ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to determine the correlation of the factors affecting academic performance with the performance levels of adults in adult and continuing education in Ado Odo Ota local government area, Ogun state. These factors were arbitrarily selected from the literature review. The research design selected was the empirical approach. A sample of 40 students was randomly selected from a population of 420 in Ado Odo. Questionnaires were used as the research instrument. Other instruments used were adult learning style inventory, attendance registers and mid-year mark sheet record. The research findings indicate that attendance and academic self-concept have a strong positive correlation with performance. Learning styles and Age were also found to affect performance while marital status and income did not significantly affect performance.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Nigeria still struggles with adult literacy problems (EFA Global Monitoring Report, 2007). However, this has been declining considering it was once. This makes Nigerians insightful when it comes to issues concerning education. The recent years has many adults pursuing further education to improve different productive skills and credentials that are needed in the shrinking job market. In an attempt to acquire these skills many adults attend evening classes. Some want to acquire basic education, for example, General Certificate Education Ordinary level. The General Certificate Education Ordinary Level has the grading A, B, C, D, E, with C being the lowest pass and A being the highest pass. The Nigeriaan requirements for a full certificate are five ‟O‟ Level credits, which include English Language. The recent years have seen a pass in Mathematics also made compulsory. This has led to many adults who do not have a full certificate going back to school. In order to cater for these needs the Ministry of Education Sports and Culture in Nigeria has set a programme in public schools where “O‟ Level is being taught after normal working hours. These students are called private candidates. It has been observed that the pass rate of private candidates is low compared to those attending conventional school. Their results show that some candidates register but do not write the examination.
Lemmer and Dekker (1993) clearly state that no factor is more important for positive school outcomes than the children’s perception of the teacher’s attitude toward them and expectations. They claim that when students believe that their teachers care about them, see them as competent, respect their views and desire their success, they tend to work toward fulfilling those high expectations. Teachers‟ expectations of pupils‟ performance and abilities can operate as a self-fulfilling prophecy within a classroom (Lemmer and Dekker, 1993). There are tendencies for the performance of the pupils to conform to the expectations declared by the teacher. According to Shalveson and Marsh (1986), students’ attitude towards their ability to influence their academic outcome does affect their performance. Schneider et al. (2012) argues that students’ feelings, attitudes, and perceptions they hold about their academic ability that is, academic self-concept, does affect their performance. When students have low academic self-concept they shift to self-handicapping. This method shifts blame away from the individual, and allows them to have excuses for failure. Students are more likely to achieve high marks when they believe in their own capacities and do not feel anxious about the learning process, (Schneider et al., 2012). Shalveson and Marsh (1986) also states that Self-efficacy in mathematics affects students‟ willingness to take on challenging tasks and the amount of effort and persistence. Bandura (1994) cites that students were asked to what extent they believe in their own ability to handle learning situations in mathematics effectively, overcoming difficulties tackling them. Results showed that self-efficacy and self-concept did affect performance and was also a key impact on motivation.
Adult literacy center is a place where adults are taught how to read and write. The goal of the Adult Literacy Center (ALC) is to improve literacy in adults, resulting in enhanced self-esteem, daily living, and life-long learning. Utilizing volunteers and new technologies, the ALC improves the quality of adults’ lives by helping them learn to read, write and comprehend. Adult literacy center was created to help uneducated people in Ado Odo Ota local government area, Ogun state.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Adults are faced with various difficulties in their learning. Age has a lot to do with educational performance, it is easy for young people to understand and assimilate fast than adults. Therefore, there is need to develop instructional teaching aids for easy teaching of Adult learners in adult literacy centers in Ado Odo Ota local government area, Ogun state. This is expected to improve positive learning attitude among students, and performance of adult learners in Ado odo ota local government area, Ogun state.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The main objective of this study is to research the effect of the use of instructional teaching aids on learning attitudes of adult learners in adult literacy centers, Ado Odo Ota local government area, Ogun state.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
- Does demographic profile affect adult academic performance?
- Does access to instructional material contribute towards academic performance of adult learners?
- Do learning styles of adult learners affect academic performance?
1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY.
This study will affect teachers of adult learners in adult literacy centers, to identify the effects of instructional teaching aids on learning and performance of their students. This study will also improve the learning attitudes of adult learners positively in adult literacy centers, Ado Odo Ota local government area, Ogun state.
1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
This study focus on the effect of the use of instructional teaching aids on the performance of adult learners in adult literacy centers, Ado Odo Ota local government area, Ogun state.
- DEFINITION OF TERMS
ILLITERACY: the inability to read or write, the ineffective educational system meant that illiteracy was widespread.
ADULT LITERACY: Generally, ‘literacy’ also encompasses ‘numeracy’, the ability to make simple arithmetic calculations. Adult illiteracy is defined as the percentage of the population aged 15 years and over who cannot both read and write with understanding a short simple statement on his/her everyday life.
LEARNING ATTITUDE: The word attitude refers to an individual’s orientation toward an item, person, concept, institution, social process, or situation, and is indicative of his/her web of beliefs and perceptions, based on either direct experience or observational learning
Student attitudes on learning determine their ability and willingness to learn.
TEACHING AID: an object (such as a book, picture, or map) or device (such as a dvd or computer) used by a teacher to enhance or enliven classroom instruction audiovisual teaching aids
1.8 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY
This research work is organized in five chapters, for easy understanding, as follows;
Chapter one is concern with the introduction, which consist of the (overview, of the study), historical background, statement of problem, objectives of the study, research hypotheses, significance of the study, scope and limitation of the study, definition of terms and historical background of the study. Chapter two highlights the theoretical framework on which the study is based, thus the review of related literature. Chapter three deals on the research design and methodology adopted in the study. Chapter four concentrate on the data collection and analysis and presentation of finding. Chapter five gives summary, conclusion, and recommendations made of the study.
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