An Evaluation of Teaching Methods for Home Economics Courses to Home Economics Education Students at Selected Nigerian Institutions
Chapter One
Objectives of the Study
General Objective
The general objective of the study is to assessment of methods of teaching home economics courses to enhance academic performance of home economics students in Nigerian education in Nigerian Institution.
Specific Objectives
The specific objectives guided this study were as follows;
- To identify teaching methods used in Home economics in Nigerian Institutions.
- To assess students’ perception of the appropriateness of teaching methods used in teaching Home economics in Nigerian Institution.
- To determine the extent to which teaching methods impact on students’ performance in Nigerian Institution.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Teaching Methods
Definition of Teaching Method
Teaching methods has been defined as in different ways depending on the philosophical situation taken by the researcher as discussed hereunder, Kimweri (2004) teaching method refers to variety ways in which a learning task is managed to facilitate the learning process. This means the way of organizing the participants and the type of methods to be used will be determined by different factors i.e. number of students, age and the topic to be taught.
The study taking the definition which is teaching methods is the means or strategies employed by the teachers in attempt to impart knowledge to the learners (Asikhia 2010). It also defined as the strategy or plan that that outline the approach that teachers intend to take in order to achieve the desirable objectives (Osokoye, 1996) in ibid this involves the way teachers organize and use technique of subject matter, teaching tools and teaching material to meet teaching objectives.
Different Teaching Methods
There are two categories of teaching method namely, teacher-centered method and learner-centered methods of teaching (MIE 2004) Learner-centered instruction refers to the students’ construct their own understanding of content, develop a personal feeling that the knowledge is their own (Jacobson and Kauchak, 2009). Therefore student centeredness implies the heavy emphasis on enquiry and problem-based learning involves on making student as the centre point of learning and group work. Each of this method is discussed in detail below:
Learner (Student) Centered
Question and answers (citation) method
Question and answers defined as a method both for teaching and oral testing based on the use of questions to be answered by the pupil (Mtunda and Safuli, 1997) in (MIE, 2004) Questioning techniques is one of the basic and successful ways of stimulating students thinking and learning (Ndirangu, 2007) it is applicable to all teaching approaches and methods.
Discussion method
Discussion method is an important component for any teaching or learning situation which allows students to share their ideas (Ndirangu, 2007). It can be used at the beginning of a topic to ascertain students’ pre conceived notion of the subject matter or toward the end of a sub topic by presenting student with a new situation and asking them to explain it in terms of what they have just learned. Discussion group method entails a teaching and learning strategy through sharing and exchange of ideas, experience and opinion takes place, accompanied by active learning with all member of the group participating in it (Kimweri, 2004). Strengths of discussion method are; increases the depth of understanding and grasp of the subject matter, enhances motivation and generates greater involvement of the learners, promotes leadership role skills, develops skills of organizing and presenting ideas to others in a logical form and develops a spirit of cooperation among learners. In spite of the strengths there is also limitations of discussion method which includes time consuming, can be used effectively with a limited number of learners, if not well handled some extrovert learners may dominate the discussion.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Design
Research design is a mapping strategy or the choice of the researcher about components of his/ her project (Singh, 2006). It has also defined by Gimbi in Mbogo et al. (2012) as a plan for collecting and utilizing information by interviewing or administering a questionnaire to a sample of individuals, (Orodho, 2003) in Kombo and Tromp (2006). This study composed descriptive survey design which helped to obtain more information about the study. The design is also purposefully selected due to condition for collection and analysis data that is relevant to the targeted population, data sources and instruments like questionnaire. The design can be used when collecting information about people’s attitudes, opinions, habits or any of the variety of the education or social issue, (Orodho and Kombo, 2002) in (Kombo and Tromp. 2006).
Targeted Population
The research was conducted in five Nigerian Institutions (A-level) in Ado Ekiti LGA of Ekiti Region Nigeria. The area was selected because it is situated near the researcher and residence the researcher would have easy access to the required data. There are three categories of participants in this research which are teachers, students and inspectors.
CHAPTER FOUR
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
Background Information of the Respondents
Categories of Respondents
There were three categories of respondents in this study First, teachers to whom 78 questionnaires were distributed and only 70 were returned and usable. This represents 89.7% response rate. Next, were students to whom 129 questionnaires were distributed and 124 were returned and usable. This represents 96.1% response rate. Third, were inspectors to whom 9 were expected to be interviewed only 6 were interviewed and usable? This represents 66.7% interviewee rate. In general the above response rates are above the industry standard of 40 – 60% (Mugenda and Mugenda, 2003).
CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Introduction
This chapter presents conclusion recommendations and suggestion for further research based on collected and analyzed information in chapter four.
Conclusion
This study had three objectives as elaborated under here:
Research Objective One: To Identify Teaching Methods Used in Home economics in Nigerian Institution- Ekiti
The study revealed that teaching methods identified by respondents (teachers) as the most used in teaching Home economics are question and answers, group discussion, presentation, brainstorming, demonstration, seminars and lecture. These methods make students understand and grasp science concepts better. Learner-centered methods are thus emphasized because they provide opportunity to ask for clarification compared to teacher- centered methods such as lecture and use of seminars which place the students at the receiving end.
Research Objective Two: To Assess Students’ Perception of the Appropriateness of Teaching Methods Used in Teaching Home economics in Nigerian Institution
The study revealed that a great number of students do not really understand and grasp the subject matter most of the time during instruction when new concepts are introduced. Question and answers, demonstration and group discussion were selected by students as most effective method of understanding new concepts in Home economics. However it was revealed that the suitable methods of teaching are cultural dependent but Home economics teachers should use at least two teaching methods and demonstration method should be one because in Home economics’s student learns more and remember better when they physically see an activity being performed by their instructor.
Research Objective Three: To Determine the Extent to which Teaching Methods Impact on Students’ Performance in Nigerian Institution
The study revealed that question and answers, group discussion, or combination of these strategies were selected by students as superior methods that prepare them for assessment either in their tests or final examination. The same teaching methods were preferred by students when teachers are introducing new concepts. Thus at least more than one teaching method should be used to make teaching effective.
The study also revealed that there is greater impact on teaching methods and student performance as it demonstrated that teaching methods such as group discussion, question and answer and combination of strategies are excellence ways of teaching which in turn have positive impact on students’ performance. Students often have little expertise in knowing if the method selected by an individual instructor was the best teaching method or just “a method” or simply the method with which the teacher was most comfortable.
This study has demonstrated that types of teaching methods used by teachers have impacts on students’ performance. This agrees with the previous studies of Haas, (2002), Gulobia, Wokadala and Bategeka (2010) and Sajjad, (2011).
Generally, the study revealed that teaching methods which were most effective are demonstration the next is brainstorming followed by question and answers, other methods are group discussion, presentation, lecture and the use of seminar being the least effective. Teacher’s choice of teaching strategy or model to enable effective teaching and learning is affected by context in that, for example, it would be difficult to do ‘role play’ or whole class ‘questioning’ in a noisy workshop within confined space. In brief the type of teaching methods has an impact on students’ performance. Question and answers method has the greatest impact in teaching of Home economics compared to other teaching methods and this agrees with previous with the study by J-Ping and Collis (1995) in (Faraday, Overton and Cooper, 2011) and contribution to the body of knowledge.
Recommendations
The results of this study revealed several areas of concern the following are recommendations to address each of that concern. First, the findings of the study also revealed that the choice of what teaching method to be used by the instructor depend on flexibility of the teacher. This may led the students fail to grasp the subject matter. The heads of schools should showed on regular basis, find out from students on which methods is helping them to understand and their request the relevant teachers to apply the methods leads to better students’ understanding. That way high students’ performance will be insured.
Second, the study revealed that teachers seem not be aware of value and impact of different teaching methods on students’ performance. This has lead to inappropriate application of ineffective and often outdated teaching methods (such as teacher-centered approach). The heads of schools in confliction with Ministry of Education and Vocational training should regular conduct training/ workshops on teaching methods in both science and art subjects. This will help teachers to appreciate and learn the best teaching practices particularly new teaching methods. It will also help to improve students’ performance and go along a way to meeting new government agenda of Big Results Now (BRN).
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