.
Statistic
of entries and performance of students by grades In the May/June 2004 West
African School Certification Result (WASSCE) in Nigeria shows that out of
202151 students that registered for financial accounting, 46778 representing a
percentage of 23.14 passed at credit and above while 93394 representing a percentage
of 46.20 failed. In the year 2005, out of 199274 that enrolled for financial
accounting, only 49440 representing a percentage of 24.81 passed at credit
level and above while 83655 representing a percentage of 41.98 failed. In the
year 2006, out of 211552 that sat for the examination, only 102539 representing
a percentage of 48.47 passed on credit level and above while 103449
representing a percentage of 48.90 failed. The performance of students in
financial accounting in 2006 fell below the 2005 level and fluctuated over the
3-year period. The drop in the performance level of financial accounting calls
for a review of current strategies in the teaching and learning of the subject.
The traditional methods of teaching financial accounting such as the discussion
method, demonstration method, Socratic Method and project methods have been
used but failed to impact the necessary knowledge and skills comprehensively.
Okon (2002) equally believes that these traditional methods are not challenging
enough to the needs of the students. Considering the fact that financial
accounting processes are more of practical which involved the active
participation of every members of an instructional process to ensure that the
whole processes is maximized. It will be fascinating to ascertain the impact of
instructional material on the academic performances of students in financial
accounting
1.2 Statement of Problem
Most
financial accounting teachers are not well grounded in the use of and selection
of a viable instructional material and as such the teaching and learning of
financial accounting has not been optimal. The poor performance of students in
financial accounting is evident in the overall results of students in such
examinations as the General Certificate in Education (G.C.E); Senior Secondary
School Certificate Examinations S.S.C.E and National Business and Technical Examination
Board (NABTEB). Despite the efforts being made by accounting teachers to revamp
the performance of students, it appears much is still left to be done (Ankomah
& Kwarteng, 2010). Many teaching methods and approaches have been
introduced but could not improve the achievement of students in financial
accounting. Teachers teach the subject matter in abstraction thereby making it
comprehensive and arduous task for learners and this has militated against the
maximization of academic performance. Also, teachers are not conversant with
the current trend in education in relation to the teaching and learning of
financial account. In developed nations, financial accounting in colleges is
taught using practical processes involving the use of computer and its
programmes such as Microsoft Excel. This is not obtainable in Nigeria as
teachers only make the students to memorize accounting format without really
understanding its relevance to real life situation. This study will be designed
to examine the effect of instructional material on the academic performance of
students in senior secondary school.
1.3 Purpose of the Study
The
major purpose of the study was to carry out an assessment instructional
material and its effect on the academic performance of students in financial
accounting. Specifically the study sought to:
1.
Determine the effect of instructional material on the academic performance of
students in financial accounting.
2.
Determine if the competence of teacher will affect the selection of an
instructional material for the teaching and learning of financial accounting
3. Determine if there is a significant
relationship in the performance of students taught with instructional materials
and those taught without them.
1.4 Researcher Questions
The
following research questions guide the conduct of the study.
1. Is
there any significant relationship between instructional materials and academic
performance of students in financial accounting?
2. Does
the competence of teachers effect the selection of an instructional materials
for the teaching of financial accounting?
3. Is
there any significant relationship between the academic performance of students
taught with instructional materials and those taught without instructional
materials in financial accounting?
1.5 Research Hypotheses
The
following hypotheses were subjected to test in the course of the research:
Ho1:
There is no significant relationship between the use of instructional material
and the academic performance of students in financial accounting.
Ho2:
There is no significant difference between teacher’s competence and the
selection of an instructional material.
Ho3:
There is no significant difference between the academic performance of students
taught with instructional materials and those taught without instructional
materials in financial accounting.
1.6 Significance of the Study
This
research will create awareness to all educational stakeholders on the
importance of instructional material to the teaching and learning of financial
accounting in senior secondary schools. Specifically, the study will influence
policy formulation pertaining to the training of financial accounting teachers
in future. Also, the type of instructional materials will be analysed hence
facilitating the understanding of the concept of instructional material more explicitly.
Finally, teachers will also be aided on the efficient use of instructional
materials to reach across diverse learners in the teaching-learning process.
1.7 Scope of the Study
This
study examined the effect of instructional material on the academic performance
of students in senior secondary school. Although,
there are a number of determinants of students’ academic performance such as
teaching method, teacher’s qualification and so on. This study does not intend
to analyse any other than instructional material in a case of Agege Local
Government Area of Lagos.
1.8 Limitation of the Study
During
the course of the study, the researcher encountered some difficulties. Firstly,
the cost of going on the internet to get information as well as the financial
strength to cover a wide range of sample is not at the disposal of the
researcher. Secondly, this research work involved students and it is also a
requirement for the award of Bachelor of Science/Education. Thus, the
researcher needed to be fast enough to be able to finish it within the academic
session of the programme he is pursuing. Thirdly, the uncooperative nature of
the respondents constitutes problem in the process of data collection.
1.9 Operational Definition of Terms
Financial accounting:
It is the process of collecting, recording, presenting and analysing of
financial information in a summarized form for the users of financial
statement.
Instructional
materials: These are materials that can be used to
Illustrate the content of instruction so as to make teaching and learning more effective and efficient.
Student’s academic
performance: this is the extent to which
students performed in an
examination or has achieved their educational goals.