1.0 Introduction
1.1 Background of the Study
Education is a veritable instrument for effecting positive change in the behaviour of citizens. National Policy on Education (2004) emphasizes the goals of education in Nigeria to include inculcation of the right type of values, attitudes, communication skills as well as life-long skills. These goals are attainable through effective classroom interaction. Interaction occurs between the teacher and the learner through the process of teaching and learning. Teaching, which is the primary function of a teacher, entails giving instruction, impacting knowledge, facts, skills, attitudes, interests, and aptitude. Modebelu (2007) defines teaching as an activity consisting of a body of actions and programmes planned and directed towards inculcating learning through conscious and deliberate efforts of the teacher. A teacher in this situation is expected to be a professional who consciously and deliberately utilizes his or her wealth of experience, skills, competencies, attitudes, interest and mastery of the subject matter to facilitate learning in students. The product of teaching is learning (acquisition of knowledge).
Before learners can imbibe the right skills and attitudes, teaching must be effective. Effective teaching according to Mkpa (2009) consists of four elements: Purposeful and planned teaching mastery of subject matter, display of conceptual-skills, and instructional materials. Mkpa (2009) opines that teaching method is the totality of all the strategies, techniques and ways that a teacher employs to maximize and facilitate classroom interaction. It is a means of conveying facts and decoding messages that eventually result in the realization of stated educational objectives. Teaching method is therefore the procedure, orderliness in planning and execution of teaching with an appropriate integration of instructional materials to achieve the objectives at the classroom level. There are several teaching methods that can be employed in the teaching and learning process: Lecture, demonstration, activity, peer teaching, play-way and guided discovery. Therefore, different teaching methods can be applied during teaching and learning financial accounting in order to make students learn better.
According to Asaolu (2002), “Financial Accounting is the process of recording, classifying, selecting, measuring, interpreting, summarizing and reporting financial data of an organization to the users for objective assessment and decision making”.
Accounting data are processed into accounting information through the use of accounting principles and conventions. The accounting principles are known as “Generally Accepted Accounting Principles”. They are the basic fundamentals which guide accountants in recording, appreciating and assessing accounting information as well as the preparation and interpretation of financial statements.
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