ORGANIZATIONAL FACTORS AS CORRELATES OF SCIENCE STUDENTS' ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS
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ORGANIZATIONAL
FACTORS AS CORRELATES OF SCIENCE STUDENTS' ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN SENIOR
SECONDARY SCHOOLS
ABSTRACT
This study
primarily investigated organizational factors as correlates of science
students’ academic performance in senior secondary schools of Lagos state.
Variables such as teachers’ qualification, availability of laboratory
facilities, utilization of school facilities, teacher-students attitude toward
the teaching and learning of chemistry, teacher/student relationship were
specifically considered to ascertain whether or not they have any relationship
with students’ academic performance in chemistry. A correlational survey design
was adopted for the study. A total number of 22 public senior secondary schools
constituted the population while 550 respondents (500 students and 50 teachers)
from ten of the schools randomly selected from Oshodi/Isolo local government
area of Lagos state made up the sample. Data were collected using the
“Organizational factors and science student academic performance questionnaires
(OFSSAP-A for the teachers and OFSSAP-B for the students) and analyzed with
Pearson product moment correlation statistics. The study found a significant
positive relationship between the five organizational factor variables and
academic performance of chemistry students. The study concluded that when the
right work force along with the laboratory facilities are in place, functional
and utilized, effective teaching and learning occurs. Based on the findings it
was recommended that the stakeholders in education industry should improve on
the learning environment of students, ensure that facilities are provided and
utilized in all the senior secondary schools
and the curriculum implementers improves in their relationships and
attitude, it is most likely that student’s achievement in chemistry will be
highly enhanced.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1
Background to the Study
From the
inception of the world, there has been a constant interaction between man and
his environment towards goal realization and this interaction with both the
human, physical and material resources gave rise to an organization. Oxford advanced learners dictionary defines
an Organisation as a collection of people working together in a division of
labour to achieve a common purpose like the families, banks, companies, schools
and others. The school could be viewed as an organized environment where
educational curricular are interpreted; it can also be described as a formal
structured organisation which serves as a transitional stage in life between
family and the society (Olabode, 2002; Musa, 2004; Tabir, 2004).
The school
organization has the sole purpose of developing the intellectual, the emotional
and skillful aspect of an individual for the individual to be useful to himself
and his society; the objective of a school boils down to the performance of the
students’ academically and all round development of the individual. In order to
achieve the objectives of an organization some factors come in to play. Some of
the organisational factors that affect students’ academic performance in
science discipline include: teachers and students related variables like the
qualification of the teachers, teacher-student relationship and
teacher/students attitude towards chemistry teaching and learning respectively;
school environment related variable like class size, availability of laboratory
facilities, utilization of facilities, school location and so on.
School as a
social organisation plays a great role in the education of the citizens of any
country. The overall development of any nation to meet the technological demand
of the globalized society is inextricably tied to its level of scientific
knowledge acquisition (Yara P., 2009). Scientific knowledge is one of the
dimensions of science. What is Science?
Science is a
way of explaining nature and it originated from the natural philosophy in the
17th century. A comprehensive definition of science states:
“Science….is
a human enterprise including the ongoing process of seeking explanations and
understandings of the natural world, and also including that which the process
produces-man’s storehouse of knowledge. Science is process and product” (NSTA,
1961).
Scientists
confront nature in order to unravel its mysteries by asking questions and
designing experiments to test their ideas or answer such questions; scientific
knowledge is thereby created, which can then be applied for good or bad
(Ajeyalemi, 2009). He further stated that Science has three dimensions: its
knowledge, method and applicability and differ from other discipline in the
tentativeness of its knowledge, testability of its tenets, the universality of
its methods and non-obsolescence of its methods.
Science
comprises the basic disciplines such as chemistry, physics, mathematics and
biology. For science teaching, a major universally- accepted objective is to
make students scientifically literate and it is the same for all science
discipline. The objectives of chemistry teaching in Nigeria senior secondary
schools are to:”
(i) Facilitate a transition in the use
of scientific concepts and techniques acquired in integrated science with
chemistry;
(ii) Provide the students with basic
knowledge in chemical concepts and principles through efficient selection of
content and sequencing;
(iii) Show chemistry in its inter-relationships
with other subjects;
(iv) Show chemistry and its link with
industry, everyday life, benefits and hazards;
(v) Provide a course which is complete
for pupils not proceeding to higher education while it is at the same time a
reasonably adequate foundation for a post-secondary course.”(Nigeria, 1985).
These
objectives are closely related to the aims of secondary educations in Nigeria –
preparation for useful living within the society, and for higher education
(National policy of Education Nigeria, 2004).
The stated
objectives are not being realized in the lives of many Nigerians who graduate
from secondary schools every year. This may be accrued to certain school
organizational factors which in turn influence the students’ academic
performance. Many investigators have shown that students in senior Secondary
Schools are not very much interested in science (Esiobu, 2005; Okonkwo,
2000) and also large numbers of students
seem to learn very little science at school, learning tends to be by rote and
students find learning of science to be difficult (Eyibe, 1990; Jegede, 1992;
Salau, 1996) though Chemistry is a subject that is applicable in our homes
(kitchen, laundry, bedroom) and industries, it is Fun filled if we have a good
understanding of the concepts. As important as the subject is and in spite of
the effort of both the federal and state government to encourage chemistry
education, students still shun the subject (Jegede, 2003). This is also evident
in a recent report by the Shelter Right Initiative (Olubusuyi, 2003) that for
eight consecutive years, between 1992 and 1999, Nigerian candidates trailed behind
their counterparts from other countries in the West African region based on
performance in science subjects conducted by the West African Examinations
Council (WAEC).
From
personal experience, chemistry as a science seems interesting but it is dreaded
by most students, some see it as an abstract thing, something that cannot be
grasped, seen or understood; a very difficult subjects filled with lots of
calculations and if the teacher as well as the school is not qualified and
equipped to counter-act these disposition it will only culminate in Poor
Performances in the science disciplines in both the internal and external
Examinations.
Academic
performance according to Adu, Ojelabi and Adeyanju (2009) can simply be viewed
as an outcome of all academic tasks or rigours of a person which could be
poorly or successfully stated. As noted
by Ijaduola (2008d), academic performance cannot be gingered in students if
they are discouraged so Teachers and other machineries are expected to
meaningfully contribute to student's academic performance.
The quality
of science teaching and learning has also been questioned over time by parents,
science educators, and the general public and even by the government (Adepoju,
1991; Ivowi, Okebukola, Oludotun & Akpan, 1992; Okebukola, 1997). Science
teaching in Nigerian schools has been criticised because of the Poor
Performance of Nigerian students in science subjects relative to their
counterparts in other countries. This is evident from the Second International
Science Study in which Nigerian students came last in primary science and
second to last in secondary science among the participating countries of the
world (STAN, 1992).
For many
years, educators and researchers have debated which school variable influence
science students’ academic performance; as policy makers become more involved
in school reform, this question takes a new importance since their initiative
rely on presumed relationship between various education related factors and
learning outcomes(Darling – Hammond L., 1999).
At the seventeenth Lagos State Congress of All Nigerian Conference of
Principals of secondary Schools (ANCOPSS) held in December, 2002 an ad hoc
committee was set up to identify the causes of poor performance in the WASSCE.
The committee was also asked to suggest ways of improving the quality of
education in order to enhance better performance in both internal and external
examinations in the state and obtained information on students’ population as
well as infrastructural facilities; they identified possible factors militating
against the enhancement of quality education and better performance of students
in both internal and external examinations. Such factors include criteria for
transition from primary to secondary schools, unplanned school plant,
inadequate provision and maintenance of infrastructure, rapid student
population growth, teachers’ qualification and experience, teaching-learning
process, student-teachers relationship, student-teacher ratio, school
authority- teacher relationship, student progression, among others (Adeogun and
Osifila 2008)
A study by
Jegede, Okota & Eniayeju (1992) revealed some of the factors responsible
for students general poor performance in science, technology and mathematics,
these factors include: poor laboratory facilities, inability of teachers to put
across ideas clearly to the students and inadequate number of learning
facilities in school as against consistent increase in the number of students.
Most of the
schools in Nigeria do not have adequate facilities to produce competent
scientists; some of the teachers are not properly trained and in turn they are
not helpful and resourceful to the students; the knowledge they transmit to the
students are mostly the cognitive aspect of learning, they learn the theories
without the actual application of the theories to real life situation. Some
schools that are provided with the facilities do not utilize the facilities in
teaching and learning processes but only arrange it for students to use during
external examinations. Olakoya (2004), Uya (2004), and Ijaduola (2007)
contended that in an educational environment like secondary school, it is
indisputable that facilities such as furniture, laboratory equipment and
material have great influence in the teaching and learning process because
without them the empty buildings and structures no matter how attractive they
are cannot be used for educational purpose. Hence their availability and
utilization are no doubt an essential part of educational planning without
which students’ academic performance cannot be enhanced.
It was
against the foregoing background that this study was embarked upon to:
establish the relationship between the following school organizational factors
- teacher qualification, availability of science laboratory, utilization of
school facilities, teacher/students attitude towards chemistry learning,
teacher-student relationship and academic performance of senior secondary
school students in chemistry.
1.2.
Theoretical Framework.
This study underlies the following theories:
1. Systems thinking theory
2. Human resources management approach.
3. Guided discovery theory
The system
thinking theory: this theory was originally proposed by Hungarian biologist
Ludwig Von Bertalanffy in 1982 is relevant to this study. The theory hinges on
the concepts of a system being a series of interrelated and interdependent
parts such that the interaction of any part affects the whole system. The study
adopted this theory because academic performance is viewed in relation to
several organizational factors like teacher qualification, availability of
facilities, utilization of facilities, teacher/students attitude and
teacher-student relationship; each of these factors is an interrelated part who
fulfill specific role that invariably influence students’ academic performance
which is a whole system.
The human
resource approaches: they maintain that people are social and self actualizing.
Hawthorne studies of 1962 showed that people’s feelings, attitude and
relationships with co- workers should be important to the management and they
recognized the importance of work group. They also identified Hawthorne effect-
the tendency of persons singled out for special attention to perform as
anticipated merely because of expectations created by the situation. His
studies led to the emergence of human relations movement which suggests that
managers using good human relationship will achieve productivity (Schermerhorn
Jr. 1999); these are in line with the fact that when teachers and students
attitude are in order and a good relationship exist among them, it will
definitely lead to achievement in their academics.
Guided
discovery approach: this is an instructional approach recommended for the
secondary school chemistry curriculum which is derived from both theories of
Jerome Brunner (1962; 1968) and Gagne.
Gagne
advocates guided-learning, which can take place either in the classroom,
laboratory or on field trip. Guided learning emphasizes a careful sequencing of
instruction “with maximum guidance in order to stress the importance of basic
association and facts in the eventual acquisition of principle and problem
solving skills (Kahle, 1979). Evidence from many researchers has indicated the
positive effect of hierarchically structuring knowledge, as recommended by
Gagne, on students’ achievement in many subjects, particularly chemistry
(Ajeyalemi, 1987). After properly sequencing of the learning experiences, it is
then presented to the students by the teacher acting only as a guide and not as
a repository of knowledge. It is related, but still different from Brunner’s
discovery learning, which emphasizes learning through minimum teacher guidance
and maximum trial and error exploration by the learner. He concluded that “any
ideal or problem or body of knowledge can be presented in a form simple enough
that any learner can understand it in a recognizable form”(Brunner 1966). The
two approaches are distinguished by Shulman (1968) as follows:
Thus for
Gagne, instruction is a smoothly guided tour up a carefully constructed
hierarchy of objectives; for Bruner, instruction is a roller coaster ride of
successive disequilibria and equilibria until the desired cognitive state is reached or discovered.
Gagne was
not only interested in learning of theory but also in learning by doing.
Accordingly experimental activities in science specifically should be based on
students’ prior knowledge, and that “they should have some novelty in them, so
that they do not become simple exercises in “following a procedure”, or in
“performing routines” This implies that in the course of chemistry teaching,
facilities should be provided for the students and they should be allowed to
utilize the facilities, carry out activities with the teacher acting as a
guide.
1.3.
Statement of the Problem
The current
situation of high failure rate in the science discipline in our senior
secondary schools in Nigeria is a concern to all including the government and
the society at large. Research indicates that many students found science to be
boring, difficult and not interesting to them (Salau, 1995, 1996) Students
participation in laboratory work, students’ attitude to chemistry teaching,
availability of chemistry laboratory materials among other factors futher
limits the academic performance of students in Chemistry (Okebukola, 1988).
Poor
academic performance of students in chemistry due to some organizational
factors is a problem because the goal of equipping students to live effectively
in our modern age of science and technology, as formulated in the Nigerian
National Policy on Education (FGN, 1998) will become a daydream if it is not
controlled and the citizens will not be able to develop scientific literacy
useful for coping in the modern scientific and technological world.
Most
chemistry educators regard practical chemistry as being very important for
various reasons which include motivation, concept learning, development of
skills and appropriate scientific attitudes; this is in line with the
objectives of chemistry education (Bradley 1999; National Education Council,
2002) which is not being achieved due to some organizational factors. Chemistry
as a science subject is activity oriented and the suggested method for teaching
it which is guided discovery is resource based (NTI, 2007). This suggests that
the mastery of chemistry concepts cannot be fully achieved without the use of
instructional learning materials. Chemistry teaching demands proper utilization
of laboratory facilities, though students are rarely exposed to practical work.
Lee and Fraser (2001) reported that some science teachers usually do not place
much value on laboratory activities since they feel this takes time away from
teaching to cover the prescribed examination driven curriculum. Akpan (1999)
observed that lack of practical activities by chemistry students has resulted
in poor communication and observational skills; which in turn resulted to
students’ poor performance in chemistry and high failure rate among the
students in both external and internal examination
Morgil,Seçken
& YÏ‹cel.(2007) submit that activities in many laboratories centered on
verification of what is already known rather than helping students to develop
process skills that could motivate them to stay longer on the task thereby
leaving the mastery of skills to chance. Experientially, this suggests why many
students just work to already given answers without concentrating on what the
teacher teaches and finally end up with Poor Performance in external
examination.
To solve
these lingering problems of high failure rate in chemistry, one need to develop
a realistic picture of what is currently happening in the teaching and learning
of science in Nigerian schools, identify the factors that are limiting the
academic performance of the chemistry students and then try to develop a
reasonable ideal picture for which the nation can strive towards within the
existing resource limitations.
1.4. Purpose
of the study.
The research
was designed to determine the relationship between some Organizational factors
and chemistry students’ academic performance in Lagos state public senior
secondary schools.
Specifically
the study investigates:
1. The correlation of teachers’ qualification
on students’ academic performance in chemistry.
2. The relationship between the availability of
Laboratory facilities and the academic performance of chemistry student.
3. The correlation between the utilization of
facilities and chemistry students’ academic performance.
4. The relationship between student’s attitude
towards Chemistry teaching and academic performance of students’ in chemistry.
5. The effect of teacher-student relationship
on the academic performance of students in chemistry
1.5 Research
questions.
The study
sought to find answers to the following questions:
1. Is there any correlation between teachers’
qualification and chemistry students’ academic performance in secondary
schools?
2. Does availability of laboratory facilities
influence the academic performance of chemistry student in secondary schools?
3. Will the utilization of facilities influence
the academic performance of students of chemistry in secondary schools?
4. Does the students’ attitude towards teaching
of chemistry play a role in determining the academic performance of chemistry
student in secondary schools?
5. To what extent will it be said that the
teacher-student relationship is showcased by the academic performance of
students in chemistry?
1.6 Research
hypotheses:
1. There is no significant relationship between
teachers qualification and student academic performance in chemistry.
2. Availability of laboratory facilities has no
significant influence on chemistry students’ academic performance.
3. Utilization of facilities has no
significant relationship with the academic performance of students in
chemistry.
4. There is no significant relationship between
students’ attitude towards chemistry teaching and academic performance of
chemistry students.
5. There is no significant relationship between
teacher-student relationship and chemistry students’ academic performance
1.7
Significance of the Study.
In an effort to improve the Academic
Performance of students in Science discipline and make learning of science more
attractive, this study makes the following important contributions to knowledge
and education:
To stimulate
stakeholders to improve upon the isolated variables which have been found to
have direct relationship with students’ academic performance in chemistry with
the view to enhance performance in the subject.
First, the
school educators, curriculum planners and classroom teachers are provided with
detailed information about the picture of science teaching/learning and
practices in Nigerian secondary school and realistic ways of improving the
situation, considering the fact that Teacher qualification and student academic
performance are important criteria in the development and implementation of
both curricular and instructional performance.
Secondly,
the administrators are assisted in the areas of staff recruitment. It provided
some information on the qualification of teachers that should be recruited into
the teaching of chemistry in senior secondary school to enhance students’
performance in the Examinations. With the knowledge from the study the
educators will place the right work force and also create a platform for those
who do not measure up to standard by providing in–service training.
Thirdly the
study will serve as an eye opener to the students in the areas of cultivating a
good relationship with their chemistry teachers, viewing Chemistry as fun, an
interesting and experimental subject which will help them to learn faster and
succeed academically.
Fourthly to
provide the policy makers and educational planners, administrators and school
educators generally with information on the areas that need to be amended,
ensuring that laboratory facilities are made available to schools; they are
being adequately utilized to ensure that chemistry is presented to the students
as an experimental science; this must not be compromised.
1.8 Scope of the study
The study is
delimited to eight public senior secondary schools in Oshodi/Isolo Local
Government Area of Lagos State. The study was streamlined to the relationship
between the following school Organisational factors: teacher qualification, the
availability of the science laboratory and equipment, adequate utilization of
the facilities, students attitude towards teaching of chemistry, teachers – student
relationship and the student’s academic performance in Chemistry.
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