1.1 Background of Study
Learning is a system designed to help students gain access and acquire knowledge in any Institution of their choice. According to Hawkins (2002), the significance of education, especially in developing countries, is increasing because of progressing pressure to catch up with the developed world regarding, for example, global competitiveness (Hawkins, 2002).
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organism, including their structure, function, growth, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. It enables one to understand himself and his intermediate environment. Biology as a science subject is very important in our secondary school curriculum and this is reflected in the number of instructional period provided for it in the school time – table. As the knowledge acquired in Biology subject is applied in many fields as Medicine, Biochemistry, Pharmacy, Microbiology and Agriculture among others. Also it is observed that a good pass in biology at the Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) has been emphasized as a necessity for any prospective student who wishes to study medical and health sciences in higher institution of learning. The growth of modern science has placed an increasing demand for the teaching and learning of biology.
Predictably, educational settings are different in developing countries than in developed countries, such as low quality of education and narrow possibilities in attending schools in rural areas because of far distances and high opportunity costs. The continual emergence of new technologies has placed academic staff under increasing pressure to react to these substantial changes within a very short and often unrealistic time-frame. As stated by Bates and Poole (2003), one of the major challenges of teaching with technology is that you cannot possibly keep up with the technology.
The paradox of technology enhanced education is that technology changes very rapidly and human beings change very slowly. Electronic resources are regarded as the extract of information that are developed through modern information communication technology devices, refined and redesigned and more often stored in the cyber space in the most concrete and compact form and can be accessed at the same time from immeasurable points by a great number of audience.
Learning resources is not important than how much resources you have, than how feasible they are, in other words, resources should be readily accessible to all. Before the development of computer and internet technology, printed version of resources like books, journals, encyclopaedia, dictionaries, work books, and the likes played significant roles in learning process. Usually, these printed versions are not easily accessible to all and are also expensive in nature. For example, if two students want to refer to a particular book simultaneously, two separate copies of the same book must be needed in the library. Instead of having the printed version of the book, if we have electronic or e-version of the book, the same book can be easily accessed simultaneously by many and also can be accessed from their drawing room with the help of a personal computer. In this computer age, e-version of books, journals, etc or e-resources in general have become inevitable and hence it is very much needed to convert the printed version into e-version for future needs.
Consequently, the teaching and learning practices of Nigeria are undergoing a shift from the old methods to extensive usage of learning resources. However, little or no efforts have been recorded in the identification of influence and impact of e-learning on academic performance of student in tertiary institutions. As the use of e-learning is becoming more and more widespread in higher education it has become increasingly important to examine the impact that this learning style has on student’s performance. Therefore, in Nigeria where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Impact of Learning Resources on Students Academic Performance in Biology among Senior Secondary School.
1.2 Statement of Problems
Investigation revealed that the effect of using learning resources in biology teaching has been widely researched but many questions are still remains unanswered. The needs for exploring locally available materials as an alternative for the grossly unavailable materials in our schools, resourcefulness of the teacher must be in line with the learners’ curriculum and environment so that classroom teaching does not have to be retarded by lack of funds.
The problems are that online learning resources not available in our schools, teachers are not improvising and reluctant in using them. Thus, in this research attempt would be identified. Identify various secondary schools that required online learning resources, like chalkboard, funnel board, model real things, overhead projector, tape recorders, radio, television etc affect the performance of students in secondary schools. Therefore this study has the problem of finding the Impact of Learning Resources on Students Academic Performance in Biology among Senior Secondary School.
1.3 Aim and Objectives of Study
The aim of the study is to examine the Impact of Learning Resources on Students Academic Performance in Biology among Senior Secondary School. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:
- To ascertain the extent to which Student’s learning of Biology can be influenced by the use of learning resources;
- To examine the influence of learning resources utilization on the teaching of Biology in Secondary Schools; and
- To determine whether there will be any difference in the academic performance of students in Biology due to the use of learning resources.
1.4 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:
- To what extent does Student’s learning of Biology can influenced the use of learning resources?
- What is the influence of learning resources utilization on the teaching of Biology in Secondary Schools?
- Will there be any difference in the academic performance of students in Biology due to the use of learning resources?
1.5 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: The use of learning resources will not have significant impact on the teaching of Biology in senior secondary schools.
- H1: The use of learning resources will have significant impact on the teaching of Biology in senior secondary schools.
1.6 Significance of Study
The significance of the findings of this research would provide knowledge and guidelines to that may be of help to policymakers. The research is therefore of importance for planners, and other social scientists. It will also provide an input to the students, teachers and researchers in the areas of learning. Also, the effective use of learning resources would enable them to effectively learn and retain what they have learnt and thereby advancing their performance in the subject in question.
This study will be of immense benefit to other researchers who intend to know more on this study and can also be used by non-researchers to build more on their research work. This study contributes to knowledge and could serve as a guide for other study.
1.7 Scope of Study
The scope of the research is focused on the Impact of Learning Resources on Students Academic Performance in Biology among Senior Secondary School using some selected secondary schools in Port Harcourt Metropolis as a case study.
1.8 Limitations 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.
- Research Material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
- 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.
1.9 Definition of Terms
Effect:
This is the change (outcome) that is brought about in a person(s) or something by another person (s) or thing; that is the way in which an event, action or person changes someone or something.
Academic Performance:
This is regarded as the display of knowledge attained or skills, shown in the school subjects such achievements are indicated by test scores or by marks assigned by teachers. It is the school evaluation of students’ classroom work as quantified on the basis of marks or grades.
E-Learning:
It is an acronym of electronic learning it is an aspect of Electronic Learning that is concerned with sharing of knowledge electronically by use of text video, web or any other IT tools.
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