Topic: EFFECT OF VISUAL INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS STUDENTS IN SOCIAL STUDIES

Chapter One

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

Educational instructional resources are the asset which facilitate the attainment of educational objectives and make the process of teaching and learning smooth and effective at the school level. These instructional resources include people, resources, finance, time and so on (Ndayelechi, 2013). Visual instructional resources are any-thing that helps the teacher to promote teaching and learning activities in social studies.They include printed resources, pictures, diagram, maps and charts, filmstrips and slides, pencils, pen, cartoons, model and anythingotherthan can aid the teacher’s effectiveness (Fageyinbo, 2004). Visual instructional resources are educational input of vital importance to the teaching of any subject in the school curriculum. Appreciation of visual instructional resources would help the teacher and learner to achieve specific objectives. Okam, (2007) was of the opinion that educators must be prepared to display the function in terms of helping them to develop readiness for using these resources and encouraging appropriate learner participation in the use of these resources during classroom work. There are several inherent advantages in the use of visual instructional resources in teaching and learning Social Studies. First, they help to promote and improve the effectiveness of communication of ideas by the teacher to the learners. Second, they enable the learners to learn through more than one sense thereby making learning more useful and permanent. Third, they also aids students with defectsand minimize teacher’s domination of the lesson. Fourth, they serve as firsthand information to the learners(Abdullahi, 1997). They also encourage active participation among learners. Visual aids can also promote student – student interaction, teacher-student interaction. Visual aids also save teaching time as they require short time to present large students. They can be used to stimulate student questions. Visual resources ensure the application of classroom oriented communication techniques. In spite of the objectives and benefit of Social Studies in the school curriculum, the teaching of the subject is characterized with conventional method of teaching which always lead to ineffective learning and poor attitude of students toward the subject (Abdullahi, 1997). It was assumed by most teachersthat Social Studies pedagogy does not require any visual resources for illustration purposes.As long as many teachers are not utilizing teaching aids in classroom, surely students’ poor academic performance would persist and educational objectives will not be achieved. Visual instructional resources are essential at all levels of education. In the light of this, research intends to ascertain the effects of visual instructional resources in teaching of Social Studies education in Junior Secondary Schools in Yobe State. This is with the view to disclose and open up the relevance of visual resource in teaching and learning social studies.

1.2 Statement of Problem

Learning is more permanent when learners visualize resources in the teaching and learning process. Visual aids that is relevant to teaching and learning by a qualified Social Studies teacher. They are the starting point and a foundation for attaining effective interaction between teacher and students in Social Studies classroom. This is because the success or failure of Social Studies lesson depends on the choice and utilization of effective teaching technique by the social studies teacher. There are complaints and accusation that teachers of Social Studies are still accustomed to traditional techniques of teaching especially the lecture techniques despite the visual instructional resourceshave been found to be effective in interaction between teacher and the students as revealed by some researchers like Obeka, (2013). These teachers – centered techniques of teaching Social Studies are characterized and largely criticized for shifting interest and creativity in students thereby limiting academic performance among Junior Secondary School students. Under this arrangement, the teacher is the disseminator of knowledge, the knower of the answers to all questions who less often than not allow students inputs in the teaching and learning. Also, it hardly encourages students to engage in practical and creative learning activities during the teaching and learning process. Therefore, there is the need to use visual instructional resource to see if there will be improvements in their academic performance in Social Studies. The problem of this study hinges on effect of Visual Resources in teaching and learning of Social Studies among Junior Secondary Schools students in Nguru universal basic education inspectorate zone. Moreover, the extent of the effect based on gender is another issue that concerns the study. This is with the effort to highlight the effectiveness of visual resources over other classroomtechnique such as lecture method as a contribution towards the development of knowledge and learning in the study area, and Nigeria at large.

1.3 Aim and Objectives of the Study

The objectives of the study are to: 1. Determine the effect of Visual Instructional Resources on academic performance of Investigate the effect of Visual Instructional Resources on male and female academic performance of JSS students in Social Studies in Yobe State. 2. Examine the effect of Visual Instructional Resources and Lecture Method on Male JSS students’ academic performance in Social Studies in Yobe State. 3. Investigate the effect of Visual Instructional Resources and Lecture Method on Female JSS Students’ academic performance in Social Studies in Yobe State.

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