INFLUENCE OF MICRO-TEACHING SKILLS ON STUDENTS’ PERFORMANCE IN TEACHING PRACTICE IN COLLEGES OF EDUCATION IN KANO STATE, NIGERIA   

ABSTRACT

The study assessed the effect of Micro-teaching skills on students‟ performance in teaching practice in colleges of education in Kano State. The study was conducted with the objectives to; find out the effect of set induction skill on the performance of studentteachers in teaching practice in Colleges of Education in Kano State; ascertain the effect of stimulus variation skill on the performance of student-teachers in teaching practice in Colleges of Education in Kano State; determine  the effect of questioning skill on the performance of student-teachers in teaching practice in Colleges of Education in Kano State; and determine the effect of skill of closure on the performances of studentteachers in teaching practice in Colleges of Education in Kano State. Four research questions and four null hypotheses were postulated in line with the stated objectives. Relevant literatures were reviewed on the key variables of the study. The study adopted ex-post facto research design. The target population of the study comprised of 14755 NCE III from Federal College of Education, Kano, Federal College of Education (Technical), Bichi and Sa‟adatu Rimi College of Education respectively. The sample size of 361 NCE III students was used in the study. Data was collected using students scores based on their performance during teaching practice. The instrument was validated by the researcher‟s supervisors. The validated instrument was subjected to a pilot study and a reliability coefficient of 0.80 was obtained. The data gathered were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. At descriptive level, the frequencies were converted to means and standard deviation to answer the research questions while at inferential level, one sample t-test was used at 0.05 alpha level. Findings from the study revealed that set induction skill has effect on the teaching practice performance of student-teachers in Colleges of Education in Kano State (.000 <0.005). Also, stimulus variation skill has effect on the teaching practice performance of student-teachers in Colleges of Education in Kano State (.002 <0.005). Questioning skill has effect on teaching practice performance of student-teachers in Colleges of Education in Kano State (.004 <0.005). Skill of closure has effect on the teaching practice performance of student-teachers in Colleges of Education in Kano State (.001 <0.005). The study concluded that acquisition of relevant teaching skills is vital to teachers‟ preparation and training since teaching practice allows the teacher trainees to gain their first teaching experience that they find useful during their professional lives and also concluded that the use of micro-teaching skills in teaching practice reduced the teaching anxiety level of student teachers. Based on the findings from this study, recommendations were made among others that colleges of Education and other teacher training institutes should ensure that student-teachers are exposed to micro-teaching in order to acquire the rudiments of teaching in the classroom.

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION

1.1        Background to the Study

Teaching involves many skills that cannot be learnt at an instance, to train a competent and efficient teacher, all things being equal, the trainee teacher should be introduced progressively to the teaching situation with fewer complexities and then to more complex ones, teaching practice is an excellent tool to accomplish this objective, it is viewed and has often been used as a successful method in trainee teacher‟s education. For this reason, micro teaching and teaching practice have been used in several places as stages of professional development for some time now. The art of teaching does not merely involve a simple transfer of knowledge from one to other, instead, it is a complex process that facilitates and influences the process of learning, hence, quality of a teacher is estimated on how much the students understand from his/her teaching.

 

The classrooms cannot be used as a learning platform for acquiring primary teaching skills, training of teachers in specific teaching skills is a major challenge in teacher education programmes, the pedagogic skill for teaching can be acquired only through more structured and cheaper faculty training techniques (Paris & Shanks, 2010). Some of these skills involve set induction skill which is the act of introducing a lesson to awaken learners‟ interest in the lesson and create an atmosphere of curiosity and motivation in the class. According to Isave (2012), set induction is a teaching skill used by the teacher for learners‟ induction to attend and learn. The teacher is a powerful agent to set the learners into the right mind so as to prepare the class for the lesson.

The skill of stimulus variation deals with presentation of variety of stimulus that can help the learners to overcome boredom in a lesson. It involves changing from time to time. Everyone has a limit to which his attention can be sustained in any given task.

Maheshwari, (2011) described stimulus variation skill as skillful change in stimuli. The learners are stimulated to increase their active participation by changing the interaction style, position of the teacher, and even the environment of learning. On the other hand, questioning is used to draw out ideas from the students. According to Ajibade (2009), questioning is the skill that is used to elicit feedback, to stimulate thinking and reasoning and to develop understanding. It is used to determine students‟ entry behaviour, personal characteristics and understanding of a given lesson. The skill of questioning helps the teacher to understand whether effective  learning has taking place or not at the end of teaching and learning. Closure – in achieving the skill of closure a systematic and objective assessment of an ongoing or completed project, programme or policy, its design, implementation and results is highly needed. The aim is to determine the relevance and fulfilment of objectives, efficiency, effectiveness, impact and sustainability, which later determine the extent to which the topic is suited to the priorities and understanding of the target group. Closure is used to summarize major points of lesson and emphazise on ideas, facts and issues.

Furthermore, it is when there are caliber of professional teachers who have good educational background and relevant teaching skills and attitude that educational aims and objectives can be realized. There is need for highly competent teachers for imparting knowledge. Before teachers can face the challenges of teaching, they need capability to perform their task efficiently. It is important for them to acquire requisite competencies for discharging of their duties.  According to Ambili (2013), the prime quality of a teacher is effective teacher training. When teachers are well equipped with core skills, extensive training programmes are possible. The quality of a teacher is measured by how much the students understand from the teaching and what the students can perform at the end of the teaching. It is very necessary for teachers to be well-baked because they provide the nation with the body of human resources.

 

However, many innovations are put up in teacher education for improvement. The innovations include micro-teaching, simulated teaching, programmed instruction and computer assisted instruction. Unfortunately, micro-teaching that is supposed to be a training ground for the adequate teachers‟ preparation is marred by poor educational policy, lack of equipment and instructional resources, ill-equipped staff and lack of infrastructural facilities. The adequacy and efficiency of micro-teaching as a teacher training technique requires a review because education programme by Nigerian Universities and Colleges of Education do not adequately prepare teacher trainees for real classroom teaching effectiveness. It follows therefore, that the more effective the micro-teaching the better the opportunities for student-teachers to develop their teaching skills at their schools of practice. This is because micro-teaching serves as training ground for teaching practice. Micro-teaching which is a sub-set of educational technology is an indispensable innovation in teacher education and preparation of preservice teachers. This explains why student-teachers take two courses in micro-teaching before they are deputed for teaching practice. The courses are EDU 213 (MicroTeaching Theory), and EDU 223 (Micro-teaching Practicum). EDU 213 is a prerequisite for EDU 223 while EDU 223 is the prerequisite for EDU 311 (Teaching

Practice). This shows the importance of micro-teaching in teachers‟ preparation. It is for this background that the researcher embarked on a study on the effect of micro-teaching skills on students‟ performance in teaching practice in colleges of education in Kano state, so as to identify the gap that existed between the theoretical aspect of training and practice.

 

 

 

 

1.2        Statement of the Problem

It appears that students teacher are not performing very well in teaching practice, this might not be unconnected to lack of micro-teaching skills during their pre-service training  Micro-teaching is seen as providing an opportunity to translate theory into practice in a real teaching setting (Joe, 2009). Due to this importance, serious attention is being given to teacher education so that adequate manpower can be produced for the school system and the larger society. One aspect of concern is the adequacy and thoroughness of the practical aspects of the training as represented by micro-teaching and teaching practice.

However, from the researchers experience, it is clear that the performance of the student teachers  in Teaching Practice Exercise (Edu 311) were not convincing enough to prove that the students are offering Micro Teaching (Edu 213 and 223 respectively) as a prerequisite for their going out for the Teaching Practice Exercise. Micro Teaching involves so many skills which if treated effectively, may lead to a successful delivery of Teaching Practice. Hence, based on the requirements of the  minimum standard (as far as micro teaching is concerned), the student-teachers are exposed to official skills of Micro-Teaching, while in Teaching Practice they are assessed based on both the official and unofficial skills, and so this yields a gap between theory and practice. Ijaiya (2013), noted that many student-teachers fail to acquire enough teaching skills to the detriment of pupils‟ learning. This might not be unconnected to lack of enough time and training for the student-teacher to capture the skills effective during teaching and learning. Even if some of these skills are learnt by the student during pre-service training, it seems that most of the student teachers are not applying these skills during teaching practice, the student teachers go to the classroom without instructional material, most of them fail to demonstrate the skills of reinforcement, and also the skill of closure to round up the lesson and so on. The study therefore hinges on assessment of the effect of microteaching skills on students‟ performance during teaching practice, so as to help the student teachers to effectively demonstrate all the teaching skills inherent in microteaching and teaching practice respectively.

1.3        Objectives of the Study

The objectives of the study are to:

1. find out the effect of set induction skill on the performance of student-teachers in teaching practice in Colleges of Education in Kano State;
2. ascertain the effect of stimulus variation skill on the performance of studentteachers in teaching practice in Colleges of Education in Kano State;
3. determine the effect of questioning skill on the performance of student-teachers in teaching practice in Colleges of Education in Kano State; and
4. determine the effect of skill of closure on the performances of student-teachers in teaching practice in Colleges of Education in Kano State.

1.4         Research Questions

The study was guided by the following research questions:

1. What is the effect of set induction skill on the performance of student-teachers in teaching practice in Colleges of Education in Kano State?
2. How does the skill of stimulus variation have effect on teaching practice performance of student-teachers in Colleges of Education in Kano State?
3. What effect does questioning skill have on the teaching practice performance of student-teachers in Colleges of Education in Kano State? and
4. To what extent does the skill of closure have effect on the teaching practice performance of student-teachers in Colleges of Education in Kano State?

1.5        Research Hypotheses

The following hypotheses were postulated for the study:

H0₁: Set induction skill has no significant effect on the teaching practice performance of student-teachers in Colleges of Education in Kano State.

H0₂: Stimulus variation skill has no significant effect on the teaching practice performance of student-teachers in Colleges of Education in Kano State.

H0₃: Questioning skill has no significant effect on the teaching practice performance of student-teachers in Colleges of Education in Kano State, and

H0₄: Skill of closure has no significant effect on the teaching practice performance of student-teachers in Colleges of Education in Kano State.

1.6 Basic Assumptions

The study is based on the assumptions that:

1. If the skill of set induction is applied appropriately, there will be great improvement in the performance of student-teacher in teaching practice in colleges of education in Kano state Nigeria.
2. If the skill of stimulus variation is used appropriately, there will be great understanding among student thereby improving student-teacher performance in teaching practice in colleges of education in Kano state Nigeria.

• If the skill questioning is used by the teacher, there will high management and motivation, thereby improving student performance in teaching practice in colleges of education in Kano state Nigeria, and also

1. If the skill closure is regularly used by the teacher, there will be proper judgement in student performance in teaching practice in colleges of education in Kano state Nigeria.

1.7 Significance of the Study

The study will be of great importance to all education stakeholders and education generally in Nigerian society. The segments of the society that will benefit directly from the study are: student-teachers, teacher educators, curriculum experts, decision makers in education, school managers, parents, state school based management committee, supervisors and other stakeholders.

Student-teachers who are the main target of the study and who are directly connected with the study will be afforded the opportunity to master all the skills inherent in teaching in a laboratory environment before actual classroom experience. It is also essential to investigate the impacts micro-teaching skills have on the performance of pre-service teachers so as to improve on the organization of micro-teaching in Nigerian Colleges of Education. Student-teachers will be acquainted with the importance of micro-teaching and the roles of each skill in preparing professional, effective, reflective, visionary and vibrant teachers.

In addition, the teacher educators (lecturers), will benefit from the findings of the study. This is because detecting the impact of official and unofficial micro-teaching skills on student-teachers‟ performance will improve the conduct, organization and evaluation of micro-teaching in Nigerian Colleges of Education. The educators can use the findings of the study as an indispensable tool for creating rating scales for student-teachers during practicum.

Furthermore, the findings of this study will be of great help to curriculum experts who will be equipped with first-hand information on the impact micro-teaching skills have on student-teachers‟ performance in teaching practice. The curriculum experts can use the findings of the study for teacher training programmes, syllabus design, improvement of teaching methods and instructional materials utilization. The experts will be able to update the curriculum of teacher education to suit the needs, aspirations and interest of the student-teachers and the general public.

The study will be of benefit to school managers because it will help them in internal supervision of their teachers in the school. The findings will guide the supervisors to check whether the student teachers are applying the micro-teaching skills appropriately in teaching and learning. Similarly, the ministries of education at both federal and state level will benefit from findings of the study as it will help in easy monitoring an supervision of teaching and learning activities, curriculum planning and recruitment of teachers.

Moreover, state school based management committee will also benefit from the findings as it will guide them to check whether the teacher are applying skills like questioning, and reinforcement where applicable.

Conclusively, the findings of this study will be of benefit to the government and authorities in charge of teacher education especially the National Commission for

Colleges of Education (NCCE). The findings of the study will determine whether

NCCE will increase the number of micro-teaching skills in the minimum standards from 8 skills i.e planning, set induction, stimulus variation, planned repetition, non verbal communication, questioning, re-enforcement and closure, to cover more skills or not. The importance of acquisition of the skills can make NCCE to increase the credit load of 1 unit allotted to EDU 213 and EDU 223 each in the new minimum standard to 2 credits respectively. This will increase the hours spent on both theory and practicum which can encourage student-teachers more in the two courses.

1.8        Scope of the Study

The study accessed the effect of microteaching skills on students‟ performance in teaching practices in Colleges of Education in Kano State. The content scope for the study is limited to the effect of micro-teaching skills on student-teachers‟ performance in teaching practice. The study covered only 300 level student-teachers 2014/2015 academic session in three (3) Colleges of Education in Kano state, Nigeria. The three Colleges of Education are purposively selected because they use the same minimum standards for their operations and they have almost the same human and non-human resources. The three Colleges of Education used for the study are: Federal College of

Education, Kano; Federal College of Education (Technical), Bichi; and Sa‟adatu Rimi College of Education, Kumbotso, Kano state. The study also examined variables like microteaching, students‟ performance and teaching practice.

INFLUENCE OF MICRO-TEACHING SKILLS ON STUDENTS’ PERFORMANCE IN TEACHING PRACTICE IN COLLEGES OF EDUCATION IN KANO STATE, NIGERIA   

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