Evaluation of Facilities and Materials for Teaching Ceramics in Some Selected Colleges of Education in North-east Geopolitical Zone of Nigeria

Evaluation of Facilities and Materials for Teaching Ceramics in Some Selected Colleges of Education in North-east Geopolitical Zone of Nigeria

CHAPTER ONE

Objectives of the Study

The objectives of this study are to:

find out the degree to which ceramics teachers utilize the available facilities and materials in selected Colleges of Education in North-East Geopolitical Zone?
find out the difference in the availability and utilization of facilities and materials between the schools with and those without available facilities and materials for teaching ceramics in selected Colleges of Education in North-East Geopolitical Zone?
find out the differences in the availability and utilization of facilities and materials for teaching ceramics between male and female public selected Colleges of Educationin North-East Geopolitical Zone

CHAPTER TWO

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Conceptual Framework

A ceramic is an inorganic, non-metallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling (Wiki, 2010). Ceramic materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous (e.g. a glass). Because most common ceramics are crystalline, the definition of ceramic is often restricted to inorganic crystalline materials, as opposed to the non-crystalline glasses, a distinction followed here. According to Zephaniah (2008) the earliest ceramics made by humans were pottery objects, including 27,000 years old figurines, made from clay, either by itself or mixed with other materials, hardened in fire. Later ceramics were glazed and fired to create a coloured, smooth surface. Ceramics now include domestic, industrial and building products and a wide range of ceramic art. In the 20th century, new ceramic materials were developed for use in advanced ceramic engineering; for example, in semiconductors (Dennis, 2009).

Education in its general sense is a form of learning in which knowledge, skills, and habits of a group of people are transferred from one generation to the next through teaching, training, research, or simply through auto didacticism (Dewey, 2008). Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts. Ceramics education is therefore a form of learning in which knowledge and practical skills of how to make ceramic products for consumption is transferred from lecturer to students in any academic institution.

Tertiary institution is a study beyond the level of secondary education. Institutions of higher education include not only colleges and universities but also professional schools in such fields as law, theology, medicine, business, music, and art (Sarvon, 2003). They also include teacher-training schools, community colleges, and institutes of technology. At the end of a prescribed course of study, a degree, diploma, or certificate is awarded.

A student is a learner, or someone who attends an educational institution. In some nations, the English term (or its cognate in another language) is reserved for those who attended university, while a schoolchild under the age of eighteen is called a pupil in English (or an equivalent in other languages), although in Nigeria a person enrolled in Junior Secondary one (J.S.1) is often called a student (Nnadi, 2004). In its widest use, student is used for anyone who is learning, including mid-career adults who are taking vocational education or returning to university.

CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research Design

A descriptive survey design was used for this research. A descriptive research is a study to determine the nature of a situation as it exists at the time of the study (Clandinin, 2000). According to Kerlinger (2000), a descriptive survey research attempts to determine the incident, distribution and interpretation among sociological and psychological variables. Simon (2000) also observed that the descriptive survey method enables the researcher to obtain opinion from the representative sample of the target population so as to be able to infer the perception of the entire population. Therefore, a descriptive survey method was considered appropriate for this study to evaluate the effect of the availability and utilization of facilities and materials for teaching ceramics in selected Colleges of Education in North-East Geopolitical Zone.

CHAPTER FOUR

DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS

Research Question 1

To what degree do Ceramics Teachers Utilizes available facilities and materials in their schools?

CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Introduction

In this chapter, the summary of the research and its major findings are presented. Implications of the study, conclusions and recommendations are also presented with the suggestion of the study.

Summary of the Study

The primary issue on which the study focused was to find out the effect of the availability and utilization of facilities and materials for teaching ceramics in selected Colleges of Education in North-East Geopolitical Zone. In chapter one (1), the study started with the background, statement of the problem, objectives of the study followed by formulation of research questions and hypotheses. Significance, scope, and delimitation of the study are also presented. The research questions for this study are:

At what level facilities and materials available in selected Colleges of Education in North-East Geopolitical Zone?
To what degree ceramics teachers utilize the available facilities and materials in selected Colleges of Education in North-East Geopolitical Zone?
Isthere any difference in the availability and utilization of facilities and materials between schools with and without adequate facilities and materials for teaching ceramics?

The hypotheses tested in this study are:

There isno significant difference in the availability and utilization of facilities and materials between schools with and without adequate facilities and materials for teaching ceramics.
There isno significant difference in the availability and utilization of facilities and materials for teaching ceramics between male and female public selected Colleges of Education.
There isno significant difference in the availability and utilization of facilities and materials for teaching ceramics between public and private selected Colleges of Education.

The study was limited to seven (7) selected Colleges of Education across six educational zones in the state.

In chapter two (2), related literatures were reviewed under the following headings:

Conceptual Framework, Kinds and Categories of Facilities and materials, Utilization of Instructional Materials for Ceramics Teaching and Learning, Library as Resources for Learning Ceramics, School and Industry Linkages as a Resource for Ceramics Teaching and Learning, Improvisation with Local Material as Resource in Teaching and Learning of Ceramics, Instructional Materials and the Teaching and Learning Process, Instructional Materials and Academic Performance of Students, Gender and Academic Achievement of Students, Summary of the Review and Uniqueness of the Study.

In most of the researches cited it was revealed that the facilities and materials availability and utilization by ceramics teachers assist students in acquiring clear concept of the subject matter, but the unavailability of facilities and materials causes poor performance in ceramics.

Similarly, chapter three (3) was summarized under the following headings: Research Design, Population of the Study, Sample and Sampling Procedure, Instrumentation, Validity of the Instrument, Reliability of the Instrument, Data Collection Procedures and Method of Data Analysis. Three instruments were designed; which included the pottery facilities/equipment inventory handled by the researcher which is aimed at finding out the availability of facilities and materials in the sampled schools. The assessment observation form on utilization of facilities and materials by ceramics teachers with the aimed of finding out the degree to which teachers utilizes available facilities and materials, and the students performance test which was administered to the students with the aimed of obtaining data on students performance. The sample for this study was forty seven (47) ceramics teachers and three hundred and thirteen (313) SS Two students across seven (7) sampled schools in the state. Two (2) research questions and three hypotheses were tested in this study. Research questions were answered using frequency count and simple percentage while T- test was used for the analysis of three (3) null hypotheses.

Conclusions

Based on the findings of this study it was concluded that:-

Selected Colleges of Education in North-East Geopolitical Zone have adequate instructional
But the facilities are inadequately utilized by the ceramics teachers. The study shows thatwhen students are taught with available facilities and materials, they tend to perform better than they would have done without facilities and materials. This is in line with the findings of Maduekwe (2007) who stressed that availability and use of facilities and materials seem to positively influence students performance, as such it affect the attainment of stated objectives.
The study also indicated that male students from schools with adequate instructional facilities performed better than female from school with adequate facilities.
Public selected Colleges of Education have more instructional facilities than private schools inthe

Recommendations

On the basis of the above findings the following recommendations are made:-

The Ministry of Education officials and private schools proprietors should make surethat pottery equipment are supplied to schools and the quantity should be supplied according to the number of students available in each school.
The Ministry of Education should make it compulsory to all the proprietors of the private schools to provide adequate ceramics pottery facilities/ equipment to their schools for the successful conduct of practicals, or else refuse registration of schools refused to comply.
Ministry ofEducation should make appropriate plan to expose ceramics teachers to training workshop on improvisation in order to update their techniques and also attend conferences, seminars and workshops on material resources production, utilization and
Teachers should be encouraged to commit themselves into the effective use of instructional materials in all their instructional delivery.

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