EFFECTS OF CONSTRUCTIVIST BASED TEACHING STRATEGY ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION

EFFECTS OF CONSTRUCTIVIST BASED TEACHING STRATEGY ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION

 

 

ABSTRACT

The study investigated the relative effect of constructivist based teaching strategy on academic performance of junior secondary school students in physical education. Four (4) Junior Secondary Schools were randomly selected for the study. In all a total of 120 junior secondary school students participated in this study. The instruments used for data collection are instructional package with the use of constructivist based teaching strategy and traditional instructional strategy and Physical education achievement test (ISAT).The data obtained for the study were analyzed using SPSS 14.00 package and T-test statistics to test the four (4) research questions as well as the four (4) hypotheses generated for this study at 0.05 level of significant. The findings revealed that: there is a significant difference in achievement test scores between students instructed with constructivist-based teaching strategy and those taught using traditional classroom teaching method. Based on the findings some recommendations are hereby made for effective teaching and learning of physical education: Government should continuously organize seminars and workshop for science teachers for the promotion and the application of constructivist approach to classroom instructional process in secondary schools, Science curriculum must stress educational choices based on our values and purposes and provide the materials that can help advance the agenda of scientifically based child-centered pedagogy.

 

   

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1     BACKGROUND TO THE PROBLEM

Critics of public education have argued that many Nigerian students do not possess the depth of knowledge or skills to assure either personal life success or national economic competitiveness (Akpan, 1996). A particular concern of the critics has been the apparent inability of many students to engage in complex problem-solving activities and to apply school knowledge and skills to real-life problems in workplace settings (Akpan, 1996). What teachers and schools face is a fundamental redefinition of what it means to be a student or a teacher and what it means to learn or to teach. Educators are confronted with a paradigm shift in teaching and learning which is driven by the increasing anomalies of the current educational system (Kim, 2002). High drop-out rates, low skill and knowledge levels among many students, low levels of student engagement in school work and poor international comparisons suggest that the current educational paradigm is weak or inappropriate.

Educators must understand that changes in students’ outcomes must be supported by parallel changes in curriculum and instruction. However, it is apparent that many of today’s teachers are caught in the midst of a change for which they may not have been professionally prepared (Dogru and Kalender, 2007). Many teachers were educated in the classrooms where the role of the student was to memorize information, conduct well regulated experiments, perform mathematical calculations using a specific algorithm and were then tested on their ability to repeat these tasks or remember specific facts. The ideas which are central to an education which defines competence as the ability of the student to apply knowledge and skills to unfamiliar problems are not new.

Constructivist theory provides a framework through which the emergent ideas about teaching, learning and assessment can be unified (Young and Collin, 2003). The difficulty and challenge confronting classroom professionals is that the reform strategies in curriculum, instruction and assessment organized around the theory of “constructivism” are informed by different assumptions and beliefs about the nature of knowledge and about the human capacity to learn than are traditional classroom practices (Kim, 2005).

Additionally, the conventional teaching method of teacher as sole information-giver to passive students appears outdated. In a study carried out by (Colburn, 2000) on undergraduates in a large lecture hall setting, it was found that only 20% of the students retained what the instructor discussed after the lecture. They were too busy taking notes to internalize the information. Also, after a lecture has passed eight minutes, only 15% of the students are paying attention, no link between former present schools.

One proposed solution to the Afore mentioned problem is to prepare students to become good adaptive learners. That is, students should be able to apply what they learn in school to the various and unpredictable situations that they might encounter in the course of their work lives. Obviously, the traditional teacher as information giver and textbook guided classroom has failed to bring about the desired outcome of producing thinking students (Young and Collin, 2003). A much heralded alternative is to change the focus of the classroom from teacher dominated instruction to student-centered instruction, using a constructivist approach. The aim of the present study is to determine the effects of constructivist- based teaching strategy on students’ academic performance in Basic Science concepts in Junior Secondary Schools (with co-operative learning approach) in Epe Local Government area of Lagos State.

 

1.2     STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Knowledge is not attained but constructed (von Glasersfeld, 1999). This statement came from a new challenge to the concept of traditional knowledge. Today, we are facing the challenge from an educational paradigm shift in secondary schools education in Nigeria. Parents and the general public have criticized the secondary schools and classroom environments, arguing that they are not ready to meet learner's needs/ achievement and the demands of the industrial society in this 21st century information society. Some complain about current educational practices, raising questions about the inability of Nigerian science students to perform creative thinking as well as problem solving tasks when compared to other advanced countries.

There have been a lot of comments in books, particularly those written in Europe and America, which confirmedconstructivist-based teaching strategy to be an effective way to structure learning activities. But there is surprisingly very little research effort, particularly in Nigeria that emphasized constructivist-based teaching strategy in science and even less that focused on Basic science at the junior secondary school level. Furthermore no studies to our knowledge had investigated the effect of constructivist-based teaching strategy and its interaction with sex and ability on science and technology achievement and attitude among junior secondary school students in Nigeria. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to specifically determine, among others, the effects of constructivist-based teaching strategy on academic performance of students in Physical education.

This study is aimed at investigating if the application of constructivist based teaching strategy in the teaching of Physical education will produce differential performance and attitude scores among junior secondary school students generally and specifically among students of varying abilities and sex.

 

1.3     PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The purpose of this study is to determine, the effects of constructivist-based teaching strategy on academic performance of junior secondary school students' in Basic Science inEpe Local Government Area of Lagos State.

The study would attempt to ascertain the effect of constructivist based teaching strategy on academic performance of junior secondary school students.

The study would empirically validate any difference in achievement test scores between high ability students using the constructivist strategy.

The study would investigate any difference in attitude scores between students taught using constructivist based teaching and the traditional method.

 

1.4     RESEARCH QUESTIONS

This study will be guided with the following research questions.

1. Is there any significant difference in achievement test scores between students instructed using constructivist-based teaching strategy and those instructed using the traditional classroom teaching method?
2. Is there any significant difference in achievement test scores between male and female students instructed with constructivist-based teaching strategy?
3. Is there any significant difference in achievement test scores between high ability students taught with constructivist-based teaching strategy and those taught with traditional classroom teaching method?
4. Is there any significant difference in achievement test scores between low ability students taught with constructivist-based teaching strategy and those taught with traditional classroom teaching method?

 

1.5     RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

From the research questions raised, four hypotheses will be tested at 0.05 level of significance.

Ho1:  There is no significant difference in achievement test scores between students instructed with constructivist-based teaching strategy and those taught using Conventional classroom teaching method.

Ho2:  There is no significant difference in achievement test scores between male and female students      instructed with constructivist-based teaching strategy.

Ho3: There is no significant difference in achievement test scores between students of high abilities instructed with constructivist-based teaching strategy and those taught with traditional classroom     teaching method.

Ho4: There is no significant difference in the achievement test

scores of students of low ability instructed with constructivist based teaching strategy and those taught with    traditional classroom teaching method.

 

1.6     SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

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

It is expected that the constructivist-based teaching strategy employed in the study would improve the teaching and learning process thereby enhancing student’s performance in Basic Science and attitude in Science and Technology.

The results of this study will be useful to the teacher and student as it would provide them with alternative method of teaching and learning Science related topics.

It is hoped that the results of the study would provide information on the extent to which the use of constructivist-based teaching strategies could affect learning outcomes in physical education.

The results of this study will also be helpful to curriculum planners and authors as it will guide them in terms of what to include on the curriculum and their texts respectively. The findings of this study could observe as a basis for further research.

 

 

1.7     DELIMITATION OF THE STUDY

This study covers only four Junior Secondary Schools in Epe Local Government   Area of Lagos State. As a result of the short time frame allocated to this study. Other challenges encountered in the course of this study includes

• Financial constraints
• Uncooperative attitude of the respondents

1.8     OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS

• EFFECT: A change which is a result or consequence of an action or other cause.
• STRATEGY:     method employed by the teacher in his/her teaching.
• CONSTRUCTIVIST TEACHING: Teachers provide an environment in which students are actively engaged in their own learning, and build their own knowledge structures by Investigating and discovering (Marlowe & Page, 1998).
• JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL: This is the stage of education following primary education.
• ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE: This refers to how students deal with their studies and how they cope with or accomplish different tasks.
• TEACHING: This is an intimate contract between a more mature personality and a less mature one, which is designed for the further education of the latter.
• STUDENTS: A person who is studying at a school or college. Denoting someone who is studying in order to enter a particular profession.

 

EFFECTS OF CONSTRUCTIVIST BASED TEACHING STRATEGY ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION

Sharing is caring!