Comparative Study Of Student Performance In WAEC Biology, Chemistry And English
(Case Study Of Enugu North Lga)
The performance of students in the WAEC examinations for Biology, Chemistry, and English reflects a blend of academic prowess and proficiency across these subjects. In analyzing student performance, it’s crucial to consider various factors such as curriculum rigor, teaching methodologies, and individual student aptitude. Biology and Chemistry, being science subjects, demand a solid grasp of concepts, analytical skills, and practical application, while English proficiency encompasses language fluency, comprehension, and communication abilities. Trends in student performance may reveal strengths and areas needing improvement within educational systems, guiding educators and policymakers in curriculum refinement and pedagogical approaches. Factors such as access to resources, teacher quality, and student engagement also play integral roles in shaping outcomes. Thus, a comprehensive examination of student performance in these subjects provides insights into educational effectiveness and the preparedness of students for future academic and professional pursuits.
Comparative study of student performance in WAEC biology, chemistry and English from 2004 – 2008 in Enugu North Local Government Area.
In this study the researchers want to know to what extent the student performance in English varies from the student’s performance in biology and to what extent the student performance in English vary from chemistry. This has motivated the researcher towards reviewing all the related literature necessary on the performance of the student in WAEC. The population of the study is all the candidate that took chemistry, biology and English in WAEC from 2004 to 2008 in Enugu North Local Government Area in Enugu State, four (4) school were selected for this study which are:
1. City Girls Secondary School
2. Urban Girls Secondary School
3. Queens Secondary School
4. Metropolitan Girls Secondary School
The instrument for the data collection is self reporting inventories which was collected through the vice principal of the sampled schools, the data collected is the total score of the student who took chemistry, biology and English language from 2004 to 2008, the statistically tools used in the data analysis is person correlation co-efficient i.e.
N∑XY – ∑X∑Y
(N∑X2 – (∑X)2) [N∑Y2 – (∑Y)2
And the data analyzed and presented shows that there is significant difference between the student’s performance in WAEC English and biology and there difference between the student performance in WAEC English and chemistry the conclusion is that the student’s performance in science varies from the student’s performance in English based on the finding and conclusion the following recommendation were made, employment of qualified science teacher (e) provision of good equipment for science practical and good training of science teachers.
i Title page
ii Certification
iii Approval page
iv Dedication
v Acknowledgement
vi Abstract
Chapter one
Introduction 1
Background of the study 1
Statement of the problem 5
Purpose of the study 6
Significant of the study 7
Scope of the study 8
Research question 8
Hypotheses 9
Chapter two
Literature review 10
The role of Nigeria examination committee on WAEC 10
The performance of student in the core subjects 14
The roles of government on the performance of student
in WAEC 14
the roles of parent on student academic performance
in WAEC 16
WAEC role in student’s performance in WAEC 20
Summary of review 21
Chapter three
Research methodology 22
Research design 22
Area of the study 23
Population of the study 23
Sampling and sampling techniques 23
Instrument for data collection 24
Methods of data collection 24
Methods of data analysis 24
Chapter four
Data analysis and result 26
Chapter five
Discussion of the finding 48
Summary of the study 50
Conclusion 50
Recommendation 51
Reference 52
Appendix 53
Introduction
Background of the Study
Meaning of academic performance of student is challenging, since science student performance is the produce of socio-economic, psychological and environmental factors. Education ought to be growing as a profitable industry with prime objective of maximizing profit by delivering high quality education that produces well educated, skilled and manned student according to needs and requirement of the dynamically growing market. There are two group of student as generally perceived. That is those who improve and those who don’t improve. This student performance can be affected by different factors such as learning abilities because new paradigm about learning assumes that all student can and should learn at higher levels, but it should not be considered as constraints because there are other factors like race, gender, sex that can affect students performances (Hansen 2000).
Meshiachoudis (2001) explained the effect of age, qualification and distance from learning place on the student performance. Qualification in his explanation concerns the readiness of student in joining a particular discipline in the school for instance a student that is not capable of doing science in the secondary school joins science because his/her friends are offering the subject.
Kirby (2002) added that the academic performance of student is also affect by student impatience. Yronne (1998) further elaborated that student academic performance is very much dependent on SEB (Socio-economic background) as per his statement secondary school student performance is with satisfically significant different.
Alexander (2001) explained that some of the practice adopted by secondary school administration can also influences their academic performance, such practice like club, media and culture clubs etc. Meanwhile, looking at the fact that our main focus of this writing is to compare how student perform or the performance of student offering biology, chemistry and English in Enugu North Local Government Area from 2004-2008. You find out that most of the subject are science subject (biology and chemistry), which involve student who are brain is sharp and hot, not student who’s I que is low and cannot perform or solve any mathematic problem rather they move to the simplest subject that they can perform better (i.e. English language etc). That is why when you go into all this clubs mention above you find out that most of the student there are not in science class. Science student don’t have time and chance for all this because of their mathematical involvement reflecting to point out that they do not have time for grammer”. But of a truth that they do not have chance of joining some of the above mentioned practice (clubs, cultural groups and media) which is of great help to passing English Language in WAEC as it is well known that most of the essay in WAEC are debts. Articles and letter writing of which the English student do well in the subject because they joined the practice.
According to Bello an Abuja based educationist a member of all Nigeria Committee of principals of secondary schools ANCOPSS. The truth is that the reading culture in Nigeria is generally poor. To make it worse, these days most of our student hardly read listed they waste their precious time watching television or films, listening to music, playing video/computer games.
Another educationist, MOhmud (2009) attributed the dismal performance in WAEC examination to the lactadaisical attitude of the government and its refusal to adequately fund the education sector. According to him on several occasion we clamoured for improved budgetary allocation to the education sector but all these have fallen on deaf ears. For instance UNESCO recommend that 26 percent of any country’s budget should be allocated to the education sectors, but instead what do you have in Nigeria? Government paying lip service to education sector, other countries who understand the importance of education have taken, proactive steps to adequately fund their education sector. For instance Ghana has allocated 29 percent to its education sector, even for more than the UNESCO recommendation. The same thing with South Africa and but ward who allocated 35 percent and 57 percent respectively to their education sectors. So until these thing are implemented we would continue to montage the future of our children.
Comparative study refers to the comparism of different capabilities or abilities of different groups or individual of the same or different categories wikipedia (2009). Comparative study of the performance of student in WAEC in biology, chemistry and English language from 2004-2008 deals with comparing the performance ability of student in biology chemistry and English language.
Statement of the Problem
The comparision of student performance in WAEC has been a confusing issue even to WAEC body as the case may be taken a close instance as regard this confusion. WAEC could not present the highest or the best performed student in WAEC each year as they use to do formally as at 1990. This day results are released without comparism and grades to enable student really know their level of performance when compared to the subjects, that is why these study focuses on identifying the following;
1. Comparing the performance of student in biology and English language in WAEC from 2004-2008.
2. Comparing the performance of student in chemistry and English in WAEC from 2004-2008.
Purpose of the Study
The main purpose underlying the project is to investigate the performance of the secondary school student in WAEC taking their comparative performance on Biology, Chemistry and English Language from 2004-2008 in Enugu North Local Government Area. The study specifically seeks to determine.
a. The performance of student in WAEC Biology and English from 2004 – 2008 in Enugu North.
b. The performance of student in Chemistry and English language from 2004-2008.
Significant of the Study
The usefulness of this research work in education system cannot be over emphasized of the result of the study is properly utilized, it is going to be benefit to the student because it will enable them to really know their performance in WAEC in some subject like chemistry, English and biology etc to either improve on those subjects. The research work is of great importance to the WAEC officials themselves in that it will enable them to know the impact of taking a comparative study of the student performance in WAEC in years interval as this study tries to examine the performance of student in WAEC in biology, chemistry and English language from 2004-2008.
It will also help the government to know the area which the student are lacking behind and to solve the problem that brings about such lapses.
It will at the same time be of help to parent so that they know the subject area which their children perform more better.
Scope of the Study
The study was based on secondary school student performance in WAEC in biology, chemistry and English language and restricted to Enugu North Local Government in Enugu State from 2004-2008.
Research Question
1. To what extent do the students’ performance in English varies from their performance in biology in 2004 – 2008.
2. To what extent do the students performance in English varies from their performance in chemistry in 2004-2008.
Hypotheses
The following hypothesis was tested for this study.
1. Ho: There is no significant difference in the students’ performance in English and biology their performance.
2. Hi: There is significant difference between English and biology or English and chemistry.
The hypothesis is confirmed at .05 level of significant.
Student Performance In WAEC Biology, Chemistry And English:
To conduct a comparative study of student performance in WAEC (West African Examinations Council) subjects like Biology, Chemistry, and English, you would typically follow these steps:
- Data Collection: Obtain the necessary data from official sources, educational institutions, or relevant research organizations. You would need data on student scores or grades in Biology, Chemistry, and English from multiple years and across different schools or regions.
- Data Preparation: Clean and organize the data for analysis. This includes removing any outliers, handling missing data, and ensuring that the data is in a format suitable for analysis.
- Descriptive Analysis: Begin by performing descriptive analysis to understand the distribution of scores or grades in each subject. This could involve calculating measures like mean, median, mode, standard deviation, and creating histograms or box plots.
- Comparative Analysis: Compare the performance across the different subjects. You might consider using techniques like:
- Correlation Analysis: Determine if there’s a correlation between performance in Biology, Chemistry, and English. For example, do students who perform well in Biology tend to perform well in Chemistry and English as well?
- Comparing Distributions: Compare the distributions of scores or grades in each subject using visualizations like density plots or violin plots. This can help identify any trends or differences in performance.
- Trend Analysis: Analyze the performance trends over multiple years. Are there improvements or declines in performance over time in specific subjects?
- Hypothesis Testing: If you have specific hypotheses in mind, you could conduct hypothesis testing to determine if there are statistically significant differences in performance between subjects. For example, you might test whether the mean scores in Biology and Chemistry are significantly different.
- Factors Influencing Performance: Explore potential factors that might influence student performance, such as teacher qualification, teaching methods, school location, etc. This could involve more advanced statistical techniques like regression analysis.
- Interpretation: Interpret the findings of your analysis. Are there any patterns or trends that stand out? What implications do the results have for educational policies or teaching strategies?
Remember that conducting a thorough and meaningful comparative study requires a solid understanding of statistical analysis and research methodology. If you’re not familiar with these concepts, it might be helpful to consult with a statistician or a researcher experienced in educational data analysis. Additionally, always ensure that you have the necessary permissions and ethical considerations in place when working with student data.