Influence of improvisation instructional materials on effective teaching of Biology in secondary schools

Influence of improvisation instructional materials on effective teaching of Biology in secondary schools

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1       Background of the Study

Instructional materials have been observed as a powerful strategy to bring about effective teaching and learning. The importance of quality and adequate instructional materials in teaching and learning can occur through their effective utilization during classroom teaching. Instructional materials here include all the tools that the teachers can use to make the learning more interesting and memorable.

 Instructional materials are essential and significant tools needed for teaching and learning of school subjects to promote teachers’ efficiency and improve students’ performance. They make learning more interesting, practical, realistic and appealing. They also enable both the teachers and students to participate actively and effectively in lesson sessions. They give room for acquisition of skills and knowledge and development of self- confidence and self- actualization. Ibeneme (2010) defined teaching aids as those materials used for practical and demonstration in the class situation by students and teachers.

Ikerionwu (2012) saw instructional materials as objects or devices that assist the teacher to present a lesson to the learners in a logical and manner. In his own perspective, Fadeiye (2015) saw instructional materials as visual and audio-visual aids, concrete or non-concrete, used by teachers to improve the quality of teaching and learning activities in Biology. Agina-Obu (205) submitted that instructional materials of all kinds appeal to the sense organs during teaching and learning.

According to Ajayi (2004), improvisation is the provision of alternatives to real things. Improvisation is the making of substitutes when the real equipment or material is not adequate or available (Okebukola, 2002). It is the art of providing and using alternative materials or resources in the absence of the real or factory made one. Oyediran (2010) also defines improvisation as the art of using materials or equipment obtained from local environment or produced by the teacher, and with the assistance of the local personnel to enhance instruction. In other to teach by inquiry method or use activity based instructions, improvisation is required since instructional materials seem not to be adequate (Okebukola, 2012).

Bassey (2012) defined improvisation as the process of making equipment and materials by the students or by engaging the services of others in the absence of real or manufactured ones. Generally, improvisation of instructional materials is an attempt to adapt and make use of local resources in the teaching/learning process when the ready- made materials are not available or are in shortfall or not within the reach of users. The teacher and the students could produce the improvised instructional materials.

Improvisation is a technique of originating a very new tool, instrument, materials, device or modifying existing ones for serving a particular purpose. Improvisation of instructional materials in secondary schools for teaching/learning purposes cannot be over- emphasized. To be able to promote quality instruction in our school system, there is the need to pay attention to improvisation of instructional materials in the teaching/learning process.

Biology is one of the science subjects that senior secondary school students offer at the senior levels in the Nigerian secondary schools, (FRN, 2014). Biology is a very important science subject and a requirement for further learning of a number of science-related professional courses like medicine, agriculture, pharmacy, etc. In contemporary Nigeria, greater emphasis is placed on science and technological development. As a result, students are being encouraged to take up science-related subjects.

Today, Biology pervades literally every field of human endeavour, and plays a fundamental role in educational advancement. This is seen in all the technological advancement in the world today, which is because of scientific investigations. Studies have shown that secondary school students are exhibiting low interest in Biology (Esiobu, 2015). This low interest of students in Biology has been traced to poor achievement in examinations. In our match towards scientific and technological advancement, we need nothing short of good achievement in Biology at all levels of schooling.

Unfortunately, achievement of students in biology at the end of the secondary school has not improved in the last decade (Esu, 2010). Folorunso (2014) has linked poor achievement trend in Biology particularly to the lack of instructional resources in schools due to poor funding of schools. The poor funding of schools has hindered the principals from providing the teachers with adequate instructional resources.

According to Olumorin (2014), stated why it is indispensible to use improvised materials in a typical Nigerian classroom situation as it serves the following purposes in the education system: It reduces the money spent on the purchase of equipment in educational institutions; ensures the realization of lesson objectives; helps in solving the problem of lack of equipment in educational institutions; gives room for a teacher to demonstrate his creative skills and gives room for the use of cheap local materials as alternatives to the expensive foreign ones. He stated that improvisation encourages students towards the development of creative abilities; strengthen enquiry, discovery and investigative method in sciences; it provides a frame of reference on which students can key their attention during classroom activities; enables teacher to think of cheaper, better and faster methods of making teaching learning process easier for students; affords students the opportunity of becoming familiar with resources in their environment.

 National policy on Education (2004) further stated that the provision and use of available instructional materials for teaching will lay a sound bases for scientific and reflective thinking among students. The real materials that are the conventional instructional materials are imported or factory made laboratory equipments for science teaching. Examples of conventional instructional materials are: microscope, herbarium, laboratory reagents, laboratory glassware, Bunsen burner, tripod stand.

It is against this background that the study sought to find out Influence of improvisation instructional materials on effective teaching of Biology in secondary schools in Nsit Ubium Local Government Area.

Influence of improvisation instructional materials on effective teaching of Biology in secondary schools

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Evidence from the studies reviewed shows that failure rate in Biology at senior certificate examinations is high. This could be attributed to a number of factors; one of such factors is lack or total absence of instructional materials. In teaching and learning, instructional materials play a key role towards concretizing learning. Instructional materials make learning meaningful and help to improve students’ academic achievement. However these advantages of instructional materials have not reflected in the education system because of the dearth of these instructional materials in our schools. Hence, the need for alternative instructional materials called improvisation.

Biology is resource intensive, and in an era of poor funding or scarcity of resources, it may be very difficult to find some of the original materials and equipment for the teaching of Biology in schools adequately, improvisation becomes the next option. Studies have shown the importance of improvisation in teaching of Biology in schools. All these studies used conventional instructional materials, but there have not been studies specifically on the effect of teaching in school. This study therefore, is geared towards finding out if the use of students’ improvised instructional materials could bring a solution to the problem of effective teaching of Biology. Hence, the problem of this study is therefore posed as a question; what is the Influence of improvisation instructional materials on effective teaching of Biology in secondary schools in Nsit Ubium Local Government Area?

1.3 Purpose of the Study

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the Influence of improvisation instructional materials on effective teaching of Biology in secondary schools in Nsit Ubium Local Government Area. This study specifically sought to determine:

1. The influence of improvised instructional materials on effective teaching of Biology in secondary schools in Nsit Ubium
2. The influence of gender on effective teaching of Biology in secondary schools in Nsit Ubium

Influence of improvisation instructional materials on effective teaching of Biology in secondary schools

1.4 Significance of the Study

The result of this finding will be of great benefit to students, teachers and educational stakeholders in the following ways:

The study will be useful to classroom teachers, curriculum planners, students, researchers and parents. For teachers they will be better informed on how to help and guide their students on better way of producing improvised materials with local resources where standardized materials are unavailable or inadequate. The teachers can also engage students to do some of the illustrations during Biology instructions.

This study will help to develop problem solving skill in students and will also help students to be more resourceful during lessons. The study could be beneficial to curriculum planners who would design functional curriculum by taking into considerations students-teachers improvised instructional materials.

The findings of this study, if discussed in workshops and seminars will guide the choice of improvised instructional materials used in the teaching/learning process in Biology and other subject areas. The findings of this study will equally help to alleviate the problem of the scarcity of instructional materials for biology teaching/learning. The results of the study could provide information to researchers interested in working on student-teachers improvised materials in other subject areas. This may help them to get more information on the efficacy of improvisation, especially researchers in the area of science and technology. Parents will be better informed on how to encourage and help their wards to produce improvised materials. This may be in form of sourcing local materials and providing fund for those that cannot be found in their environment.

1.5       Research Questions

The following   research questions were posed to guide this study:

1. What is the influence of utilization improvised instructional materials on effective teaching of Biology in secondary in Nsit Ubium Local Government Area?
2. What is the influence of gender on the use of improvised instructional materials on effective teaching of Biology in secondary in Nsit Ubium Local Government?

1.6       Research Hypotheses

The following   research questions will guide this study:

1. There is no significant influence of utilization improvised instructional materials on effective teaching of Biology in secondary in Nsit Ubium Local Government Area?
2. There is no significant influence of gender on the use of improvised instructional materials on effective teaching of Biology in secondary in Nsit Ubium Local Government

1.7     Limitation of the Study

The researcher encountered some limitation to the scope of the study

1. Availability of Research Materials:

The researcher limited the study to ten schools with availability and utilization of of instructional materials.

2. Time: the time frame allocated for the study could not enhance wider courage as the researcher has to combine other academic activities and examinations with the study.

3.  Finance: there was dearth of finance on the side of the researcher there by limiting the scope of the study to selected primary schools in the study area.

1.8    Scope of the Study

The study is on the effect of improvisation of instructional materials and effective teaching of biology in secondary schools in Nsit Ubium Local Government Area.

1.9     Operational Definition of Terms

Instructional Materials: these are tools or devices used by a teacher to motivate learners and for clarity of abstract concept in a lesson.

Teaching: this is a process of helping a person to learn.