The Attitude Of Students Towards The Study Of Social Studies

The Attitude Of Students Towards The Study Of Social Studies, A Study of Jos North

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION
Background to the study

Social studies is a subject which is taught at various levels of education in Nigeria, It is taught at the junior high school, senior secondary schools and teacher training colleges as core subjects. Even at the lower basic level of education, that is, the primary school, social studies is taught under environmental studies, now known as citizenship education. All these point to the importance attached to the study of social studies in our schools.
Social studies curriculum is based on key concepts such as democracy, justice, rights and responsibilities, identity and diversity. Teachers use topical, political and social issues to bring social studies content to life. These content areas develop in students key citizenship skills needed for research, discussion as well as debate sessions (Bining & Bining, 1952). The social studies curriculum used in senior secondary schools aims at developing in students the ability to participate in their communities meaningfully and wider societies as informed citizens (Ministry of Education 2007).The purpose of active citizens is to teach students to work together and take practical actions using their knowledge and understanding in social studies to contribute to the better society locally, nationally and globally(Bath, 1983). For example, after learning about human rights, diversity and inequality, students might decide to set up a project to address racism in their school or local community.
Among the many agencies available for social studies education are the family, peer group, mass media, the church and the school (Cleary, 1971). Of all these, the school appears to be the most potent force in the Nigeriaian society driving the course of social studies. For instance, because of the newness of democratic living in the Nigerian system, one cannot guarantee that the various family units can efficiently inset the ideas of our form of democracy in the youth. Similarly, one cannot dispute the fact that most of the youth do not have access to the mass media. The same may apply to the church. On the contrary, almost every

youth is expected by law to acquire at least basic education (Constitution of Nigeria, 1992). It is for this reason why Cleary, (1971) suggest that schools (senior secondary schools) are powerful weapon used to ensure that majority of the youth have a taste of social studies education in Nigeria.
The past 50 years have witnessed a number of studies that have attempted to understand why students either like or dislike social studies. These studies have tried to identify and measure student’s attitude about social studies and predict what influence their attitudes related to this area of the school curriculum (Corbin, 1994; Curry & Hughes, 1965; Fraser, 1981; Inskeep & Rowland, 1963; McTear &
Blaton, 1975; McTear, 1978, 1979).

Through the years, ongoing changes in curriculum design, teaching methodology, and administrative practices may have helped to improve students’ perception of social studies (Shaughnessy & Haladyna, 1985). However, most students still perceive social studies classes as dull, boring, and irrelevant to their lives. If the Social Studies curriculum is to continue to have support from school administrators, politicians, and the general public, it is desirable to have positive student attitudes towards the subject matter. This is important because it is quite possible that negative attitudes toward social studies could ultimately result in a sharp decline in the allocation of resources for this subject area.
Unfortunately, previous research indicates that young students are not positive about social studies and find it irrelevant for future careers (Schug, Todd, & Beery, 1982). Historically, when elementary and high school students were surveyed, the most dominant negative perception was that social studies was

boring and had little relevance to their lives. Femandez, Massey, and Dombush (1975; 1976) conducted one of the earliest surveys regarding student attitudes towards social studies in the San Francisco Public Schools. They found that students in grades 9 through 12 ranked social studies last in importance when compared to other core subjects such as English and mathematics. The participants described social studies as confusing and having little relationship to their future.
From the above description of social studies education in both Nigeria and the world at large, one could attest to the fact that, an exploration into student’s attitudes towards the teaching and learning of social studies will be of great relevance to the development of active citizens. It is against this background that this study sought to examine students’ attitudes towards the teaching and learning of social studies in senior secondary schools.

Statement of the Problem

The advancement of “liberty and justice for all” as envisioned by our country’s founders requires that, citizens have to acquire knowledge, attitudes and values to guard and endorse the principles of constitutional democracy (constitution of Nigeria, 1992). The success of Nigeria’s growth and stability relies strongly on its educational system. Social studies is a major part of the school’s curriculum because it explores morals, values and provides students with the ability to understand the values associated with being a good citizen ( Ministry of Education , 2007).

The marginalization of social studies education in schools has been documented repeatedly. For instance, in the United States, Lawson, (2003) surveyed hundred tenth grade students and hundred twelfth grade students in order to determine their attitudes towards the various subject areas. In the study, English, mathematics and reading were ranked ahead of social studies. Participants described social studies as boring and far from anything they could relate to in their life. This situation may result in the poor performance of students in social studies. The researchers suspect that this apparent drift may be the result of ineffective teaching and learning of Social Studies content. This study therefore investigates the attitudes students in senior secondary school have towards the teaching and learning of Social Studies.

Purpose of Study

The purpose of the study was to investigate the attitudes of senior secondary school students towards the teaching and learning of Social Studies in the Jos North LGA. Specifically, the study was guided by the following objectives:
1. Perception of senior secondary school students towards the teaching and learning of Social Studies.
2. attitudes of senior secondary schools students towards the methods used in teaching and learning of Social Studies.
3. senior secondary school students perception of social studies as a subject as compared to other core subjects.

Research Questions

The following research questions were formulated to guide the study.

  1. How do students in Senior secondary schools perceive the teaching and learning of social studies?
  2. What are the attitudes of senior secondary school students toward the methods used by teachers in the teaching and learning of Social Studies?
  3. How do students rate social studies as compared to other core subjects?

Significance of the Study

The findings of the study will contribute effectively to impart knowledge in the area of teaching and learning social studies in senior secondary schools in the Jos North and Nigeria as a whole, It will help Social Studies teachers to be able to effectively and appropriately impart knowledge to their students because teachers get to know and understand the perception of their students about the subject which provides the opportunity for new knowledge and perceptions

The study will also serve as a basic reference for both teacher and educational stakeholders and other related institutions such that they will be able to solve challenges they may encounter in dealing with issues related to the attitudes of students towards social studies. The findings of this work will not only aid players in education to take informed decisions but it will also make them understand the challenges and processes in research.

Delimitation of the Study

The study was conducted in Jos North local government .Specifically, it covered the teaching and learning of Social Studies in Senior secondary schools. The study was limited to the attitudes of students towards the teaching and learning of

social studies. The choice of the study location was based on the fact that, the researchers are familiar with schools in the Jos North LGAand this will help them obtain reliable information about the research.

Limitations of the Study

Lack of accurate and adequate information from respondents, school authorities unwillingness to allow research to be carried out in their school as well as time constraints are challenges that hinder the smooth execution of the research process in the senior secondary schools in the Jos North LGA.

Definition of Terms

  • Social Studies: Social studies isan integration of social science subjects such as Sociology, History, Geography, Economics and Psychologyfor the purpose of instruction in citizenship education. The main purpose is to train students to become useful citizens in the society and the country as a whole.

 

  • Attitudes: Attitude is how individuals behave or respond to a situation or a thing. Due to individual differences, people exhibit different behaviours towards events and circumstances. Attitudes can exert strong influence on behaviour, many powerful forces such social norms and values and specific circumstances can pressure people can act in particular ways.

 

  • Teaching and learning: it is the interaction between teachers and learners whereby knowledge is transferred from the teacher to the learners with the aim of changing student’s behavior towards the set goals.

Organization of the Study

The study is organized into five chapters, Chapter one deals with the background to the study, statement of the problem, purpose of the study, research questions, the significance of the study, delimitation, limitation and definition of terms. Chapter two deals with the review of related literature, it takes into consideration the historical overview of Social Studies, the concept of Teaching and learning, the concept attitude and perception, the concept teaching Social Studies, the methods employed by teachers to enhance effective teaching and learning of social studies, materials for teaching and learning of Social Studies and the varied characteristics of teachers and students. Chapter three presents the research method used by the researchers for the study, these includes research design, population sample and sampling technique, instruments, data collection procedure and presentation and data analysis procedure. Chapter four is concerned with results and discussion of data. Chapter five caters for the summary, conclusionrecommendations based on the findings of the study as well as suggestions for further studies.

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Mar 06

Impact Of Excursion In The Teaching And Learning Of Geography In Nigeria 

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background to the Study

Quality of geography education is of great concern for stakeholders in education including educators, teachers’ parents, students and the Nigerian community at large. The underachievement of students in geography in Numan educational zone over the years has necessitated a series of workshop for geography secondary school teachers organized by the inspectorate Division of the Ministry of Education.

Geography is one of the activity based school subject. The effectiveness of teaching in school can be measured by examining the method of teaching applied by teacher and the achievement of students in the school examination. In the measurement of students’ academic achievement in geography as a school subject, various tasks are under taken within and outside the classroom, the effectiveness of these activities lie in the instructional methods used by the teacher.

For the students of geography to achieve the best in the subject, teachers are expected to organize field visitation (Excursion ). Educational visits may be organized to suitable places where fundamental concepts, ecological process or events treated in the classroom become clearer to the students with great comprehension. This is because, Excursions generally appeal to the sense of sight, touch and hearing. Organized visits to the river side or any geographical phenomenon make the students to see in practical what was theoretically explained and learnt by them in the classroom. Excursion is an outing by the students to educational places of interest outside the classroom under the guidance of a teacher or an instructor for the purpose of getting firsthand information on people, places and things for purpose of achieving permanency of learning experience.

Excursion strategy is a method of teaching which helps to bring about an effective leaning of geography. Excursion is far from just dishing out points to students as in traditional lecture method, where the teacher simply becomes the expositor and drill master while the learner remains the listener and a store house of facts that can be retrieved when a student hear his name called by the teacher (Oganwu, 2004). This is not to say that the traditional lecture method is completely unproductive but there exists a difference between them. Excursion is activity-based which offers opportunity for learners to get first-hand information on people, places and things in order to concretize their learning experience. In Numan educational zone, it was observed that teachers dwell extensively on the traditional method of teaching without alternating it with other relevant instructional strategies such as Excursions. This has affected the performance of students in both internal and external examinations as revealed by WAEC chief examiners reports (2004-2010).

According to Instructional Strategies Online (2013), a study trip taken outside the classroom to obtain direct experience from the natural setting and to improve student’s interest in learning for collecting data, materials or objects classroom as well as to observe objects or phenomena not possible to bring within the classroom. During Excursions, the entire class visits a point of instructional interest such as Museum, factory, Hill Mountain, inselbergs valleys, river side etc. According to Duvall and Krepel (1981), Excursion is an outdoor or Excursion  or learning exercise undertaken by the teacher and the students in certain aspect of subject, particularly in geography so as to give the students the opportunity to acquire knowledge. It is a trip arranged by the school and undertaken for educational purpose in which the students go to places where the concepts for instruction may be observed and studied directly in their functional setting.

NERDC (2007) states that the Basic Technology curriculum reports that real-life experiences through community resource, Excursion, information and communication technology (ICT), learning and instructional materials and so forth, should be used to facilitate teaching and learning. Meanwhile, schools lacking the basic requirement could engage in industrial visitation through community resource persons to share  their skills, knowledge and expertise. The adoption of this teaching strategy in Numan educational zone will be of great significance as it will help address the present issue of students’ underachievement and the over reliance of teachers on the conventional method of teaching. Excursion is one of the major constructivist methods of teaching and learning. The teaching strategy is student-centered and students-directed. Teachers simply facilitate the learning task. The method allows the learner to learn through participation and observation in the learning process. Through interaction with others, learners come to understand what is being learned in the permanent way. The attempt is to shift from teacher centered to learner- centered mode of teaching.

Excursion  is a trip to places of geographical interest (Ajeagbu, 1972). Such trips may be short or long and they may be within the school environment and locality, and/or they could be considerable distance covering a number of days out of the classroom. Excursion is educationally valuable to geography teacher and students to the extent that it meaningfully relates phenomena observed outside the classroom to the subject matter taught in the classroom. For instance, students who were taught about various geographical phenomena would see it for themselves and appreciate it better and relate issues each time they are taught of geographical concepts. The importance of such a Excursion is made known to the learner for his learning and his future. The particular needs and learning experiences required for Excursion should adequately be provided by the teacher. It is within this premise that the study examined the Effect of Excursion Strategy on Senior Secondary School Academic Achievement in Geography in Numan Educational Zone.

The adoption of Excursion strategy in teaching is however cost expensive. The cost of preparation and taking the students to the site of visits requires funding. With the problem of poor funding of schools that has bedeviled the Nigerian educational system, it could be said that probably, teachers in Numan Educational Zone might have shy away from adopting this strategy due to poor funding. Irene and Baguma (2011) stated that the use of constructivist approach to teaching and learning of geography (such as Excursion strategy) can only be effective if the right learning environment is created and provided with adequate learning facilities.

Nsambugwu (2012) added that infrastructure such as library, laboratory resources, internet facilities and appropriate building and places of educational visits are the facilities that maximize the constructivist learning approach. The inadequacy of these facilities in schools is a serious setback to the proper adoption of learner’s centered instructional strategies. What facilities are available for conducting Excursions in Numan Educational Zone? The study would provide an answer to this question.

The use of Excursion as a method of teaching helps to bring about an effective leaning of geography across gender. Excursion is an interactive strategy of teaching which gives both male and female students equal opportunity to widen their practical and cultural experiences by varying their learning environments. Thus, Amosa (2013) remarked that no evidence of superiority is expected to be noticed in academic achievement based on gender, that is, if both male and female students are exposed to learning experience equally. This study however provides a conflicting report to this assertion.

In Numan Educational Zone, it was observed that the academic achievement of secondary school students in geography in recent times was not encouraging (below averageǼ and so need urgent attention. The W“EC Chief Examiner’s reports have highlighted poor candidates’ performance in SSSCE geography as a school subject continuously. This is so because, probably Geography teachers in Numan Educational

Zone still rely on the lecture method of instruction while neglecting the use of Excursion Strategy. As such, students see geography as a collection of mere ideas presented as facts. They find geographical concepts confusing and unfamiliar. Students therefore, learn geographical concepts in abstract form and are subjected to too much imagination of geographical features instead of learning through practical observation in the Excursion .

Although the learning of geography is not limited only to the classroom activities, not much is researched in areas regarding empirically documented works about the effect of Excursions on the students’ academic achievement in geography in Numan Educational Zone.

KEYWORDS

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Mar 16

Negative Influence of ICT On The Academic Performance of Junior Secondary School Students

PURCHASE 6500

A study of the negative influence of ICT on the academic performance of junior secondary school students. A CASE STUDY OF PORT HARCOURT, RIVER STATE NIGERIA

Abstract

The paper examines negative influence of ICT on the academic performance of junior secondary school students. Eight schools in Port Harcourt,Rivers State, Nigeria were selected for the study. Again, four objective questions were examined in the course of carrying out the investigation. A survey research method was employed. Data were collected using twenty-two structured items. The total population for the study was 400 respondents – 360 students and 40 teachers. The findings of the study was analyzed using simple percentage, frequency table and mean score. The result of the findings showed  that ICT can take away valuable learning time, it can  be overused, also it can  turn educational experiences into games for students and thus enhances low academic performances, it also exposes students to porn sites and can distract them during class hours. The work also tried recommending possible solutions to this effect.

Negative Influence of ICT On The Academic Performance of Junior Secondary School Students 

CHAPTER ONE/INTRODUCTION

Background to the Study

The role of technology in teaching and learning is rapidly becoming one of the most important and widely discussed issues in contemporary education policy (Rosen and Well, 1995; and Thierer, 2000). Most experts in the field of education agree that, when properly used, Information Communication Technology holds great promises to improve teaching and learning in addition to shaping workforce opportunities. This has actually gingered a new and strong desire to equip schools with computer facilities and qualified personnel necessary to produce technologically proficient and efficient students’ in developed countries of the world. Computer can aid the instructional process and facilitate students’ learning.

In Nigeria, secondary school teachers are using technology in the classroom more frequently than ever before. According to the National School Boards Association, students who are exposed to a high volume of technology perform as well as expected on standardized test, however technology can potentially do students a disservice if used inappropriately. When teaching using technology, instructors must be aware of the potential hindrances technology can bring to the learning process. Some of these negative effects of technology in today’s classroom are that it can take away valuable learning time, it can be overused, and it can also turn educational experiences into games for students.

Therefore, it is the intent of this study to identify the negative influences of Information Communication Technology on secondary schools and proffer possible solutions to this effects.

 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The proposed research framework of this study addresses social consequences of the deployment of ICTs, however this time among students and youths. According to Clarke (2010), the use of new technology in ways never originally envisaged has negative consequences for society. These negative social consequences arise through providing young children with new communications facilities without having a clear understanding of their needs for communication or their ability to deal with such new ICTs or communications channels, or how to encourage the positive usage and to discourage, or prevent usage leading to negative social consequences. Today’s ICTs are about to be replaced and surpassed by a new range of communication technological products and services. The next generation of ICT products and services will extend the power, reach, and universality of interworking and internetworking products. Pervasive and ubiquitous computing products, embedded and wearable communicating devices, and ad hoc networking technologies will bring a paradigm shift greater than that precipitated by the present ICTs such as the mobile phone, and also the complementary use of the internet and the mobile phone (Clarke, 2010). If these major problems and negative consequences, effects, and uses are not dealt with now, they will increase in a geometric progression that would outweigh the benefts of ICTs, thus a ecting development in the long run. To this e ect, this study investigates the negative use of ICTs and its implication on students, the education system, the community, and the nation.

    AIMS OF THE STUDY

The major purpose of this study is to examine the Negative Influence of ICT On The Academic Performance of Junior Secondary School Students. Other general objectives of the study are:

  1. To examine the ICT gadgets available to junior secondary schools in Port Harcourt.
  2. To examine the negative uses to which students put ICT gadgets at their disposal.
  3. To examine the negative influence of information technology on student’s academic performance in selected junior secondary schools in Port Harcourt.
  4. To examine the students beliefs about and attitudes toward the use of ICTs.
  5. To examine the relationship between information technology gadgets usage and students academic performance in Port-Harcourt
  6. To proffer possible solutions that will reduce the negative use and effect of Information Communication Technology among junior secondary student in Port Harcourt

     RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1.To examine the ICT gadgets available to junior secondary schools in Port Harcourt.

  1. To examine the negative uses to which students put ICT gadgets at their disposal.
  2. To examine the negative influence of information technology on student’s academic performance in selected junior secondary schools in Port Harcourt.
  3. To examine the students beliefs about and attitudes toward the use of ICTs.
  4. To examine the relationship between information technology gadgets usage and students academic performance.
  5. To proffer possible solutions that will reduce the negative use and effect of Information Communication Technology among junior secondary student in Port Harcourt, Rivers State Nigeria.

 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES Hypothesis 1

H0: There is no significant negative influence of information technology on student’s academic performance.

H1: There is a significant negative influence of information technology on student’s academic performance

  SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The study findings will be of immense importance in educating the parents, teachers and the students on the negative impact of these technologies on the lives of the children and students which in turn affect the country at large by reducing the academic standard  of  students  produced in the various institutions of learning within the country. The study shall therefore   serve as a reference for further research.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study is based on Negative Influence of ICT On The Academic Performance of Junior Secondary School Students

LIMITATION OF STUDY

Financial constraint– Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

Time constraint– The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.

   DEFINITION OF TERMS

Performance: Performance according to Microsoft Encarta dictionary, (2009) refers to working effectiveness: the way in which somebody does a job, judged by its effectiveness. Performance also means, “accomplishment of something: the act of carrying out or accomplishing something such as a task or action”. In this study, Academic performance refers to students SSCE, and NECO examinations outcome‟. While academic activities refers to students outside classes activities including extra lessons, tutorial, their attendance of library and their reading at home.

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