INVESTIGATION OF THE INFLUENCE OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIAL ON TEACHING OF BIOLOGY AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AMONG NURSING SCHOOL STUDENTS
ABSTRACT
The study examines the influence of instructional managements in teaching of Biology and academic achievement among Nursing School Students in School of Nursing, Ilorin, Kwara State.
The study was carried out in Kwara State School of Nursing, Ilorin with 150 students made up the sampling population randomly selected using stratified random sampling technique, three research questions to collect relevant data for the study which was analyzed using frequency count and percentage statistical tool.
The findings revealed that instructional materials influence teaching and learning processes, it make learning more concrete and facilitate effective understanding of the difficulty aspect of the subject (Biology).
However, the recommendation put forward is that, teachers should be well-trained on the use of instructional materials in their teaching and that adequate fund should be provided for the school to secure necessary and appropriate instructional materials relevant to different instructions.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGES I
CERTIFICATION II
DEDICATION III
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS IV
ABSTRACT VI
TABLE OF CONTENTS VII
LIST OF TABLES X
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study 1
Statement of the Problem 5
Purpose of the Study 6
General Questions 6
Research Questions 7
Significance of the Study 8
Delimitation of the Study 9
Definition of Major Terms 9
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF LITERATURE
The Concept of Instructional Materials 11
Classification and Criteria for Instructional Material
Utilization in Classroom Interaction 15
Factors Influencing Biology Instruction in Nursing
Schools 20
Influence of Instructional Materials and Quality of
Instruction in Biology 24
Instructional Materials and Students Academic
Achievement 33
Summary of Literature Reviewed 36
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Design 40
Population 41
Sample and Sampling Technique 41
Research Instrument 41
Validity of the Instrument 42
Reliability of the Instrument 43
Administration of the Instrument 43
Procedure for Data Analysis 43
CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Results 44
Discussion 51
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
Summary 53
Conclusion 54
Implication of the Study 55
Recommendations 55
Limitation of the Study 56
Suggestions for Further Studies 57
REFERENCES 59
APPENDIX 61
LIST OF TABLES
Table 4.1: Percentage of Male and Female
Respondents 45
Table 4.2: Respondent Age Range 45
Table 4.3: Uses of the available instructional material in
teaching by the teachers in Nursing
School. 47
Table 4.3: Showing Relevance of Instructional Materials
in Nursing School Students Academic
Achievement 50
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
In recent years science has become a highly esteemed and important set of subjects in the country, moreso, that newly in the history of human kind has a society been so dependent upon scientific knowledge as ours. This made science educators to be greatly concerned with students opinion and their attitude to the teaching of science subjects in our schools.
Science as a discipline is termed to be creative structure built upon facts while Daramola (1998) saw science as the utilization of physical objects in the exploration of natural phenomena and betterment of living for human beings. Scientific knowledge is needed by all citizens so as to have an ideal of the way by which they feed cloth and provide shelters for themselves.
This human imagination can lead to the provision of material which enhances human welfare through the process of apprehending human needs. The scientific method consist of the process, observation and experimentation which leads to critical explanation of the nature through in the universe.
Biology is a branch of science which deals with the study of living and non-livings that is both plants and animals. Biology as a science subject is one of the elementary course in Nursing School Curriculum as it deals the study of cells, organs, tissues, their functions and system which helps in the development of scientific skills, attitude and interest as well as the provision of biological factors, concepts and principles (Sargin, 2001).
Biology education is beneficially to individual in many ways, these include;
⦁ Helping the individual to understand the parts of the body and its function.
⦁ Enabling one to question superstition.
⦁ Bringing into focus the need to maintain good health.
⦁ Promoting the individual for choice of career such as teaching, medicine, nursing and pharmacy e.t.c.
Because of its numerous benefits, biology is a very popular choice among science subject nation wide. It is offered by candidate sitting for the Senior Secondary School Certificate (SSCE O’Level) compulsory.
Instructional materials are relevant for the teaching of biology and they are very exclusive as it help to facilitate effective understanding of the rudimentary aspect of the subject.
Salami (2005) defined instructional materials as collection of materials and equipment that can be used to facilitate the process of communication otherwise called interaction in the classroom teaching. Such materials are organized and used to effect a control of message, to motivate, catch and hold attention, stimulate the function of the human sense thus aiding understanding and interpretation and or recreation of meaning.
The teaching of biology in Nigerian schools is aimed at the attainment of the following objectives to create awareness on the importance of the subject to equip the student with the ability to discover their environment and recognized the scientific basis of some natural environment around them. Biology is relevant to heath technological development, feeding and general welfare of people.
Its scope and potential is relevant to environmental education through such courses as ecology/microbiology, medicine, pharmacology, nursing, physiology. Its roles as a transforming a great recognized as crucial especially in developing economy.
In view of this acts any improvement in the teaching and learning process of biology were seen as a step to sound educational function at all levels of our educational system. In this perspective, the factor responsible for mass failure in biology are lack of trained teacher, insufficient facilities, unavailability of up-to-date textbooks, unseriousness on the part of the students and above all lack of motivation on the part of the lectures who handle the course. In addition to these, lack of basic instructional packages and indifferent attitude of the students could facilitate students poor performance biology in Nursing Schools.
The concern of the study is to investigate into the influence of instructional materials in the teaching of Biology and the Academic Achievement of the students in Nursing School Ilorin.
Statement of the Problem
It is often identified that instructional materials are essential tools which facilitate effective understanding in the classroom interaction, it equipped and built on the teacher competence. In order to itemize correctly the challenges that Nursing School Students faces in the teaching and learning situation. It will be necessary to study their mindset. The study of this will give impetus to the knowledge of how they react to certain conditions, it is widely accepted that when leaders/lecturer utilizes.
Instructional materials of all sorts ranging from the visual aids e.g. T.V, Computer to teach, Audio-visual and Multisensory devices.
This research is served towards assessing the use of instructional materials in teaching of Biology and how it has affected students performance in Nursing School in Ilorin.
Purpose of the Study
The aim of the study is to identify various influences which the use of instructional materials has on the teaching of Biology in Nursing School by observing the influence on selected students in the school.
The specific objectives of the study includes:
(i) Identify some instructional material uses in schools.
(ii) Assessing the efficiency of the use of such instructional materials in the nursing school.
(iii) Appraise students response to the use of this educational resource materials.
(iv) Determine if it enhances teaching and learning.
(v) Compare and contrast student performance visa-vis the use or lack of use of instructional materials.
General Questions
The following questions are raised for the purpose of this research work.
⦁ What are instructional materials?
⦁ What factors determines teachers competence on the uses of instructional materials?
⦁ How does instructional materials influence the teaching of Biology?
Research Questions
The study raises some vital research questions which guide investigation on some ideals and assist in coming to clear conclusions.
The research questions are itemized as follows:
(1) Do teachers in schools (Nursing School) use instructional materials while teaching the students?
(2) How many students passes biology regularly with or without instructional materials usage.
(3) Is their any link between instructional materials usage and nursing school students academic achievement?
The three research questions will lead to the formation of the following hypotheses which then be tested during the course of this study. They are:
a. Instructional materials has a pertinent influence on student performance in Biology in Nursing School.
b. Instructional materials has no relevant influence on student performance in Biology in Nursing School.
Significance of the Study
The study intends to investigate the influence(s) of instructional material on teaching of Biology and Nursing School Students academic performance in Ilorin. The study amongst other thing will assess the impact of the use of instructional materials. It will also provide detailed information on the subject matter for effective and meaningful teaching.
It goes a long way to encourage teachers to put in more effort at ensuring that they develop or adapt such materials in their teaching so as to provide effective understanding.
The study also enables the teacher to identify the appropriate instructional materials available for Biology instruction, their usage and how effective such materials in classroom interaction.
However, some of the problems associated with uses of instructional materials in classroom interaction will be identified and provide necessary background information on each identified instructional materials so as to proffer appropriate solution.
This research study would be impetus for further educational research on instructional material usage in higher institution of learning.
Delimitation of the Study
The study is limited to school of Nursing Ilorin, Kwara State, because the topic of this project focuses on the influence of instructional materials on teaching of Biology and Nursing School Students academic performance. Thus the study covers Kwara State School of Nursing Ilorin as a case study, this is due to time and financial constraints on the part of the researcher.
Definition of Major Terms
The following terms as reflected in the study are given relevant meaning as follows:
⦁ Instructional Materials: These are collection of materials and equipment that can be used to facilitate the process of classroom instruction.
⦁ Influence: This refers to the effect or resulting condition of information instructional materials in teaching of Biology in Nursing School.
⦁ Biology: Is a science subject which is concerned with the study of living thing and non-living thing, it is one of the essential subject in Nursing School.
⦁ Academic Performance: Is the attitude or the outcome of the students behaviour towards their education.
⦁ Investigation: Is refer to as a way of examine all the facts connected with an event, situation or allegation in order to discover the truth in Biology teaching.
⦁ Nursing School: This is classified as higher institution of learning where rudimentary aspect of human health treatment are learned, to build a future potential nurse.
⦁ Teacher/ Lecturer: This is a body responsible for impacting knowledge to the learner in the school.
⦁ Students: These are learners in Nursing School who offered Biology as a Subject.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Summary
This research work was carried out to investigate the influence of instructional materials in teaching of biology and academic performance of nursing school students in Ilorin Kwara State.
The research designed adopted was descriptive survey questionnaire was used to collect data from the sampled students in the school while frequency count and percentage was the tool used to analyze the data collected from administered questionnaire. A total of one hundred and fifty (150) respondents was sampled for the study.
The result revealed that instructional materials if appropriately used could facilitate effective understanding this improve their academic achievement.
The use of an appropriate instructional aid in teaching and learning as ascertained by Salami (2006) improve the teacher teaching methodology through which effective classroom interaction is facilitated.
Also, it was revealed from the study that student academic performance was drastically improved when an appropriate instructional materials was used, thus the study conclude that instructional material is an important key factor in instruction.
Conclusion
The essence of instructional materials usage in classroom interaction is to facilitate effective understanding between the learners and the facilitators (teachers) there is the need for the school managers to provide an appropriate instructional materials for the right instruction so that the goal of education could better achieved and provide productive classroom organization.
The importance of using instructional materials as teaching aids in schools cannot be overemphasized. The students needs simplified means of instructing them which is readily provided through instructional materials when used as teaching aid improves student performance in biology. Hence, effort must be geared towards ensuring hat students were taught using appropriate instructional materials. In conclusion teaching students in the study area without the use of instructional materials as teaching aids will be a form of discrimination as their presence make teaching more meaningful.
Implication of the Study
This research study shows the relevant of instructional materials in teaching and learning processes. It is a well-known fact that classroom interaction is promoted through the use of appropriate instructional aids thus the schools and concerned authorities should make necessary provision in line with the recommendation of this research study.
Recommendations
For effective instructional delivery package, adequate instructional materials should be made available for schools. Also there is need for effective supervision and appraisal of available ones for ease of maintenance and accessibility.
In support of this assertion Salami (2006) suggested that necessary improvisation should be practice to enhance availability. However the following recommendations are provided:
⦁ Grants and allowances should be included as part of the teachers salaries which must cater for the purchase of some of this materials to facilitate effective teaching packages.
⦁ The National Union of Teachers (NUT), curriculum implementation bodies and some concerned stakeholders should organize a seminar and workshop which must be made compulsory for all teachers in the study area on the methodology involves in using of appropriate instructional materials in teaching learning processes.
⦁ I will also enjoin lecturers in the school to put to use the available instructional materials in their teaching, most especially in biology instruction to make learning concrete in the mind of the learners through which their academic performance will be better enhanced.
Limitation of the Study
The study is set out to investigate the relevance of instructional materials in teaching of biology and academic achievement among nursing school students. The study is restricted to students of Kwara State school of nursing Ilorin, this is due to the limited time available for the researcher to go around and get reliable data for the study. However it is hope that future research will facilitate additional information that could enhance good result
Suggestions for Further Studies
It is confirmed that the use of instructional materials enhances improved performance in biology instruction. However, the following suggestions were made for future research study.
⦁ For the fact that the study is restricted to school nursing Ilorin, it is hoped that future research work should carry out in other schools within the state to established the fact on the relevance of instructional materials in biology instruction
⦁ Other subject taught in the nursing school should also be considered for future research work and see how applicable are instructional materials in the teaching of such subject and the academic achievement of the students.
⦁ The same topic should be conducted in other State of the country and give a correlation analysis of the results obtained.
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