ABSTRACT
The study focused on the
influence of teacher characteristics on interest and performance of junior
secondary school students in social studies in Nsukka education zone of Enugu
state. Eight research questions and eight hypotheses guided the study. Literature
was reviewed under conceptual framework, theoretical framework, review of
empirical studies and summary of literature review. The study adopted ex-
post-facto research design. The population of the study was 208 social studies
teachers and 5643 students in all the fifty-nine (59) public secondary schools in Nsukka education zone.
The sample size of the study was 798 which was made up of 208 teachers and 590
students. Simple random sampling technique was used to draw the sample size of
the students. A structured questionnaire developed by the researcher and
validated by three research experts was used for data collection. The data
collected were analyzed using mean while ANCOVA was used to test the
hypotheses. The findings of the study were that teachers’ qualification
influences students’ interest in social studies and that there is a significant
difference in the influence of teachers’ qualification on students’ interest in
junior secondary school social studies; that teachers’ qualification influences
students’ performance in social studies and that there is a significant
difference in the influence of teachers’ qualification on students’ performance
in junior secondary school social studies; that teachers’ experience influences
students’ interest in social studies and that there is a significant difference
in the influence of teachers’ experience on students’ interest in junior
secondary school social studies; that teachers’ experience influences students’
performance in social studies and that there is a significant difference in the
influence of teachers’ experience on students’ performance in junior secondary
school social studies; that teachers’ attitude influences students’ interest in
social studies and that there is a significant difference in the influence of
teachers’ attitude on students’ interest in junior secondary school social
studies; that teachers’ attitude influences students’ performance in social
studies and that there is a significant difference in the influence of
teachers’ attitude on students’ performance in junior secondary school social
studies; that teachers’ gender does not influence students’ interest in social
studies and that there is no significant difference in the influence of
teachers’ gender on students’ interest in junior secondary school social
studies and that teachers’ gender does not influence students’ performance in
social studies and that there is no significant difference in the influence of
teachers’ gender on students’ performance in junior secondary school social
studies. Based on the findings of the study, conclusions were drawn and relevant recommendations were made.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
The
introduction of social studies education into the Nigeria education system in
1982 was borne out of the fact that the subject was considered very appropriate
and relevant by the Federal Ministry of Education in helping the nation to
achieve national unity and national consciousness. Nigeria as a multi-ethnic
and multi-religious society needs effective means to properly and efficiently
harness her abundant human and natural resources for holistic national
development (Osakwe, 2010). The importance of social studies cannot be
over-emphasized. This is because the learning of social studies equips learners
with functional knowledge, attitudes, skills, and values. The functional
knowledge, attitude, skills, and values which social studies offers could have
been the reason the Federal Government of Nigeria made the subject compulsory
at the junior secondary school level.
Social
studies content of instruction is society focused. The curriculum is integrated
and the composition of the content is derived from various sources. The sources
are: the social sciences, humanities and physical sciences (Nwanyanwu, 2005).
The components of social studies curriculum target among other things: to
address the problems of man and to equip the learner with realistic skills,
knowledge, values and attitude and to be responsive and responsible to environmental
problems and challenges through social studies curriculum. The learners are further equipped with desirable values and attitudes capable of strengthening national unity, co-operation,
tolerance, and national consciousness. However, with the right attitudes and values
which social studies offers, learners will appreciate the fact that Nigeria as
a multi-ethnic society requires peace and accommodation of one another, ethnic
and religious group notwithstanding.
Inspite of the above positive target of social
studies curriculum such as equipping the learners with realistic skills, knowledge, values and
attitudes among others, students poor performance and interest in social studies
leaves more to be desired. Performance is a recorded academic level attain by individual students in a given subject such as social studies.
According
to Cary, David, and Royer (2008), performance
is an academic task accomplishment which shows individuals’ comprehension,
quality and accuracy of answer of test, quality and accuracy of problem
solving, frequency and quantity of desired outcome, time or rate to solution,
time on task, level of reasoning and critical thinking, creativity, recall and
retention transfer of tasks.
Performance generally is not in itself a process but
the end result of processes. Performance as it affects this present study refers to
academic task accomplished by an individual or groups of individual in an examination obtained through the
use of evaluation
instruments such as
test. The performance of students in social studies in junior secondary school
certificate examination is usually being assessed through the examination bodies such
as Junior Secondary School
Certificate Examination (JSSCE). The grades made by students in social studies
reflect the extent to which the students learnt social studies materials. The
grades and their interpretations are as follows A1-B3 is Distinctions Pass,
C4-C6 is Credit Pass D7-D8 is ordinary Pass, F9 means failure in the subject
(Okoh, 2010).
Students’
performance in social studies could influence their interest in the subject.
According to Adam (2010), interest means attention to something. In other
words, interest means attention to studying of social studies. Furthermore,
Adeleye (2011) views interest as the curiosity to do something. In the context
of this study interest means the curiosity to study relevant social studies
materials. The application of curiosity in studying social studies by students
could enhance their performance in junior secondary school social studies.
Students’
performance and interest in social studies will enhance as well as facilitate
the achievement of the objectives of junior secondary school social studies
curriculum. However, the present study concerned over the poor performance of
students in social studies as well as their low interest in studying the
subject. The successive reports from JSSCE results between 2010 to 2014 in
Nsukka Education Zone have continued to show that students perform below
expectations (Junior Secondary School Certificate Examination, 2014). This poor
performance of students requires urgent attention because it indicates or
spells doom for the achievement of the objectives of junior secondary school curriculum. The
JSSCE report of 2014 further indicates that teacher characteristics remains one
of the possible causes of students’ poor performance and interest in social
studies.
There are many 21st century
teacher characteristics that could influence the outcome of learning. Some of
the 21st century teacher characteristics of a teacher include punctuality to
work, diligent, honesty, sound knowledge of the subject, maintaining good
teacher-student relationship, effective use of instructional methods and
materials level of qualification, job experience, attitude towards teaching and
gender. For the purpose of this study, the teacher characteristics to be
considered include teachers’ level of qualification, job experience, attitude
towards teaching and gender. According to Solomon (2009) the characteristics of
the classroom teacher could influence the way students learn in school. Solomon
(2009) further explains that a well qualified teacher could apply teaching
methods and materials better than less qualified teacher. The implication of
this is that when a qualified teacher handles a subject in the classroom, the
students could pay attention to the learning activities which will enhance
their performance and interest in the subject. Apart, from teachers’
qualification, the years of experience of the teachers could also influence
students’ performance and interest in social studies. Udenyi (2010) argued that
teachers with many years of teaching experience could easily organize students
in the classroom and gain their attention more than less experienced teacher.
Teachers’ ability to organize students in social.....
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