ABSTRACT
The study sought to investigate the Perceived Teacher Factors that influences students’ academic performance in agricultural science in government secondary schools in Umuahia education zone of Abia state. The teacher factors in this study were: teacher Qualifications, teacher year of work experiences, teacher use of teaching methods, and teacher family sizes. The design used for this study was descriptive survey. A sample of 378 teachers (171 male and 207 female) from a population of 6881 were used for the study. Stratified proportionate random sampling technique was used for the study. The researcher self-constructed instrument titled ‘Teacher Factor on Student’s Academic Performance Questionnaire (TFSAPQ) made up of 28 items was used for data collection. The instrument was trial-tested and the reliability index determined using test-retest method. The reliability index was calculated using Pearson Product Moment Correlation formula and a reliability co-efficient of 0.71 was realized. The instrument was face validated by three experts. The data collected was analyzed using mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions while t-test was used to test the null hypotheses. The findings of the study revealed that teacher qualification, teacher year of work experience and teacher family size influence the academic performance of students in agricultural science. More so, teachers use of different methods of teaching affect the academic performance of students in agricultural science. Therefore, teachers without working experience and adequate qualification should not teach agricultural science in secondary schools. Based on the findings recommendations were made.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title
Page i
Declaration ii
Certification iii
Dedication iv
Acknowledgements v
Table
of Contents vi
List
of Tables viii
Abstract ix
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study 1
1.2 Statement of the Problem 3
1.3 Purpose of the Study 5
1.4 Research Questions 5
1.5 Hypotheses 6
1.6 Significance of the Study 6
1.7 Scope of the Study 7
CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1 Conceptual Framework 9
2.1.1 The concept of teacher factors 9
2.1.2 Teacher experiences 10
2.1.3 Teacher qualification 14
2.1.4 Teaching methods 16
2.1.5 Teacher’s family size 20
2.1.6 Concept of agriculture 21
2.1.7 Academic performance of students 22
2.2 Theoretical framework 23
2.2.1 Piaget theory of cognitive constructivism 23
2.2.2 Walberg’s theory of academic performance 24
2.2.3 Vygotsky’s theory of social constructivism 25
2.3 Empirical studies 26
2.4 Summary of related literature 30
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY
3.1 Design of the study 32
3.2 Area of the study 32
3.3 Population of the study 33
3.4 Sample and sampling techniques 33
3.5 Instrument for data collection 33
3.6 Validation of the instrument 34
3.7 Reliability of the instrument 34
3.8 Method of data collection 34
3.9 Method of data analysis 35
CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4.1 Results presentation 36
4.2 Discussion of the findings 43
CHAPTER 5: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Summary 45
5.2 Conclusion 46
5.3 Recommendations 47
5.4 Educational implication for the study 47
5.5 Limitation of the study 48
5.5 Suggestions for further research 48
References 49
Appendices 53
LIST OF TABLES
4.1 Mean
responses on the perceived influence of Teacher qualifications on 37
Students Academic Performance in Agricultural Science
4.2 Mean responses on the
perceived influence of Teacher years of 38
experience
on Students Academic Performance in Agricultural Science
4.3 Mean responses on the
perceived influence of Teachers’ use of teaching 39
method
on Students Academic Performance in Agricultural Science
4.4 Mean responses on the
perceived influence of Teachers’ family size on 40
Students
Academic Performance in Agricultural Science
4.5 t-test analysis of male and
female Teachers mean responses on 41
influence
of Teachers’ Qualifications on Students’ academic performance in Agricultural Science
4.6 t-test analysis of the mean
responses of male and female 42
Teachers
on the perceived influence of Teachers’ Work Experience
on Students’ academic performance in Agricultural
Science
4.7 t-test analysis of mean
responses of male and female Teachers on 42
the perceived influence of Teachers’ use of
teaching methods
on
Students’ academic performance
4.8 t-test analysis of the mean
responses of male and female 43
Teachers
on the perceived influence of Teachers’ Family Size on
the
Students’ academic performance in Agricultural Science.
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
In
Nigeria, public discussions frequently focus on educational standards. Most
educationists and general public are becoming worried about poor academic performance
of students seen in the annual release of the West African Senior School
Certificate Examination (WASSCE) result and other internal and external
examinations. The performance of students in these examinations is of great
concern to students themselves, parents, school administrators, teachers,
government and the general public. The 2009 Senior School Certificate
Examination result for example, recorded an abysmal 98% failure (George, 2000)
and this shocked everybody. Many reasons were attributed for failure, but a
sizable chunk of blame went to the teachers for it is felt that students’
performance in examination is partly a function of teachers’ effectiveness
(George, 2000).
The
National Policy on Education stated that “no educational system can rise above
the quality of teachers in the system” (Federal Government of Nigeria, FGN,
2006). Furthermore, Ogunsaju (2004) stated that the academic standard in all
Nigerian educational institution has fallen considerably below societal
expectations. Blumende (2001) corroborated this view when he reported that the
decline in the quality of education cannot be ignored by anyone who is aware of
the significant role of education. It is
an instrument for societal transformation and development.
The
success of any teaching and learning process which invariably influences
student academic performance depends on how effective and efficient the
teachers are as well as their qualification. Teachers who are personally
in-charge of teaching and implementing educational goals cannot be neglected,
if the educational goals are to be attained. No matter how good an educational
policy may be on paper, it may fail to accomplish its desired goals if not
properly implemented by teachers who are educational policy implementers. Because
of the central position teachers occupy in influencing academic performance of
students, this study seeks to find out the perceived teacher factors on
academic performance of students in Agricultural Science in Umuahia North
education zone of Abia State.
A
teacher (also called a school teacher or, in some contexts, an educator) is a
person who helps others to acquire knowledge, competences or values (Ediger & Rao, 2005).
Informally the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. when showing a colleague
how to perform a specific task). In some countries, teaching young people of
school age may be carried out in an informal setting, such as within the
family, (homeschooling) rather than in a formal setting such as a school or
college. Teaching is a respectable
profession and effective teaching is always being important for producing the
desired outcomes. Good teaching is important and helpful in multiple ways as
students differ from one another and make betterment in learning opportunities
for these differences (Ediger & Rao, 2005).
Teacher
factor are the dynamics of teachers, study has shown that effective teachers are the most important factor contributing to student
achievement. It is clear that the common denominator in school improvement and
student achievement is the teacher.
This can be attributed to perceived teacher factors such as; teachers’
qualification, experience and methods are all teacher factors.
According
to Taylor, Pearson, Clark and Walpole (2002), effective
teachers are capable of inspiring significantly greater learning gains in their
students when compared with their weaker colleagues.
Academic
performance is the extent to which a student, teacher or institution has
achieved their educational goals. Academic performance is commonly measured by
examination as continuous assessment. Academic performances are the performance of the pupils in
the subjects they study in the school. This determines the students’ status in
the class (Pandney, 2008). Individual differences in
academic performance have been linked to differences in intelligence and
personality Pandney
(2008). There are seeming limited literatures on
the influence of teacher factors on academic performance of students in
Agricultural Science in Umuahia education zone of Abia state. This study
therefore seeks to benefit the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Education,
Teachers and Students; this will help them in their modus operandi. This is the
gap the study intends to fill.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The success and failure of any school
curriculum depends on the teacher because the teacher is the major factor in
the implementation of any curriculum. Thus, for effective teaching and learning
to take place in the school, certain factors around the teacher need to be considered
such as qualified and experienced teachers, adequate teaching materials,
adoption of the appropriate teaching method, co-operation of the students and
the school administration.
The Federal Government of Nigeria
(FGN, 2013) enumerated the following as the roles of Agricultural Science in
Nigeria among other things include: to ensure food and fiber supply, supply of
adequate raw materials, supply of income, employment and development of rural
areas. More so agriculture contributes to 60% of the export earning of Nigeria
and about 90% food need of the people.
To achieve the objective of the
agricultural science, the National Curriculum on Agriculture for Secondary
School stated that agricultural science at secondary schools should be taught
theoretically and practically so as to develop the right skills and value in
agricultural production in the students. Thus, the federal government have
through the ministry of education have devoted a good percentage of the annual
project to the teaching and practice of agriculture.
Several attempts have been made at
improving teacher qualification, teaching method, these effort have not been
proportionately reflected in student overall performance, rather such attempts
have only sustained the highly bookish curriculum inherited from the colonial
masters and made the educational system consumptive rather than productive
(Jimoh, 2008). Therefore there is need for teachers to acquire enough skills to
make them relevant technologically. The mass failure of the students was
attributed to ineffective teaching of Agricultural Science starting from the
junior secondary school. Ineffective teaching may be as result of use of
non-qualified and inexperienced teachers, use of wrong teaching methods by the
teachers, inadequate or non-usage of appropriate teaching aids as well as
negative attitude towards vocational courses shown by the students and the
school management (Ndem and Akubue, 2016).
It has been reported that many
secondary schools in Afikpo education zone of Ebonyi State, Nigeria, use
biology teachers to teach agricultural science at the secondary schools which
invariably contributed to mass failure of students in the subject in senior
secondary school examination (Ewa, 2012). More so, the poor performance of students
in senior secondary schools examination has made it impossible for many
students to gain admission into higher institution to study vocational courses (Ndem
and Akubue 2016).
This study therefore sought at
examine the perceived teacher factors influencing students’ performance in
Agricultural Science in Umuahia Education Zone of Abia State.
1.3
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The purpose of this study is to
investigate the Perceived Teacher Factors influencing Student’s Academic
Performance in Agricultural Science in Umuahia Education Zone of Abia State.
The specific objectives of the study are to:
1. determine
the perceived influence of teachers’ qualifications on students’ academic
performance in Agricultural Science in secondary school in Umuahia Education zone
of Abia state.
2.
determine the perceived influence of teachers’
work experience on students’ academic performance in Agricultural Science in
secondary schools in Umuahia Education zone of Abia state.
3 determine
the perceived influence of teachers’ use of teaching method on students’
academic performance in Agricultural Science in secondary schools in Umuahia
Education zone of Abia state.
4 determine
the perceived influence of teachers’ family size on students’ academic performance in Agricultural Science in
secondary schools in Umuahia Education zone of Abia state.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The following research questions were
posed to guide the study.
1. What
is the perceived teacher factor of qualification influencing students academic
performance in Agricultural Science in secondary schools in Umuahia Education
zone of Abia state?
2. What
is the perceived teacher factor of work experience influencing students academic
performance in Agricultural Science in secondary schools in Umuahia Education
zone of Abia state.
3. What
is the perceived teacher factor of methods of teaching in Agricultural Science
in the study area?
4. What
is the perceived teacher factors of family size influencing students’ academic
performance in Agricultural Science in secondary school in Umuahia Education
zone of Abia state?
1.5 HYPOTHESES
The study will be guided by the
following hypotheses which will be tested at 0.05 level of significance.
Ho1: There is no significant difference between the mean responses of
male and female teachers on the influence of teachers’ qualification on students’
academic performance in Agricultural Science.
Ho2: There is no significant difference between the mean responses of
male and female teachers on the factors of work experience influencing students’ academic performance in Agricultural
Science.
Ho3: There is no significant different between the mean responses of
male and female teacher on the factors of methods of teaching influencing
students academic performance in Agricultural Science.
Ho4: There is no significant different between the mean responses of
male and female teachers on the factors of family size influencing students’
academic performance in Agricultural Science.
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The application of the findings of
this study when published will be of an immense benefit to the following: the
students, teachers, ministry of education, ministry of education and other
researchers.
The finding of this study will
benefit the students in the area of knowing how to relate with their teachers
and authority, because a cordial relationship among students and teachers will
bring out the best in student academic performance.
The findings the study will benefit
the teachers in assisting them plan and present their lesson excellently, and
those unqualified teachers to go and further their studies so as to meet the
minimum required qualification for teaching.
The finding of this study will be
beneficial to the government by revealing the effect of teacher factor on
students’ academic performance in our schools. It will consequently guide in
adopting a new policy of recruiting teacher i.e. those with knowledge of
content, teaching experience, professional certificate and overall academic
ability.
The findings of the study will benefit
individuals who are interested in knowing the factor of on students’ academic
performance, and help in conference writing related to the area.
Also, it will benefit the society to
dictate what is to be included in the curriculum so as to improve the quality
of the teacher as well as the student.
Finally, the findings of the study
will benefit the curriculum planners. The information from this study will be
of benefit to the curriculum developers of the national policy on education to
forestall all the lapses during the course of building.
1.7 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The
study sought at determine the perceived teacher factors influencing students’ academic
performance in Umuahia North Education zones of Abia State. The research study
is delimited to secondary schools offering Agricultural Science at SSCE level.
The content scope of the study includes; Teacher qualification on students
academic performance on Agricultural Science, Teachers’ year of experience, teachers’ use of methods of teaching in Agricultural
Science, and teachers family size on student academic performance on
agricultural science. The respondents for this study was delimited to teachers’
in government secondary schools in Umuahia education zone
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