The Impact of Perceived Effect of Team Teaching on Academic Performance of Social Studies Students

The Impact of Perceived Effect of Team Teaching on Academic Performance of Social Studies Students

Abstract

This research work examined Perceived effect of team teaching on academic performance of social studies students in Mkpat Enin Local Government Area. Three research questions and three null hypotheses were stated and tested at 0.05 alpha level of significance. In the study area the population of the study comprised of  Two Thousand, Nine Hundred and Eighty Seven (2987) Junior Secondary School Two (JSS 2) students in sixteen public secondary schools. The sample size used for the study was one hundred students (100) drawn from two (2) public secondary schools. Quasi-experimental design was adopted for the study.

Social Studies Achievement Test (SSAT) was the main instrument used to elicit data for the study. Data obtained for the study were analysed using mean, standard deviation and t-test statistical analysis, and findings showed that: There is a significant difference in students’ academic performance in Social Studies when taught using team teaching and those taught using lecture method of teaching; There is no significant difference in academic performance in Social Studies among male and female students when taught using team teaching; and finally, there is no significant difference in academic performance in Social Studies among male and female students when taught using lecture method of teaching. Based on the findings, it was recommended that Social Studies students should be expose to team teaching method of the teaching to assist in enhancing their academic performance and to facilitate effective learning of the subject.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1     Background to the Study

Teaching is the act of educating or instructing the learners. It is the act of imparting knowledge or skills on learners. Teaching as a process involves several activities by the teacher and the students. Ekanem (2006), states that it is because of this that the teaching activity of the teacher falls under the search light of the larger society. Similarly, the National Policy on Education cited in Ekanem (2006) clearly recognized the role of the teacher when it declared that teacher’s education shall continue to be given major emphasis in all educational planning and development.

This is because the role of a teacher remains pivotal for the overall achievement of the educational objectives of the nation. This statement also backs up what the National Policy on Education stated that no education shall rise above the level of its teachers, owing to the fact that the teachers select, organized, arrange and implement the curriculum of the nation. Therefore, their method of teaching need to be suitable in teaching the concept they want to teach.

The Impact of Perceived Effect of Team Teaching on Academic Performance of Social Studies Students

The teaching of Social studies in Nigerian schools needs to be properly handled because the subject exposed the students to diverse field in the area of social sciences such as financial accounting, business and finance, public finance amongst others. The strategies, methods and materials used by teachers to teach and drive home their subject matter at the secondary school level of education is indubitably a paramount or important issue in classroom interaction and successful transfer of knowledge from the teacher to the learners.

Team teaching entails the teaching of one concept by different teachers with the same learners. It is a natural method of learning that can take different forms such as modeling, games, dramatization, drawing and painting. According to Uwameiye and Ojikutu (2008), teaching can be defined as the action of a person (teacher) and may also refer to instruction of education performed by teacher.

However, Okon, (2014) maintained that the teaching of Social studies and other social science subjects is very difficult as the subject does not have concrete materials to be presented to the students during lesson presentation and therefore, the use of lecture method of teaching becomes the order of the day for teachers. This method of teaching reduces the teaching of the subject to mere memorization of facts and encourage cramming leading to poor presentation when need arises. This method may not be appropriate for secondary school students and therefore, some researchers.

Also, the impact of any teaching method is not only limited to the conditions surrounding the teaching but also the advantages and the disadvantages of a particular method in a particular situation should not be left out. According to Keene (2015), each student learns best using strategies and objectives that reflect his experiences, abilities, aptitudes and interest.

Similarly, there is no standard teaching method. The various teaching methods overlap in definition and application; none being mutually exclusive although researchers often delineate several teaching strategies. Laboratory technique is one of the many teaching method under the investigative or activity based. It is a method which is capable of improving learning through its diversity effect activity. It has the prerequisite characteristics for individualized instruction and therefore has high potential for making teaching-learning process challenging and rewarding but this method may not be appropriate for the teaching of Social studies.

There is a radical departure from the direct teaching model in which the teacher engages student to learn. Students are encouraged to ask questions (questioning method). The student is viewed as an inquirer, a seeker of information and a problem-solver. These attributes are crucial to problem-solving and are at the heart of effective of teaching.

Consequently, there is now a growing concern for the use of demonstration technique in the teaching of Social studies in Nigerian secondary schools. In recent times, much research attention has been focused on teaching of Social studies in Nigerian Secondary Schools with a view to ascertaining the adequacy and appropriateness of the teachers’ method of teaching and indeed the effectiveness of instruction. Investigation into the use of demonstration instructional technique in the teaching of Social studies in Nigerian Secondary Schools seem to have focused mainly on teachers’ frequency of the use of this technique and sparingly on the application of important variables influencing its effective use.

In a sense, no research attention has yet been paid to the effectiveness of teaching Social studies using team teaching technique in Mkpat Enin Local Government Area. The use of team teaching instructional technique as an innovative instructional practice can only be effectively implemented if the teachers possess the appropriate knowledge, skills and abilities related to its use in the classroom situation.

The present concern for Nigerian Social studies teachers with regards to utilization of certain teaching is born out of the fear that since most of these teachers have been used to lecture teaching approach and considering the existing inadequacies in teacher education in Nigeria, their awareness, equipment, orientation and willingness to embrace and effectively use the guided inquiry technique as a mode of teaching are bound to be questionable.

This activity technique is at times misconstrued and hence wrongly applied in the teaching of Social studies as there are no materials to use in teaching the subject. Nowak, Watt and Walther (2014), articulated this position and present evidence that, team teaching method is generally effective in teaching sciences, mathematics and mechanics as well as subject areas within vocational and technical education. While team teaching is appropriate for the teaching of social science and art and other related subjects (Social studies inclusive).

As stated by Gokhale (2016), the professional success of a technologist is directly related to his/her ability to transfer knowledge gained in the academic environment to real-world situations. Much student learning occurs through observing others. This paper attempts to elucidate the concept of method of teaching, and empirically establish its effectiveness on SS 2 students’ achievement in Secondary School. The Team teaching has been widely accepted and recommended by some educators as the good method of teaching in secondary schools (Phipps & Osborne, 2012). The Team teaching is the method of teaching where the central and essential characteristic is interaction (Binkley and Tulloch, 2011).

Ekanem (2006) stated that teaching is a complex process in secondary school that at these level teachers are dealing with adolescents who needs more attention. The author added that teachers who teach in secondary schools must be made to understand that they have a very important role to play in preparing the youngsters for the greater task ahead in the higher field of learning. Teachers therefore should be able to lay the foundation to students at this level to ensure better academic future of the learners. It is against this background information that the researcher intends to investigate the team teaching and students’ academic performance in Social studies in secondary schools in Mkpat Enin Local Government Area.

The Impact of Perceived Effect of Team Teaching on Academic Performance of Social Studies Students

1.2     Statement of the Problem

The act of teaching is fundamentally concerned with passing ideas, skills and attitudes from the teachers to the learners. Experience has shown that spoken words alone in the communication of ideas are grossly ineffective and inefficient in producing desired learning outcome. The mass failure recorded by students in certificate examinations in secondary schools which according to the chief examiners of West Africa Examination Council (WAEC)in 2016 report that out of 1,104,13 students who registered for the examination only 571,006 obtained  pass with five credits including Social studies, Mathematics and English Language. The reason for this could be attributed to the fact that Social studies as a social science subject in secondary schools pose serious problems of comprehension to students and that this subject cannot be taught effectively without relevant instructional method.

In-effective selection and utilization of instructional process is one of the reasons advanced for poor performance of students in Social studies this is because the method of teaching selected constitutes an integral part of teaching and if the teaching methods selected are not students’ centered, the teaching of Social studies will be mainly verbalization of words without adequate understanding by the students.

Also, students may not be sufficiently expose to discipline in class as some of the method of teaching encourages students being passive during the process of teaching and learning and this attitude has rendered Social studies teaching in many of our secondary schools ineffective, this is because students hear when you teach them, they see when you demonstrate and they understand when they practice. Some methods lead to ineffective classroom supervision and follow-up for slow learners as well as complicated learner’s evaluation procedures.

From the foregoing, there is a strong indication that academic achievements of Social studies students are a correlates of teaching method utilized by teachers in the process of instructions. Therefore, a careful and cautious attention is accorded to it if we want to build and sustain effective performance of students in Social studies in Nigeria. Based on these facts, the study seeks to find out the effects of team teaching on students’ academic performance in Social studies in secondary schools in Mkpat Enin Local Government Area.

 1.3     Purpose of the Study

The study sought to investigate the Perceived  effect of team teaching on academic performance of social studies students in Mkpat Enin Local Government Area. Specifically, the study sought:

1. To investigate the students’ academic performance in Social studies when taught using team teaching and those taught using lecture method in secondary schools in Mkpat Enin Local Government Area;
2. To examine whether there is any significant difference in male and female students’ academic performance when taught using team teaching.
3. To assess whether there is any significant difference in male and female students’ academic performance when taught using lecture method of teaching.

1.4  Significance of the Study

The findings of this study will be significant in the following ways:

1. Curriculum designers in developing curricular for Nigerian teachers of tomorrow which will help equipped them with knowledge on what type of methods to use for instruction.

ii  It will enhance innovative thinking, creativity and resourcefulness among teachers as they will have to think of selecting relevant instructional technique for their lesson. Findings may also provide the teachers with a feedback on the teaching competences in most commonly used teaching methods as a basis for improvement in their instructional practice so that they can enhance performance.

iii  The findings of this study will assist the Ministry of Education in providing teaching aids to support methods used by teachers in the teaching/learning process.

iv The findings will help students to know the level of their performance and therefore thereby becoming learning conscious towards various methods.

v   Future researchers will use the outcome of the research as reference materials on related topic.

The Impact of Perceived Effect of Team Teaching on Academic Performance of Social Studies Students

1.5  Research Questions

The following questions were stated to guide the study:

1. To what extent does students’ academic performance in Social studies differ when taught using team teaching and those taught using lecture method of teaching?

ii  To what does male and female students’ academic performance in Social studies differ when taught using team teaching?

iii To what does male and female students’ academic performance in Social studies differ when taught using lecture method of teaching?

1.6  Research Hypotheses

The following null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study:

1. There is no significant difference in students’ academic performance in Social studies when taught using team teaching and those taught using lecture method of teaching.

ii   There is no significant difference in academic performance in Social studies among male and female students when taught using team teaching.

iii  There is no significant difference in academic performance in Social studies among male and female students when taught using lecture method of teaching.

1.7     Delimitation of the study

This research work was focused on team teaching method and the difference in academic performance in Social studies among Junior Secondary School students in Mkpat Enin Local Government Area. This study was also limited to Social studies students in JSS2 in selected secondary schools in Mkpat Enin Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.

1.8     Limitation of the study

In the process of conducting this study, the researcher was confronted with different problems which threatened the successful completion of this study. Prominent among these problems will include: insufficient time frame allocated for the completion and submission of the research report and insufficient finance to process and purchase necessary materials required by study. To overcome this, the researcher limited the scope and sample size to a manageable size of 100 JSS2 students from two public secondary schools in the study area.

1.9     Operational Definition of Terms

The following terms were operationally defined:

Academic Performance:  This is the level of achievement in a Social studies class that is measured by the scores of the students in a continuous assessment and examination.

Team Teaching: This is a method of teaching which implies presentation of one concept by different teachers based on their areas of specialization.

Lecture Method: This is a method of teaching which implies verbal presentation of all concepts by a teacher to the students irrespective of the area of specialization.

Social Studies: This is a social science which deals with the study of human and their environment.

The Impact of Perceived Effect of Team Teaching on Academic Performance of Social Studies Students

CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1     Summary

This research work examined the Perceived effect of team teaching on academic performance of social studies students in Mkpat Enin Local Government Area. Three research questions and three null hypotheses were stated and tested at 0.05 alpha levels of significance. Literatures relevant to the study were reviewed on theoretical framework, conceptual framework and empirical framework. The population of the study comprised of 2987 junior secondary school two (Jss2) students in sixteen public secondary schools.

A quasi-experimental research design was adopted for the study. The sample size used for the study was one hundred students (100) draw from two public schools in Mkpat Enin Local Government Area. Social studies achievement test (SSAT) was the instrument used to collect data for the study. The instrument was tested on thirty (30) students and the reliability co-efficient of 0.81 was obtained using Pearson product moment correlation co-efficient (PPMCC). Data obtained for the study were analysis using mean, standard deviation and t-test statistics analysis, and finding showed that:

(i)   There is a significant difference in student’s academic performance in social studies when taught using team teaching and those taught using lecture method of teaching in secondary schools in Mkpat Enin Local Government Area.

(ii)   There is no significant difference in academic performance in social studies among male and female students when taught using team teaching in secondary schools in Mkpat Enin Local Government Area

(iii)  There is no significant difference in academic performance in social studies among male and female students when taught using lecture method of teaching in secondary schools in Mkpat Enin Local Government Area.

5.2     Conclusion

From the findings, it was concluded that team teaching method significantly affects students academic performance as it smooth the progress of learning in social studies and enhances student performance as compare to lecture method of teaching method. Team teaching method also assist student getting the satisfactory knowledge of the lesson taught and promotes actives participation and engagement of the students during the learning process.

5.3     Recommendations

The following are recommendations made from the findings in the study;

(i)  Social studies students should be expose to team teaching method of the teaching to assist in enhancing their academic performance and to facilitate understanding of the subject.

(ii) Equal opportunity should be given to both male and female students in learning social studies because gender has no significant role to play when it come to academic performance.

(iii)  On the part of the schools, the school principals should sensitize  social studies teachers on the potential of adopting team teaching method in teaching. This would help the teacher to be more knowledgeable in teaching the subject.

(iv) Curriculum planer should include in the curricular of social studies teachers the type of method of instructions.

(v) Government should organize seminars to teachers on instructional method selection and utilization in teaching of social studies.

5.4     Suggestion for Further Study

Since the research was restricted to only one Local Government Area in Akwa Ibom State. Further study should be carried out in other Local Government Area in Akaw Ibom State.