THE EFFECT OF VISUAL AIDS ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN BIOLOGY
TABLE
OF CONTENT
Page
No
Title
page…………………………………..
Approval
page ……………………………..
Certification ……………………………….
Dedication…………………………………
Acknowledgement …………………………
Table
of content……………………………
Abstract
……………………………………
CHAPTER ONE: Introduction
Background
to the study …………………..
Statement
of the study …………………….
Purpose
of the study ………………………
Significance
of the study…………………
Research
questions ……………………….
Research
hypothesis ……………………...
Delimitation
of the Study ………………...
Definition
of terms ……………………….
CHAPTER TWO: Review of related
literature
Definition
of Visual Aids ……………….
Teaching
with Visual Aids ……………...
Classification
of Teaching Aids …………
The
role of Teacher in the Use of Visual Aids…
Advantages
of the Use of Visual Aids …..
Summary
of the Review Literature………
CHAPTER THREE: Methodology
Research
Design ………………………
Population
and Sampling Techniques…
Research
Procedure ……………………
Validation
of the Research Instrument...
Method
of Data Analysis……………..
CHAPTER FOUR: Results and
Discussion
Data
Analysis…………………………
Discussion
of Findings ………………..
CHAPTER FIVE: Summary, Conclusion
and Recommendations
Summary
……………………………..
Conclusion……………………………
Recommendations
……………………
REFERENCES …………………….
APPENDIX I
……………………….
APPENDIX II ………………………
ABSTRACT
This study
focused on the effect of visual aids on the academic performance of senior
secondary school students’ in Biology in Ikere Local Government Area of Ekiti
State. Three research questions were raised for the purpose of effectively
carrying out the study, questionnaires were structured to elicit information
from students in two schools from the aforementioned local government. 30
students were randomly selected from the two schools fifteen from each schools
divided into group A and B, group A were taught with varieties of visual aids
necessary for th topic while in case of group B no teaching aids was used. It
was revealed from the analysis that students’ from group A performed better
than students’ from group B. It was thus further recommended by the researcher
that it is necessary for government and school authorities to provide adequate
funds for the acquisition and preservation of visual aids. Also, the use of
“chalk- talk” method in teaching biology should be fairly minimized and give
room for the use of essential modern visual aids as it is in the advance
countries at this computer age.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background
to the Study
Education, according to Coombs
(1970) consists of two components. He classified these two components into
inputs and outputs. According to him, inputs consist of human and material
resources and outputs are the goals and outcomes of the educational process.
Both the inputs and outputs form a dynamic organic whole and if one wants to
investigate and assess the educational system in order to improve its performance,
effects of one component on the other must be examined.
The place of science in the
development and fuifillment of the needs of any country is not in doubt. For
instance, major advances in science and technology have helped nation to
promote efficiency. Self reliance and the overall wellbeing of humanity through
inventions/ innovations in telecommunication, transportation, health,
agriculture etc. (Oyediji, 2010). Simpson and Anderson (2016) had put the
picture on how science affects our lives in this form.
Science
affects every aspect of our lives: what we eat and what we wear, what we so as
work, what we do as play, what we think and what we feel, even how we are born
and how we die. Few moments in our lives are untouched by the products and
processes of science.
Instructional resources which are
educational inputs are of vital importance to the teaching of any subject in
the school curriculum. Wales (1995) was of the opinion that the use of
instructional resources would make discovered facts glued firmly to the memory
of students. Savoury (2008) also added that, a well-planned and imaginative use
of visual aids in lessons should do much to banish apathy, inadequacy of books
as well as arouse students interest by giving them something practical to see
and do, and at the same time helping to train them to think things out
themselves.
In Nigeria, the National policy on
Education (FRN, 2004) clearly spells out the objectives of science teaching
from pre-primary to the tertiary level. Specifically, at the secondary level it
entails equipping students to live effectively in our modern age of science and
technology.
The global change in science
curriculum arising from knowledge explosion and new wave in science and
technological development demands for qualitative science teaching. According
to Oludipe and Lasis (2006) the change calls for the provision and utilization
of resources which tend to enhance the effective teaching and learning of
science. Resources materials are all the materials, objects and aids that can
be used in helping children to learn. Achimagu (2006) classified resource
materials into classroom/laboratories equipment/chemicals and textual/audio
visual materials. For the purpose of this work, resources for science teaching
are classified into material and human resources. Human resources refer to
science teachers and laboratory attendants. While material resources play an
integral role in the teaching and learning of science as they serve to
stimulate thinking, make learning enjoyable, interesting, exciting and
concrete.
Jekayinfa
(2001) suggested a catalogue of useful visual aids that are good for teaching
biology i.e. pictures, post cards, diagrams, maps, filmstrips and models.
Gbamanja (2003) opined that the use
of materials in teaching could make learning more practical, applicable and
meaningful. Citing Hoban (1999), he went further to stress the fact that
resource materials are things that;
1. supply
a concrete basis for conceptual thinking and reduce meaningless word responses
of pupils
2. Make
learning more permanent.
3. Have a high degree of interest for the
learner.
4. Offer a reality of experience which stimulates
self-activity on the part of pupils.
5. Develop a continuity of thought.
6. Contribute to growth of meaning and, hence to
vocabulary development.
7. Provide
experiences not easily obtained through other materials and contribute to the
efficiency, depth and variety of learning.
Materials resources remain useless
if there are no qualified teachers to put them into use. Thus, the science
teacher is an indispensable human resource who has a vital role to play in the
utilization of all other resources.
Jekayinfa (2001) said that
selection of materials which are related to the basic contents of a course or a
lessons, helps in-depth understanding of such a lesson by the students in that
they make the lesson attractive to them, thereby arresting their attention and
thus, motivating them to learn. He suggested a catalogue of aids which could be
used to teach biology. He advocated the use of pictures which will help
children in grounding their thought and feelings. He said that pictures are
used as alternatives to real objects where it is impossible to show students
the real objects, and they do serve effectively in tan imagined activities.
The use of visual aids in teaching
is a modern technique in teaching and learning processes. Visual learning
materials can be quite effective in enriching the classroom exprience for
students by enabling them to observe situations and processes which are
otherwise difficult to portray inside the classroom. (Katsioloudis, 2007). There
is an extensive evidence in the literature to support the claim that the use of
digital visual materials either static images or video in the instruction
process can raise students’ attenion levels and can also significantly improve
their performnance in retention and comprehension tasks (Hoban & Ormer,
1970; Katsiolondis, 2007) such evidence exists across all grades of schooling (ranging
from middle school all the way up to university eductaion) and in almost all curricula, although science education
seems to have received the greatest amount of research attention (Katsioloudis,
2007).
There is a general consensus among
both researchers and practitioners that visual materials are effective in the
classroom only when used as a supplement and not as a substitute to basic
teachning tools like textbooks, blackboards and the teacher’s voice (Hoban
& Ormer, 1970). However the issue of how to use visual materials to play
this supplemental role so as to maximize their peclagogical impact is still a
subject of debate and reserach (Su, 2009). The issue is particularly pertinent
for schools in devleoping regions where such aids are just begining to find
their way into the classroom, while the standards of teaching in the schools
remains below par.
Visual
aids are tools that help to make an issue or lesson clearer or easier to
understand and know (pictures, Models, Charts, Maps, Videos, slides, real
objects e.t.c) Cartier (2011). The reasons for accepting Biology as a
discipline to be taught by the use of visual aids are not farfetched.
Science
generally seems especially suitable for visual (Cartier, 2011) because;
i.
It increases the amount of knowledge
transferred to learners at a specific
time
ii.
It reduces the work of labour of teachers
in their transferring of knowledge of learners
iii.
Students can learn in their own with it
iv.
It gives schools an opportunity to do some
desirable things which otherwise are not possible or feasible which can be handled
more easily and effectively.
It is also very vital to have
sufficient and adequate human resources in terms of teacher quality for the
teaching of all subjects in the school curriculum without the teachers as implementing
factors the goals of education can never be achieved. In order to achieve a
just and egalitarian society as spelt out in the Nigerian National Policy of
Education (1981) school should be properly and uniformly equipped to promote
sound and effective teaching. Suitable textbooks, qualified teachers, libraries
which are adequate should also be provided for schools scarcities of these,
According to Coombs (1970) will constraint educational system from responding
more fully to new demands.
In order to raise the quality of
education its efficiency and productivity, better learning material are needed.
Knezewich (1975) also stressed the importance of having appropriate personnel
plan, and adequate physical facilities to support educational effort.
Statement
of the Problem
The
study is to investigate the correlation between the use of visual aids and the
rate at which the students improve in their performance, the study is to be
carried out using some selected secondary schools in Ekiti-State, this can be
accomplished by finding answers to these problems.
a. Do
students understand and perform better academically when taught with visual
aids
b. What is the impact of visual instructional
materials on the rate of academic performance of students in Biology.
c. Can
visual aids stimulates students interest
d. How can they be utilized in improving
students’ academic performance in Biology.
Purpose
of the Study
The
purpose of this study is to examine the effect of visual aids on academic
performance of senior Secondary School students in Biology in Ikere local government
area of Ekiti State.
Significant
of the Problem
As it
is known that teaching aids are one of the important teaching facilities and
they are essential during teaching, tthey facilitate and make easy to learn,
teach and present a theme easily; Visual aids may provide the chance to learn
visually and are more effective and easy for human beings. During teaching with
visual aids and models students try to recognise it or know its functions and
try to have its interpretation, to understand its use, they compare it with
their pre-concepts assimilating the new phenomenon and seeking to know about
it. Hence it is good to activate the students or keep them active for elicting
in teachning and learning process. But most of the teachers do not use enough visual
aids as teaching materials. This may cause barriers to teaching and learning
process and directly affects the learning outcomes. This research want to find
out teachers views about the visual aids use during teaching and learning.
Because
it should explore those teachers views, who do not believe the importance of
visual aids or some other factor affecting it. The other factors investigating
is male and female according to experience and two different locations. In
addition to that the most important problem is that there is no research about
this specific topic (visual aids) in the country. If my study shows positive
results, some teachers may be convinced to use it and their use may contribute
to good achievement of education.
Finally this work will be of immense
benefit to inspectors and supervisors of education. It will furnish them with
the number of educational visual aids available in schools and the extent to
which they are properly utilized so that the biology teacher will be efficient
effective and dedicated to work by imparting meaningful and positive learning
into the students.
Research
Questions
From the stated objective the
following research questions were raised;
1.
Is there any significant difference in
the achievement mean score of Biology students in school with adequate material
resources and achievement mean score of students with inadequate material
resources?
2. Is
there any significant relationship between availability of visual aids and
academic performance of students in Biology?
3.
Is there any significant relationship
between the use of visual aids and the achievement in Biology?
Research
Hypotheses
From the stated objective the
following hypothesis are to be tested:
i.
There is no significant difference in
the achievement mean score of biology students in school with adequate material
resources in biology and score of student with inadequate material resources in
Biology.
ii.
There is no significant relationship
between availability of visual aids and academic performance of student in biology.
iii.
There is no significant relationship
between the use of visual aids and the achievement in biology.
iv.
There is no significant difference
between the academic performance of student taught with visual aids and those
taught without visual aids.
Delimitation of the Study
The
study is limited to the effect of visual aids on the academic performance of
senior secondary school students in Biology, two (2) Senior Secondary Schools
in Ikere Local Government area of Ekiti State were used as sample for the
purpose of this study due to time frame and financial constraint of the
researcher.
Definition
of Terms
It is important that one describes
and defines the term specially used in this project in order to ensure total
clarity of all terms:
Visual
Aids: Visual aids are any specifically prepared drawings
illustration, model, motion, pictures, filmstrips or other devices that will
expedite learning develop other meanings cultivate appreciate and stimulates
interest in learning through the use of sense of sight or vision
Achievement:
The
act of finishing attaining and to carryout success fully a given task.
Academic
Performance: It is the display or evidence of
knowledge scholastic achievement of skills develop as shown by the scores in an
examination
Pre-Test:
Test
administered before the post-test treated of the topic. It is usually given
before the teaching process to know the background knowledge of the learner
concerned
Post-Test:
This
is administered after the treatment of the topic. It is usually given at the
end of the learning and was designed to know the achievement gain of knowledge
in the treated topic
Senior
Secondary School: The last three years spent under the second
tiers programme of secondary school education of the 6-3-3-4 system.
