1.1 Introduction
Instructional media are all the things the teachers make use of to aid the learners in their learning process; they are the means used to bring about effective teaching and learning. Obara and Okoh (2005) regard instructional strategies and materials as “all the things the teacher utilizes to interactively enhance, motivate and facilitate teaching and learning in an attempt to ensuring the achievement of a set objectives.” The effectiveness of instructional materials and strategies depends upon the manner and degree to which they meet the needs of the teacher and students.
As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.
1.2 Background of Study
Instructional strategies and materials are selected based on the principles of provision of accurate materials that will enrich and support the curriculum, taking into consideration the interest, abilities and maturity levels of the students. Teachers should be encouraged in every way to use instructional strategies as it makes learning more concrete and meaningful (Buseri and Dorgu 2011). Teaching brings about understanding; it involves a teacher, a learner and subject matter and teaching materials. Therefore to bring about learning, the teacher engages in certain activities such as talking, demonstration, and give instruction etc, all these are the various strategies to bring about learning (Adediran 2014).
Some of these strategies and approaches according to Osakwe (2009) are categorized under conventional and innovative appraises, instructional strategies which are classified under conventional are mostly those routine, well-knowing ones which teachers use predominantly. They are usually teacher-centered with little or no activities for students. These include teaching method like lecture, story-telling, recitation, etc, on the other hand, the innovative strategies include those ones that are much more recent which are predominantly learner-centered. These include questioning, inquiry/problem solving, role-play and dramatization (Adediran 2014).
The secondary school curriculum of education is so enormous that it prepare young people for full adults lives in the complex and dynamic world. This kind of preparation falls in line with, (2004), dispositive curriculum that the global requirements for education in recent times include promoting life-long education, re-emphasizing the quality of learner experiences, reorganizing subjects into key learning areas so as to develop broad knowledge base, and developing in the leaner the ability to think critically and be innovative. This kind of education, according to Enu and Esu (2010), afford the products of the system the ability to respond to social goal economic realities and future life-challenges. It is universally accepted that students needs the chance to develop faith, self-expression and confidence in them. They also need the ability and skill to learn about themselves; the societal problem and about the wider communities in which the live.
Effective teaching in secondary schools should emphasize the use of activity-oriented method and instructional strategies that will make students achieve their learning objectives (Adediran 2014). The production of a functional and productive citizenry which is a major focus of secondary school education entails that secondary school education concerns itself with inculcating creative reflective, competence relational, analytic and decision-making skills and competence in the learner (Mezieobi and Mezieobi 2008). Teaching according to Kanno (2001) should not connote sheer passing on of, or impacting of desirable knowledge to a passive learners recipient who must or demand regurgitate the rote memory acquired and stored knowledge.
Therefore, in Wamakko Local Government Area where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the attitude of physics teacher towards the production and utilization of instruction media in teaching physics.
1.3 Statement of Problems
The transmission of facts, ideas and information from the teacher to the students in a systematic order or procedure is referred to as teaching. During this process instructional medial otherwise known as teaching aids meant to make instruction more meaningful, clear and much more interesting to students are brought in display. There is a general impression that science education is not achieving the desired objectives with high incidence of students’ poor performance in chemistry, Biology and Physics subjects at senior secondary certificate examination. This situation has assumed a precarious dimension in all secondary schools in Nigeria.
The failure of educational system to provide adequate and appropriate teaching-learning aids in order to improve academic performance of students is of a great concern to government, educational institutions and other concern citizens. It is believed that if adequate instructional media are made available to schools and are used appropriately in teaching-learning process, a better performance could be achieved. Hence, this study seeks to examine the effectiveness of instructional media in teaching secondary school students in Nigeria.
1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study
The aim of the study is to examine the attitude of physics teacher towards the production and utilization of instruction media in teaching physics in Wamakko Local Government Area. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:
- To determine the impacts of instructional media in teaching secondary school students in Wamakko Local Government Area
- To assess the attitude of physics teacher towards the production instruction media in teaching physics
- To establish the reasons for the use of instructional media by teachers in secondary schools in Wamakko Local Government Area
- To identify the challenges facing the use of instructional media for effective teaching and learning in secondary schools in Wamakko Local Government Area
1.5 Research Questions
The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:
- Are there challenges facing the use of instructional media for effective teaching and learning in secondary schools in Wamakko Local Government Area?
- What are the impacts of instructional media in teaching secondary school students in Wamakko Local Government Area?
- What is the attitude of physics teacher towards the production instruction media in teaching physics?
- What are the reasons for the use of instructional media by teachers in secondary schools in Wamakko Local Government Area?
1.6 Research Hypothesis
In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.
Hypothesis One
- H0: There is no significant difference between academic achievement of students taught using instructional media and those taught without instructional media
- H1: There is a significant difference between academic achievement of students taught using instructional media and those taught without instructional media
Hypothesis Two
- H0: The physics teacher attitude towards the production instruction media in teaching physics is significantly not encouraging
- H1: The physics teacher attitude towards the production instruction media in teaching physics is significantly encouraging
1.7 Significance of Study
Findings from this study will be significant to students, teachers, curriculum planners, ministry of education and the society at large. To the students, the effective use of instructional resources will enable them to effectively learn and retain what they have learnt and thereby advancing their performance in the subject in question because, learning is a process through which knowledge, skills, habits, facts, ideas and principles are acquired, retained and utilized; and the only means of achieving this is through the use of instructional resources.
The use of instructional resources will give the learner opportunity to touch, smell or taste objects in the teaching and learning process. Consequently, knowledge passed unto the students at difference levels of educational instructions should be well planned and properly allied with relevant instructional resources for clarity and comprehensibility.
The study will enhance teachers‟ teaching effectiveness and productivity. The use of instructional materials provides alternative channels of communication which a teacher can use to compress information and make them more vivid to his learners. It also provides the teacher with interesting and compelling platforms for conveying information since they motivate learners to want to learn more and more.
Also, by providing opportunities for private study and reference, the learner’s interest and curiosity are increasingly stimulated. As a result, teacher who makes use of appropriate instructional materials to supplement his teaching will help enhance students’ academic performance. Finally, this research work will contribute to knowledge as a reference material for scholars in the research field.
1.8 Scope of Study
The study focuses on the attitude of physics teacher towards the production and utilization of instruction media in teaching physics in Wamakko Local Government Area
1.9 Limitations of the Study
During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:
- Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
- Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
- Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
- Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
1.10 Definition of Terms
The following terms were used in the course of this study:
Instructional resources: The tools used in educational lessons, which include active learning and assessment. Basically, any resource a teacher uses to help him teach his students is an instructional material.
Learning: Is the act of acquiring new or modifying and reinforcing existing knowledge, behaviours, skills, values, or preferences which may lead to a potential change in synthesizing information, depth of the knowledge, attitude or behaviour relative to the type and range of experience.
Secondary school: Is the next step up from primary school. Secondary schools are often called high schools in the United States. In Britain, secondary schools may be public schools, grammar schools or comprehensive schools.
Teaching: The process of attending to people’s needs, experiences and feelings, and making specific interventions to help them learn particular things.
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