1.1 Introduction
Examinations are defined by Uduh (2019) as the process of determining how much of the objectives of particular activities a learner has learned, and by Fagbaminye (2018) as a means of gauging and assessing the quality of education in any nation. Exams might specifically be done externally or coeternally. Public exams are frequently used to establish performance standards for educational institutions. But for just this reason, in 1952, the West African senior secondary certificate examination was established by the British colonial authority.
Research has shown that scientific performance on the WASSCE has generally declined over time. Furthermore, only 31%, 39%, and 51% of students who enrolled for the exam in 2006 received credit passes in biology, chemistry, and physics, according to Nnaka and Anake in Archibong (2010).
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, Limitation of the study and Definition of terms.
1.2 Background of the Study
Education is the entire process of human learning through which skills are created, faculties are trained, and knowledge is transferred. In Nigeria, secondary schools play a crucial role in the educational system as they serve as the transitional institution between elementary and university education. According to Asikhai (2010), education at secondary school level is supposed to be the bedrock and the foundation towards higher knowledge in tertiary institutions. It is an investment as well as an instrument that can be used to achieve a more rapid economic, social, political, technological, scientific and cultural development in a country. It is rather unfortunate that the secondary schools today are not measuring up to the standards expected of them. There have been public outcries over the persistently poor performance of secondary school students in public examinations.
The teaching of biology as a subject in secondary schools is faced with many problems. The poor academic achievement of students in biology as indicated in the report of WAEC and National Teachers Institute (NTI) as well as the result of state common entrance examination has come a persisted public outcry as regards the falling standard of biology education. Science subjects are already facing a problem. This is mostly in the area of availability of laboratories and other teaching facilities in their right number of students studying science. Biology is very important subject; it has to be given more priority. It enables one to understand himself and his intermediate environment. Nevertheless, the knowledge acquired in Biology subject is applied in many fields as Medicine, Biochemistry, Pharmacy, Microbiology and Agriculture among others.
Students’ achievement in Biology subject in Senior Secondary Certificates Examination (SSCE) has been unsatisfactory over many years. Various reasons have been attached to this problem by scholars. Dinah (2013) concluded that, availability of text books, laboratory apparatus and other learning resources contribute significantly to the performance of students in Biology examination. He added that, students with positive attitude towards the subject register better performance than those who had a negative attitude. Those with positive attitude are motivates to work hard and this is reflected in the good marks scored in the examination. Suman B. (2011) conducted a research on influence of parents’ education and parental occupation on academic achievement of students. He concluded that education and occupation of parents positively influence the academic achievement of children.
Femi (2012) concluded that education qualification of parents and health status of students are significant factors that affect the academic performance of students. According to Akinsanya et al. (2014) parents’ education has the highest significant influence on the academic achievement of students. This is because the child from educated family has a lot of opportunities to study hard due to his/her access to internet, newspaper, television. They can also taught extra lessons at home. Students raised from an illiterate family have limited access to that. It has been observed that the falling academic standard and the influencing factors include the economic status of the parents. Just having a look at the present economic situation of the country, many poor parents do send their children to go and do pity house hold work before going to school. These children were confused on that they can help their family through that. However, poverty of parents has elastic effects on their children academic works as they lack enough resources and funds to sponsor their education and good school, good housing facilities, medical care and social welfare services.
Femi (2012) in his study says, socio-economic and education background of parents is not significant factors in students’ performance. Osuafor (2013) in their research on influence of family background on academic achievement of secondary school Biology students revealed that family structure, parents’ occupation and educational level of parents did not have significant influence on students’ achievement in biology. Memon (2010) in his study revealed that majority of students whose parents were well educated perform better in matriculation examination as compared to those students whose parents were less educated or illiterate.
Manalanga and Awelani (2014) concluded in their result that the possible factors responsible for the poor performance in Biology 5090 include lack of financial support, lack of equipped libraries, lack of laboratories and Biology textbooks, method of teaching and accessing Biology 5090. Furthermore, practical Biology exam if highly scored improves the Biology grade. Teachers should be encouraging to asses learners regularly on practical skills. Perhaps, more practical lessons should be availed and documented so that teachers should plan for them and regular inspection to insure the actual order is adhered to (Wabuke, 2013).
Therefore, in Nigeria where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Students Performance in Public and Private Secondary School Biology WAEC Examinations.
1.3 Statement of the Problem
It has been observed that poor performance in the field of science is caused by the poor quality of science teachers, overcrowded classrooms and lack of suitable and adequate science equipment among others. Students perform poorly in biology because; the biology classes are usually too large and heterogeneous in terms of ability level. Snezana et al. (2011) outlined in his study that academic achievement in lessons began with experiment or slide demonstration was higher than lessons beginning with lecture method. In addition, the laboratories are ill-equipped and the Biology syllabus is over loaded (Ajayi, 1988).
According to Archibong (2010), 27.5% of senior secondary III students who took WASSCE examination in 2005 passed Biology at credit level while 30% passed at credit level in 2006. In 2007, only 25.5% passed at credit level while only 13.7% passed at credit level in 2008. In 2009, 25.9% passed at credit level while only 20% passed at credit level in 2010 (Sam, 2011). Therefore, only 4.7% of the candidates in Biology passed at credit level in NECO examination in 2009. The problem of this study was; does the academic performance of students in Biology differ significantly in WASSCE.
Unfortunately, the performance of students in the sciences at the secondary level of education had not improved in the past decade as reflected in the Chief Examiners Annual Reports of both the West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE) regional educational examination bodies respectively Asikhian, (2010). A lot of researchers have conducted research on academic performance in Biology but only few has compared academic performance in two different school, however the main aim of this research is to compare the academic performance in biology of two selected secondary school in Ado-Odo Otta, LGA in Ogun State.
1.4 Aim and Objectives of the Study
The aim of the study is to compare the Students Performance in Biology WAEC Examinations in Public and Private Secondary School. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:
- To investigate the factors that influence academic performance of students in Biology WAEC Examinations in the study area;
- To compare the academic performance in Biology WAEC Examinations in Public and Private Secondary School; and
- To ascertain whether male and female students in Public and Private Secondary School perform differently in Biology WAEC Examinations.
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 factors that influence academic performance of students in Biology WAEC Examinations in the study area?
- Does a male and female student in Public and Private Secondary School perform differently in Biology WAEC Examinations?
- What is the academic performance in Biology WAEC Examinations in Public and Private Secondary School?
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 in the academic performance of male and female biology students in WAEC.
- H1: There is significant difference in the academic performance of male and female biology students in WAEC.
Hypothesis Two
- H0: There is no significant difference in biology students’ academic area in private and public secondary schools in WAEC
- H1: There is a significant difference in biology students’ academic area in private and public secondary schools in WAEC
1.7 Significance of Study
A study on the comparison in the study of male and female students’ performance in WAEC will significant in the following ways;
- The study will provide information to the examination bodies regarding the students’ performance in Biology in particular. This would help them in deciding on periodic review of their patterns of question as well as the making guides.
- Schools will find the work useful in determining the level of their preparedness for each of the examination.
- The government will find it useful in seeking to provide the staff and equipment necessary in teaching Biology in schools on order to improve and promote the academic performance of students.
- Finally, this study will also help the schools in assessing the effectiveness of the teachers in Biology, and it will also help to determine the kind and quality of staff development needed in the school system.
Furthermore, this research would also help parents to give much attention and supervision to the student‘s work and hence result in improving student’s performance. It would also help curriculum planners to know some of the factors that contribute to low or poor performance of students in Biology. This will enable them to include the most relevant resources when planning a curriculum.
1.8 Scope of the Study
The scope of this research is focused on the Comparative Investigation of Students Performance in Biology WAEC Examinations in Public and Private Secondary School using Asaba Local Government Area of Delta State as a case study.
1.9 Limitation of the Study
During the course of this study, there were some problems encountered which stood as limitations to the research work. Some of the limitations include:
- 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.
- Establishment Policies: Establishment policies posed a serious limitation as most staffs are not ready to release information needed for this research work. There were lots of information needed from the staffs of this establishment to enhance the study which took them time to release or they did not release at all for security purposes, hence the scope was reduced.
- 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).
- Initial Cooperation Delay from Respondents: A particular limitation of this work came as a result of the respondent refusal to offer their cooperation at the initial time they were contacted. This contributed in making the success of this research study difficult.
1.10 Definitions of Terms
Biology:
It is defined as the study of life and structure of living things. Biology is the study of living things and concerns itself with the study of the structural, behaviour, distribution, the origin of plants, and animals and their relationship with their environment (American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language 2009).
Academic Performance:
It is the scores attained in form one end of year examination.
Secondary School:
This 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.
