Visual Aids and Academic Achievement of Pupils in Basic Science in Primary Schools

Visual Aids and Academic Achievement of Pupils in Basic Science in Primary Schools

ABSTRACT

ÂThis study was carried out to investigate the relationship between visual aids and academic achievement of pupils in Basic Science in primary schools in Etinan Local Government Area and .the population of the study consisted of all the pupils in the primary schools in the study area. Two research questions and two research hypotheses guided the study. The design used in carrying out the study was-quasi-experimental design. Simple random sampling technique was used in the conduct of the study. The instrument used in gathering the needed data for the study was Basic Science Achievement Test BSAT).

Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient statistical method was used to analyze the data collated.  The findings revealed that the use of visual aids significantly relate to academic achievement of pupils in primary schools in Etinan Local Government Area.. Based on the result of the findings, it was recommended among others that teachers should use visual aids in the teaching and learning of basic science as this will help to arouse pupils’ interest towards the learning of the subject in schools.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

Teaching and learning processes are very crucial at all levels of educational development. If well planned and directed, they are the keys to success and progress of individual. Therefore, best methods have to be used in order to enhance effective teaching and learning.

Visual aid is defined as any device which by sight and sound increase the individuals’ experience. They are those instructional devices which are used in the classroom to encourage learning and make it easier and interesting. These include; books, charts, motion pictures, posters, diagrams models and photographs. Visual aids arouse the interest of learners and help the teachers to explain the concepts easily. Undoubtedly, visual aids are those instructional aids which are used in the classroom to encourage teaching learning process. The use of visual aids in education has been found to be an effective way of communicating ideas and concepts to pupils. It is also established that visual-aided instruction has greatly improved the performance of pupils in science especially those with special needs and slow learners abilities

With respect to instruction, pupils’ achievement and attitude towards learning, has not only proven the efficacy of technology related materials but has also found the results to be overwhelmingly positive (Dabbagh, 2011). Teaching and learning with visual resources play an important role in the teaching-learning process. Pupils often benefit from the visual/sound appeal of visual material because it tends to focus their attention on the topic. When teachers present materials in various manners such as providing pupils with both a summary statement and a chart on a given topic, the visual material enhances the written materials. King (2009) indicated that visual resources, wisely selected and intelligently used, arouse and develop intense and beneficial interest and so motivate pupils to learn; and properly motivated learning means improved attitudes, permanency of impression, rich experience and ultimately more wholesome living.

Visual aids do not only increase the motivation of the teachers and academic achievement of learners; they add clarity to the topic taught and make learning more interesting and permanent. Permanent learning according to Njoku(2014) is the goal of education in that the learners should be able to retain what is taught. Visual aids make learning more permanent since they appeal to more than one sense.

Ode and Omokaro (2012) revealed that learners retain most of what they hear, see and feel than what they merely hear. This concept bears credence to the old chine’s adage which says ‘what I hear I forget, what I see I remember and what I do I know Arnett (2010) in Claiborne and Drewery (2013). A visual instruction encourages the use of visual aids to make abstract ideas more concrete to the learners.  Therefore, the teacher’s duty is to make learning live, not just something to remember but part of living experience. This can be done effectively by employing the use of visual aids in teaching and learning of basic science as a mean of imparting knowledge to learners.

 The crux of this modern education is to awaken the hidden curiosity and interest of the learner, nourishing his or her behaviours, attitudes and believes in order to develop basic and essential skills of lifelong learning and ability to think critically and beneficial manner.

Pupils should be given confidence to ask, inquire, explore and be creative and initiators. In fact an inquisitive mind is the beginning to lifelong learning that surely leads to success. But in recent year the superiority is shifted towards students.  Visual aids make a lesson or lecture more interesting and a memorable experience not only for pupils but for teachers as well as they play a vibrant role in focusing the attention of individual pupil towards the teacher or the topic. They appeal to the senses especially hearing and looking. It is not wrong to say that human senses are doorways to acquire knowledge, therefore, when something appeals to senses curiosity increases which lead to clear and concrete understanding of the concept .It was on the basis of the above observation that the study was carried out to determine the influence of visual aids on academic achievement of pupils in Basic science primary schools in Etinan local Government Area.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

As a result of advancement and development of modern technology, varieties of instructional materials can be used to make learning more vivid and effective. This means that pupils can perform better whenever they are taught with these materials particularly visual aids as their comprehension, demonstration and co-operation are expected to enhance tremendously in teaching-learning process. Unfortunately, most of the primary school teachers neglect the use of visual aids in teaching the subject probably, due to non-availability of the materials or lack of techniques for using them. The utilization of visual learning aids make pupils to participate effectively in the teaching and learning process, hence ending with quality education that enable them to suit in the current society in relation to technological changes.

So generally, it is agreed that visual learning aids assist in the learning process and pupils find it easy to understand materials learn in classroom when visual learning aids are used. However, use or non-use of learning aids was not only problem in public primary schools in Etinan Local Government Area; material shortages, motivational inadequacy and poor learning environment were some of the problems. However, the relationship between usage and non-usage of visual learning aids and academic achievement in schools have had not so far been established, despite other problems. It is against this backdrop that this study is aimed at finding out influence of application of visual aids on academic achievement of pupils in Basic Science in primary schools in Etinan Local Government Area.

1.3 Purpose of the Study

The main purpose of the study was to examine the influence visual aids on academic achievement of pupils in Basic Science in primary schools in Etinan Local Government Area. Specifically, the study intends to;

1. examine the influence of influence of charts on pupils’ academic achievement in Basic Science in primary schools in Etinan Local Government Area
2. assess the influence of real objects on pupils’ academic achievement in Basic Science in primary schools in Etinan Local Government Area

1.4 Significance of the Study

This study which is concerned with investigating the impact of the visual aids on pupils’ academic performance in Basic science in primary schools in Etinan Local Government Area is bound to be of immense benefits to following people in the following ways;

1. The study will be of immense benefit to the pupils because it will enhance the learning processes of the pupils and thereby improve on their overall academic achievement, since it will increase the motivation of the pupils, add clarity to the topics taught and make learning more interesting.
2. Findings from the study will help to sensitize teachers and staff of primary schools who teach and Basic science of their important roles in promoting the use of visual aids in teaching and learning.
3. The study will help to reveal and create awareness among the school authorities of the importance of use or non-usage of visual aids in teaching and learning. This is because the findings from this study may require in taking a decision in the primary school learning curriculum
4. The study will help to create awareness for ministry of education as policy makers in primary schools will see the need to infuse the use of visual aids as a core instructional material in the curricula of primary schools and impress upon them to provide explicit strategy for enforcing the use of visual materials in teaching and learning.

1.5 Research Questions

The study was guided by the following research questions:

1. What is the relationship between charts and pupils’ academic performance in basic science in primary schools in Etinan Local Government Area?
2. What is the relationship between real objects and pupils’ academic performance in basic science in primary schools in Etinan Local Government Area?

1.6 Research Hypotheses

The study was guided by the following null hypotheses;

1. There is no significant relationship between charts and pupils’ academic performance in basic science in primary schools in Etinan Local Government Area
2. There is no significant relationship between real objects and pupils’ academic performance in basic science in primary schools in Etinan Local Government Area?

1.7 Delimitation of Study

 The study was restricted to selected primary schools in Etinan Local Government Area and it involved only public primary schools pupils in the study area. The study was delimited to only ten primary schools in the study area.

1.8 Limitation of the Study

Due to financial challenges on the part of the researcher, the study could not be extended to all the public primary schools in the study area. Instead, only ten primary schools were covered under this study. The study focuses on visual aids and pupils academic achievement in primary schools in Etinan Local Government Area.

1.9 Operational Definition of Terms

Visual aids:are things that you can look at, such as a film, model, map, or slides.

Chart: is a graphical representation of data, in which the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart.

Real objects: are object from real life used in classroom instruction by educators to improve pupil understanding.

CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY, RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION

This chapter of the research study consists of summary, recommendations, conclusion and references.

5.1   Summary

 This study was to make an in-depth examination on the use of visual aids and academic achievement of pupils in basic science in primary schools in Etinan Local Government Area. The specific purposes were to investigate the use of charts and the use of real objects on academic achievement of pupils in primary schools in the study area. Based on the stated objectives for the study, three research questions and three research hypotheses were postulated to guide the study.

The researcher employed survey research design in carrying out the study. The population of the study was made up of all pupils in all the secondary schools in Etinan Local Government Area. The sample size for the study was one hundred (100) pupils drawn from ten primary schools in the study area. The instrument used in gathering the needed data for the study was researcher’s made questionnaire called Visual Aids and Academic Achievement Questionnaire (VAAQ) and (Basic science achievement Test) and Basic. Data obtained were analyzed using pearson’s product moment correlation coefficient statistical method.

5.2   Recommendations

Based on the findings of the study, the following recommendations were made:

1. Government should encourage the professional teachers especially in science related subjects through incentives, seminar and provision of the necessary visual aids as well as science allowance
2. Government should subsidize the cost of acquiring the visual aids for schools.
3. Curriculum planners should encourage the use of visual aids by including them in the educational syllabus of all levels of education.
4. Pupils and teachers alike should get involved in their various roles in the improvisation and utilization of visual aids when necessary.
5. That state schools management boards should pave way for efficient funding of schools by non-governmental organization and others donor bodies.

5.3 Conclusion

This study investigated visual aids and academic achievement in basic science in primary schools in Etinan Local Government Area. It can be concluded from the results of the study that application of visual aids has significant relationship on academic achievement of pupils in primary schools.