Impact Of Teaching Methods And Students’ Academic Performance In Business Studies In Secondary Schools

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

Teaching at any level of education is to bring about a fundamental change that will facilitate the process of knowledge transmission in the learners. At this instance, teachers should apply appropriate teaching methods that would best suit specific objectives and outcomes. In the traditional era where teaching and learning gained much development, many teaching practitioners widely applied teacher-centered methods to impart knowledge to learners comparative to student-centered methods. Until today, questions about the effectiveness of teaching methods on student learning have consistently raised considerable interest in the field of educational research. Moreover, research on teaching and learning constantly endeavour to examine the extent to which different teaching methods enhance growth in students learning.

Teaching involves bringing about or at least facilitating desirable changes in learners. However, effective teaching requires the teacher to step out of the realm of personal experience and step into the world of the learners. It is the learner who must be engaged for learning to occur, the learner is the one who must take the commitment to learn.

According to Ibe-Bassey (2015), the skillful and competent teacher uses as many methods and techniques as possible because, there is no single method which is regarded as the best for every teaching situation. In a single lesson therefore, the teacher can employ more than one method to facilitate learning. The success of every method depends on the caliber of the teacher and his professional experience in the field of teaching. Studies have shown that appropriate instructional materials coupled with right choice of methods facilitate learning achievement to a large extent. This applies at all levels of education and particularly secondary school which deals with foundation of learning and development.

There are many definitions of teaching method by different authors. Kimweri (2012), notes that teaching method can be defined as a practical application of teaching principles based on the nature of learner, the nature of the subject and the learning needs of the students/students. According to Oyekan (2014), teaching methodology is concerned with what method techniques or approach, individuals or group of teachers select and use in actual classroom situation. The success of teaching always lies mainly on the know-how of the subject involved and the use of appropriate method(s) that is required per time during the process of transfer of knowledge. A successful teaching is a product of effective and efficient teaching process.

Vin-Mbah as cited in South and Laslett (2013) described teaching as an all-purpose profession engaged in human resource development for individual and economic growth. Teaching is the process of helping someone to acquire skill, attitude, knowledge, idea or appreciation. In other words, the teacher’s task is to create or influence desirable changes in behaviour, or in tendencies toward behaviour in his students.

Effective teaching involves informing and explaining stimulating, direction, guiding, administrating, identifying what to learn, method of learning, problems, evaluating, reporting, recording, classroom management, socialization and school-community relationship among others Mba (2011).

It is of a necessity that a skillful teacher needs to be conversant with various teaching strategies which may be applied to subjects at different class situations. Adufe (2008) affirms that many methods of teaching exist in education and these methods are meant to make teachers succeed in their bid to disseminate knowledge. 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 Ckenzie, as cited in Adesanya (2016) argues that the objectives of the teacher should also be considered before the selection of any method. This implies that what the teacher intends to achieve at the end of the lesson should be in line with the selected method. In the light of all these, the study therefore sought to find out the influence of different teaching methods and students’ academic performance in business studies in secondary schools in the study area.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Many methods of teaching exist in education. All the methods are meant to make teachers succeed in their bid to disseminate knowledge. However, little attention is considered by the teachers when selecting the methods to be used in their lesson delivery. Also there are complaints by the teachers, parents and educational stakeholders on the methods used by teachers in teaching the students on the suspicion that they are not effective and these have brought about students’ poor academic performance. It is also observed that students cannot easily follow instructions in class, lessons become dull and boring, it also engender negative attitude, low interest and poor performance among students.

The researcher therefore deemed it necessary to reexamine various teaching methods that may be appropriate in the teaching and learning of business studies in secondary schools as a means for improve students’ academic performance in business studies and its effect on students’ academic performance in Business Studies in secondary schools.

1.3 Objectives of the study

The main objective of the study is to examine the impact of teaching methods on student academic performance in business studies. The study will specifically;

1. Find out the impact of the discussion method on student academic performance in business studies.
2. Examine the impact of the demonstration method and student academic performance in business studies.
3. Determine the impact of questioning method on student academic performance in business studies.
4. Find out the impact of lecture method on student academic performance in selected secondary schools in business studies.

1.4 Research Questions

The study will be anchored by the following question;

1. Does discussion method of teaching have an impact on student academic performance in business studies?
2. Does demonstration method of teaching have an impact on student academic performance in business studies?
3. Does questioning method of teaching have an impact on student academic performance in business studies?
4. Does lecture method of teaching have an impact on student academic performance in business studies?

1.5 Research Hypotheses

Ho: there is no significant relationship between teaching methods and students academic performance in Business studies.

Ha: there is a significant relationship between teaching methods and students academic performance in Business studies.

1.6 Significance Of The Study

The study is aimed at adding to the teaching and learning processes, in secondary schools it will assist teachers, students, school proprietresses and administrators and other researchers who want to embark on study in this area. The teachers will explore other teaching methods that can be applied in teaching business studies and how each affect students’ academic performance.

1.7 Scope Of The Study

This study is structured to generally examine the impact of teaching methods on student academic performance in business studies.  This study will focus solely on discussion method of teaching, demonstration method of teaching, questioning method of teaching, and lecture method of teaching. The respondents for this study will be obtained from some selected junior secondary schools Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State.

1.8    Limitation Of The Study

This research project, like all human endeavors, had some challenges that threatened to derail the study’s completion. One of the reasons is that the time allotted for this work was so limited that the researcher did not have enough time to complete the task thoroughly. During data collection, the researcher also had to put forth extra effort to understand the respondents’ interview schedules, several of whom fell into the incomprehensible age group. Also, there were financial and transportation constraints to deal with. Insufficient funds tend to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing the relevant materials, literature, or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire, interview).