A SURVEY OF THE EXTENT AND TYPE OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS IMPROVISATION IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS

ABSTRACT

This study examined the Effects of Improvised instructional materials on the academic performance of junior secondary school students in Social studies in Lagos state, Nigeria. This study was carried out with four research objectives, four research questions and four null hypotheses were formulated. The study adopts the use of quasi-experimental research and out of the thirty nine thousand, two hundred and twenty seven (39,227) JSS II Social studies students, comprising of twenty two thousand, one hundred and fifty five (22,155) male and seventeen thousand and seventy two (17,072) female students, a total of 117 students were sampled out for the experimental group. This comprises of 71 males and 46 females while the control group was also made up of 70 males and 46 female students. Data for the study was collected through the pre-test, treatment and post-test using a researcher made instrument (Improvised Social Studies Performance Test- ISSPET), the ISSPET consists of 30 objective test items. Data collected were analyzed statistically through the use of both descriptive statistics of frequencies, mean and standard deviation and inferential statistics of independent ttest. Major findings drawn from the study among others revealed a positive significant difference in the performance of students taught Social studies with the use of improvised instructional materials when compared with those taught Social studies without the use of improvised instructional materials at 0.05 alpha level of significance. Also, finding shows a positive significant difference in the performance of boys and girls taught Social studies using improvised instructional materials. It was concluded among others that since the students taught Social studies with the use of improvised instructional materials had a better mean score than those taught without the use of improvised instructional materials, there is need for teachers to be trained to improvise as this will enable them acquire the appropriate techniques and skills necessary for improvisation. Hence, it was recommended that Teachers should be trained and re-trained through workshops, seminars and conferences for the purpose of skill acquisition necessary for the production and use of instructional materials by teachers.

CHAPTER ONE

• Introduction

1.1 Background to the study

Education is the most important instrument of change and resources development. it is much more than mere training and mere knowledge of facts. The real essence of education is the transmission of values and ideas that are meant to be internalize. Accepting the recommended worth-while values as defined by the National Policy on Education (2004 edition), the Federal Government purposes that education should be a means of achieving creativity, self-reliance and independence of mind, nationalistic outlook and  freedom from mental colonization.

The above fundamental issues of education are neither peculiarly Nigerian nor the twentieth century only. But, in a rapidly changing world with its complex and complicated educational phenomena, people who are concerned with educational development have been offering solutions to the ever-intriguing issues of education.

Teachers are often accused of “over verbalization”. By this, we mean the excessive use of words to convey meanings. Unfortunately, many teachers love to hear the sound of their voices so much so that thy often forget to consider whether or not their students are really understanding and enjoying whatever they are (i.e the teachers) saying. The problem is that many teachers tend to talk too much without really saying anything. Others tend to “talk at” their students instead of tending to “talk with” them. Thus, they keep on talking regardless of student non-verbal signals that they are bored or even completely lost. Because of the development of modern technology, teachers no longer have to rely solely on words to make their meaning clear. There is a great variety of materials around us that can be used to make our meaning more vivid and more interesting. These resources may be of four main types namely; natural, human, material and institutional as opined by Stella, Abeke and Abiodun (2000). These materials are often referred to as Instructional materials as much as they are used to supplement or complement the teachers’ tasks.

Some educationists define instructional materials in the following ways listed below: “any material brought into the classroom for the purpose of lesson presentation to help or facilitate the teaching effort of the teacher and help the occurrence of learning in the pupils (students) (Akande 2002).

According to Ajelabi (2002), Instructional materials is defined as “A collection of teaching-learning materials that constitute an integral component of an instructional process and are utilized in delivering educational information to the process and are utilized in delivering educational information to the learners. Akinleye (1997), explains that many educational technologists see instructional materials as materials, devices and resources used in learning situation to supplement the written and spoken words I the transmission of knowledge, attributes, ideas or concept and values. He further states that they are things or objects brought into play to emphasize clarity, strengthen, and vitalize the teachers’ instructions. From the definitions quoted above, there is a string that attaches them. That is the fact that instructional materials serve as supplement and compliment to the normal process of instructions. According to Ajelabi (2000), they vary from very simple and inexpensive ones such as chalkboard, flat pictures, diagrams, illustrations, and maps to more complicated and expensive ones like the television, mini-projectors, slides, and filmstrip projectors.

All of these point to the fact that instructional materials are the pillar of effective teaching in schools. Teaching is not result-oriented without them. Virtually, all professions require making use of materials to be able to carry out their duties effectively. Teaching profession is not an exception. However, the mere uses of these materials do not guarantee effective communication nor effective teaching. It is their careful selection and skillful handling by the teachers that render them useful in facilitating learning. It is therefore important, for teachers, especially at the beginning to become familiar with the various types of instructional materials as well as the values that can be derived from their proper use. It is also necessary for teachers to have a working knowledge of their proper use. It is also necessary for teachers to have a working knowledge of the criteria to be used in selecting and evaluating them and the principles underlying their effective use .Granted that instructional materials are very useful to effective teaching and learning, however, they are lacking in our schools. Stella, Abeke and Abiodun (2000) in their book, Teaching Effectiveness in Nigerian Schools, gave a brief re-cap of what led to this: “In the 1970’s Nigeria witnessed a period of economic boom, hence it was possible for schools to acquire some instructional materials for teaching. The prevailing economic depression, coupled with the prohibitive cost of materials call for resourcefulness and creativity of teachers.

The assertion of the above quotation is that because of the prevailing economic depression in Nigeria, the government and the schools have not been able to do much in providing the adequate amount of instructional materials needed in schools. To confirm this requires a visit to many of the schools in the community. Onyene (2005) during such a visit observed that “There were dilapidated buildings…. The compounds were dirty …. There was no duster seen in some classrooms. Most of the teachers were not using instructional materials in their classrooms. There were no provisions for visual-aids to make teaching effective. The solution according to Abiodun et al (2000) is that teachers need to be resourceful and creative. For teachers to meet up with this challenge, they need to improvise. The big question is: What is Improvisation?

Improvisation simply implies the method of providing alternatives or substitutes to ready-made materials. It involves the use of locally and readily available materials for providing makeshift for the factory-made materials (Adesanya 2000). From the above definition and what is said about the Nigeria economy earlier, it implies that “what operates in the country should not be taken as an excuse for the decline in teachers’ productivity. “According to the Nigerian Educator Times (2004), teachers need to improvise instructional materials. It is against this background that this project will therefore survey the extent of such improvisation and the types in schools in Lagos State.

• Statements of the Problem

All educators know the importance of instructional materials but the truth of the water is that they are lacking in schools in Nigeria. The government is not living up to its responsibility when it comes to providing the necessary instructional materials, them creating the problem of inadequate instructional materials in schools. The government also fails to make a conscious effort to make available adequate training programme that will emphasize the alternative-improvisation.

Ogunranti (2001) stated another problem “this apathy appears also to have been reinforced by the negative attitude of some educational administrators to the provision of instructional aids (materials) for use in schools. Among the other factors, that he mentioned which militate against the integration of instructional materials with the classroom instructional processes in Nigeria include:

1. Insufficient funds to equip schools;
2. Instructional materials neglected in the curriculum planning;
3. Lack of adequately-trained personnel.

This present study therefore attempts to survey the extent and types of instructional materials being improvised by all and finding in the school system.

1.3    Objectives of the study

The objectives of this research are to:

1. determine the effects of improvised instructional materials on the academic performance of Social studies students taught with improvised instructional materials  to those taught without improvised instructional materials in junior secondary schools in Lagos State.
2. compare the academic performance of boys and girls taught social studies using improvised instructional materials in junior secondary schools in Lagos State.
3. determine the mean performance scores of students taught Social studies in junior secondary schools in Lagos State without the use of improvised instructional materials.
4. explore the difference between treatment effects for the students taught Social studies using improvised instructional materials in junior secondary schools in Lagos State.

1.4 Research Questions

The following research questions were formulated in order to obtain answer to the problems under investigation:

1. To what extent are the effects of improvised instructional materials on the academic performance of Social studies students as compared to those taught without improvised instructional materials in junior secondary schools in Lagos State?
2. What are the comparative mean performance scores of boys and girls taught Social studies using improvised instructional materials in junior secondary schools in Lagos State?
3. What is the mean performance scores of students taught Social studies in junior secondary schools in Lagos State without the use of improvised instructional materials?
4. What effect does the treatment have on the students taught Social studies using improvised instructional materials in junior secondary schools in Lagos State?

1.5      Hypotheses

The following null hypotheses were formulated for this study:

Ho1    There is no significant difference in the academic performance of Social studies students taught using improvised instructional materials and those taught without improvised instructional materials in junior secondary schools in Lagos State.

Ho2    There is no significant difference in the mean performance scores of boys and girls taught Social studies using improvised instructional materials in junior secondary schools in Lagos State.

Ho3    There is no significant difference in the mean performance scores of students taught

Social studies in junior secondary schools in Lagos State without the use of improvised instructional materials.

Ho4 There is no significant difference in the treatment effect for the students taught Social studies using improvised instructional materials in junior secondary schools in Lagos

State.

1.6 Significance of the study

It is hoped that that result of this study would provide useful insight into the improvisation of the appropriate instructional materials.

For one thing, improvisation stimulates creativity. In view of this, both the teachers and the teachers and the students will benefit. Taking a due from this study, they will be more resourceful and this will give them confidence min manipulation the materials effectively.

The government will also benefits, in that they will realize that improvisation in the permanent solution to the importation of instructional materials. Imported instructional materials could be prohibitive to the government and most schools due to the exchange rate of our currency. But, the improvisation of these materials in cost effective. Most of these materials needed are around us. We can derive them from our community resources. The resources that can be used as Instructional materials way be of four types namely: natural, human, material and institutional (Abiodun et al 2000)

In addition, curriculum developers will also learn from this study that they need to encourage the user of local teaching aids made available through improvisation instead of the imported ones. Considering the implication of cultural differences, most of the imported instructional materials are meant for another cultural setting. So they may not achieve completely the teachers’ objectives as background experience and illustrations in such materials differ from one place to another.

Conclusively, the maintenance of the imported instructional materials may pose some problems due to ill-trained or inadequate personnel. Whereas, making use of local instructional materials that are improvised may not require too much expertise because the materials are familiar to the end users.

1.7 Scope of the Study

This study will cover ten secondary schools selected in three local government areas of Lagos state. There are listed below:

Ikorodu Local Government Area

1. Oriiwu Model College, Ikorodu.
2. United High school, Ikorodu
3. Ikorodu high School, Ikorodu

Kosofe local Government Area

1. Ifako Comprehensive high School, Ifako
2. Ogugu grammar school, Ogudu
3. Ojota secondary school, Ojota
4. Christ Apolostic High School, Ketu

Mushin Local government Area.

1. Mushin comprehensive High school, Mushin
2. Oduduwa secondary school, Ladipo, Mushin
3. new state Secondary school, Olorunsojo, Mushin

This study will focus on the improvisation of material resources.

1.8 Definition of terms

Improvisation: The process whereby teachers students o the school administrators construct materials for teaching to supplement the written and spoken activities of the teachers.

Over-verbalization: This means the excessive use of words to convey meaning. During a teaching and learning situation in which the teachers continues to talk without carrying the students along.

Talk with: this is the opposite of ‘talk at’ The teaching in this situation will be an interactive one between the teacher and the students.

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