The Impact of Educational Media Utilization and Students Interest in Learning of Biology in Secondary Schools
The Impact of Educational Media Utilization and Students Interest in Learning of Biology in Secondary Schools
ABSTRACT
The Study Investigated The Influence of Educational Media Utilization and Students Interest in Learning of Biology in Secondary Schools in Bonny Local Government Area, Rivers State. Five research questions and three research hypotheses were formulated to guide the study.
A descriptive research design was used in the study. The targeted population of the study comprised of 1905 senior secondary two (SS2) students in 4 secondary schools across Bonny Local Government Area. A total sample size of two hundred (200) senior secondary two students was selected from 2 public secondary schools using the stratified sampling technique.
Questionnaire on Educational Media Utilization and Students’ Interest in Biology Learning (QEMUSIBL) was the instrument for data collection. Also, the coefficient index value of 0.81 was obtained for the instrument using split-halves method through Pearson Product Moment Correlation analysed, hence the reliability of the instrument was determined.
Data gathered from the exercise were collated and statistically analyzed employing Simple percentage and Mean to answer research questions, while Chi-square statistical tool was used to test the postulated hypotheses at 0.05 Alpha levels of significance.
The findings of this study revealed there are many educational media that are not available for the teaching and learning of biology; that there is high level of utilization of the available educational media in teaching and learning of biology; the utilization of educational media influence students’ interest in learning of biology;
there is a significant influence of utilization of educational media on students’ interest in learning of biology; there is a significant influence of teachers’ mastering of educational media utilization on students’ interest in the learning of biology; and that there is a significant influence of gender difference on students’ learning of biology when educational media is utilized in secondary schools in Bonny Local Government Area in Rivers State.
It is recommended that educational media should be utilized in teaching biology to increase students’ interest in learning of biology.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUTION
1.1 Background to the study
Media can be conceived as any person, material or event that establishes condition which enables the learner to acquire knowledge, skill and attitudes (Jacob, 2002). Gagne (2011) defined education media as the physical means by which an instructional message is communicated.
It can also be defined as all the methods and materials that can be used to support the learning process. Educational media is seen as objects that teachers use which are given to learners to use to achieve specific teaching and learning outcome. It goes beyond apparatus and pictures but includes many other types of learning experiences.
The educational media are obviously indispensable tools in the hands of teachers who would want to exhibit knowledge ability and effectiveness in their lesson delivery. Broadly, the educational media may be classified into four major groups, namely; visual materials consisting of projected and non-projected materials, audio materials, audiovisual materials, and lastly, the individualised learning and interactive materials.
The visual materials are those that readily appeal to the sense of sight. They quickly create visual impression any moment they are presented in the class (Percival and Ellington, 1988). They include the following: Overhead projectors and transparencies, slides projectors and slides, filmstrip projectors and filmstrips, as well as the Opaque projector.
Other non-projected visual materials which do not need electricity for projection include: Flat or still pictures, graphic illustrations such as charts, graphs, posters and diagrams. Others are models, realia, bulletin boards, flannel boards, magnetic boards, flip charts and chalkboards (Cable, 1972).
The audio materials are such materials that create aural impression thereby causing the receivers to listen with discrimination (Efi, 1988). These include audio recorders and audio sets, audio cards, radio, phonography records (record players), and the reel-to-reel tapes (Nacino-Brown et al, 1982).
The third group which are the audio-visual materials are the aspects of instructional materials that have both an aural and a visual appeal. These include Cine-film projection (16cm and 8mm sound film projection). Video-tape recordings, television and the sound filmstrip, as well as the synchronised audio-slide presentation (Cable, 1972).
The fourth group, the self instructional and interactive media consist of the various devices and techniques by which an individual learner can learn on his own and at his own pace. These techniques and devices include the following: the use of computer in computer-Assisted Instruction, Programmed Instruction, teaching machine, and the interactive video.
Biology as a science subject becomes very difficult for teachers to teach effectively without the use of appropriate educational media. Educational media also involves the design of educational technologies which constitute program, films, video-editing program, word processing equipment and calculating instrument used for teaching and enhancing learning outcomes in learners.
Media also serve as channel of communication; they are carriers of information between the source and the receiver (Smaldino, 2012). Media are very essential to good teaching and to get the most from them, they must be selected properly and used effectively. Accordingly, the purpose of educational media is to facilitate communication as well as to enhance learning.
Educational media can serve a variety of roles in the teaching process. Their primary role is to help students learn and improve the teachers teaching skills and abilities. One way of doing this is by providing an information rich environment (Newby,2006).The educational media provide the teachers a clear and understanding picture of the subject to be learnt and taught.
The use of this educational media by teachers to teach and drive home their subjects’ points at secondary school level of our educational system is incontrovertibly a paramount important issue in practical classroom interaction and successful transfer of knowledge from the teacher to the learners.
The facts is that this media used by the teacher ally their teaching in class tend to have a significant implications for pragmatic knowledge transfer towards attainment of individual subject objectives as well as achievement of efficient teaching process among teachers (Ijaduola,1999).
Biology is defined as the basic science that deals with the study of living things. It attempts to understand the teeming diversity of life on earth, a diversity of level we are all part of (Adegbite,2012). Life is not a simple concept, which may be one of the reasons why the teaching of biology is very important because the knowledge of biology helps in improving the quality of life, as it helps to solve many societal problems relating to health, poverty, food shortage, crop production and environmental conservation (Adeni &Ughelu,2014)
The Impact of Educational Media Utilization and Students Interest in Learning of Biology in Secondary Schools
One of the numerous challenges faced by the teachers of biology in our secondary schools is the availability of these educational media, the effective utilization of these educational media by the teachers of biology in knowledge dissemination. Bassey,(2013) explained that the teaching of science oriented subject becomes very difficult without the use of instructional media; it makes the science subject to be more abstract to the learners because what the eye can behold sticks to memory longer than what is not seen.
In order to achieve teacher effectiveness, systematic selection and utilization of relevant educational media is inevitable and of paramount importance. However, before discussing the role of educational media in the teaching-learning process, it might be necessary to consider some of the criteria for the selection of the media;
- No one medium, procedure, or experience is best for learning,
- Be sure uses of media are consistent with instructional objectives,
- Recognize that, to adapt materials to specific purposes, you must know them thoroughly.
- Media must also be considered for their appropriateness for use in the instructional mode selected.
- One’s own preferences must not stand in the way of choosing or using particular media.
- Be aware that some otherwise excellent media may become second-rate in their instructional effect if used in poor environments.
- Realise that student experiences, preferences, individual interests and capabilities, and learning styles may influence results of media use.
- Keep in mind that resources and learning experiences are not necessarily good or bad simply because they are concrete or abstract.
However, Romiszowski (1988) in his enunciation of a basic Media Selection Model emphasized that there are fundamentals factors that affect media selection or choice. The factors include the following: instructional method, learning task or the objectives set, learner characteristics practical design constraints, human factors, teaching space and the target population.
The teacher has to take into consideration the particular instructional method that would be most appropriate for the achievement of the set objectives. The instructional method will therefore help to determine the types of educational media to be selected at the planning stage. The teacher will also consider the learning task before the students and decide how best to achieve it.
Thus, the learning task or the objectives will determine the instructional method, which will also help in the media selection. The characteristics of the learners are very important; that is, their learning styles and learning skills. For example, some students are slow learners, others are fast learners. Each of these groups would have peculiar learning styles and therefore must be attended to.
The slow learners may require more of visual materials as well as individualized learning package. This implies that the fast learners should not be unduely delayed while the slow learners should also not be over-stretched. There are certain constraints that the teacher might encounter as he makes his choices.
The cost of the material may be beyond the, reach of the teacher or his institutions, thus limiting the teacher’s choice. Time could be another limiting factor. The time allocated to the lesson will determine the instructional method to be employed and invariably will guide in the media to be selected.
The Impact of Educational Media Utilization and Students Interest in Learning of Biology in Secondary Schools
Also the availability or non-availability of the media materials also poses as constraints. The teacher can only use what is available either in his institution or from outside bodies under an organized learning procedure. If not, the teacher will have no choice other than to drop the idea of using a particular media material.
Human factors such as the teacher’s attitudes and skills help to influence the teacher in his choice of media materials. The teacher has to be versatile in knowing how to manipulate the gadgets with minimum difficulty. On the contrary, the teacher might be forced to limit his use of the media Materials to only those he can manipulate. Environmental factors also play some part in determining the media materials selected.
Teaching space facilities and lighting are supposed to adequate to be able to accommodate caliber group or large group learners. Finally, the size of the target-population is equally important For example, cine film projection would be more appropriation for large classes while video films would be better for small group learners. It is necessary that all the afore-mentioned factors are duely considered before selections are made; the appropriateness of the media materials could then be guaranteed
Utilization of education media is a major event during the implementation stage of an instructional programme. One thing is to make effort to select the relevant instructional materials during the planning stage, and the next thing is to put the materials into effective use and at appropriate moments. Appropriate educational media must b& introduced into the teaching-learning process at an appropriate time.
There must be a well-organized system of integrating each media material into the appropriate step in the instructional programme. The teacher makes use of the available relevant materials which he had selected during the planning stage. To this end, it is obvious that the teacher’s performance in the classroom while teaching will depend to a great extent on the amount of preparation he had earlier made. (Akude,1990).
The more the teacher uses relevant educational media in his teaching exercise the more he increases students1 involvement in the overall learning (Brown, Lewis & Harcleroad,1985). But basically, the teacher should make conscious effort to determine at which stage of the instructional programme he ought to use particular media materials.
Systematic utilization here implies sequencing in the pattern or order of using appropriate materials at appropriate periods. However, there are certain procedures the teacher must follow in order to maximise the utilization of the materials. Brown, Lewis and Harcleroad (1985) discussed the media utilization procedures which they called “A Basic Utilization Plan”.
By this, the authors believed that every serious teacher must prepare himself, prepare the environment, prepare the class, use the item and finally follow up the programme. In order to allow the students benefit optimally from the instructional programme in which relevant educational media are being used, the teacher needs to get himself set or prepared. The teacher must review, sort through and examine all the selected materials to make sure that they are actually adequate and functional.
The Impact of Educational Media Utilization and Students Interest in Learning of Biology in Secondary Schools
Then there is need to prepare the environment by arranging the necessary materials and equipment required for proper viewing or hearing. In the case of projection materials, the teacher needs to check through the electric sockets and plugs to make sure there is smooth flow of electric current. The teacher will at this time prepare the class by introducing the item to the class.
There will be emphasis laid on the learning outcomes to be expected, important areas to take note of, and what they will be expected to do after the lesson. In using the item, the teacher must use such properly and at an appropriate moment. He must make sure that the images are in proper focus, that the hung materials (wall charts, flip charts, etc.) are properly centered for the benefit of every member on the class finally, after using the item(s), the teacher has to invite and also answer questions from the class. The brief discussion that follows thereafter will highlight the extent of learning that had taken place.
Utilization of educational media plays a vital role in teaching; this is so because when the educational media is available, its effective and efficient utilization can take place. The utilization of these educational media by the teachers help them in effective teaching and it takes away the abstract nature of the subject and gives clearer understanding to the learners which will help to promote the teachers teaching efficiency.
Laboratory materials are essential and significant tools needed for teaching and learning of Biology in school in other to promote teachers’ efficiency and improve students’ performance. They make learning more interesting, practical, realistic and appealing.
They also enable both the teachers and students to participate actively and effectively in lesson sessions. They give room for acquisition of skills and knowledge and development of self- confidence and self- actualization. Olumorin, Yusuf, Ajidagba and Jekayinfa (2010) observed that laboratory materials help teachers to teach conveniently and the learners to learn easily without any problem. They asserted that laboratory materials have direct contact with all sense organs mostly microscope and skeletal systems.
Agwagah (2000) had noted that Biology teachers in most cases do not use laboratory materials in their Biology classroom because of unavailability of these materials, so most of the Biology concepts are taught abstractly. At times this may be because some of the Biology teachers believed that these laboratory materials to be used for teaching these Biology concepts are not in existence or most times are not utilized which leads to continuous failure of Biology in public examination in Nigeria.
laboratory materials are the material developed or acquired to assist or facilitate teachers in transmitting an organized knowledge, skills and attitudes to the learners within an instructional situation, (Nwachukwu, 2016).
To be precise, an laboratory material are educational resources used for illustrating the content of instruction, thereby making learning more concrete and less abstract .
On this backdrop, the study sought to The Influence of Educational Media Utilization and Students Interest in Learning of Biology in Secondary Schools in Bonny Local Government Area
The Impact of Educational Media Utilization and Students Interest in Learning of Biology in Secondary Schools
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Education is one of the basic foundations for human and societal development. Evidence from studies which include students academic performance in standardized examination shows that failure rate in biology at senior certificate examination is high (Abraham, 2013).This was attributed to a number of factors such as teaching methods employed by the teachers, teachers’ qualification, unavailability and in-adequate educational media.
Biology as a science subject cannot be adequately and appropriately understood without the use of educational media in its teaching -learning process. Unfortunately, it appears our secondary school biology teachers shy away from employing educational media in the teaching of science subject, biology inclusive.
The continuous record of students’ poor interest towards the study of Biology is a serious problem in the Nigeria educational system, most especially at the secondary school level. Many factors have been blame for this among them is unavailability and utilization of laboratory materials. Eshiet (1996) observed that not much attention has been given to the issue of enriching the science laboratories for effective teaching/learning of Biology.
It has become a great concern for researchers, educators and all educational stake-holders over the years. It was observed that students usually fail in examinations owing to improper teaching methods and lack of essential teaching materials for instructional delivery (Afolabi, 2009).
The act of teaching is fundamentally concerned with passing ideas, skills and attitude from the teacher to the learner. In Nigeria, for example experience has shown that spoken words alone in the communication of ideas are grossly ineffective and inefficient in producing desired learning outcomes.
On the foregoing, scholars like Mutebi and Matora (1994) have emphasized the effect of availability and utilization of educational materials on teaching/learning. According to them, we learn and remember 10% of what we hear 40% of what we discuss with others and as high as 80% of what we experience directly or practice.
To this end, this study sought to investigate the extent of utilization of educational media in the teaching of biology and also the challenges faced by the teachers of biology in the course of utilizing these educational media in the teaching of biology in our various secondary schools in Bonny Local Government Area
1.3 Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study is to investigate educational media utilization and the teaching of biology in secondary schools in Bonny Local Government Area. Specifically, the study sought to:
- Ascertain the extent of utilization of educational media in learning of biology.
- Investigate the extent the utilization of educational media influence students’ interest in learning of biology.
- Examine how teachers’ mastering of educational media utilization influence students’ interest in the learning of biology.
- Ascertain the extent gender difference influence students’ learning of biology when educational media is utilized.
- Examine the problems associated with the use of educational media in the learning of biology.
1.4 Significance of the study
The finding of this study will be useful to the classroom teachers, curriculum planners, government and non-governmental organizations and parents in the following ways:
For the teachers they will be better informed on how to help and guide their students in course of teaching them biology in the classroom. The findings of this study would help classroom teachers to combat the challenges of engaging their students and have them commit to the lessons contents being taught at their classes.
And will also give them knowledge of how to follow each student individually, and to approach lessons in a way that lets them help each one learn every topic in a comprehensive way. It will also help them in creating lessons that can reach not just a small classroom, but rather thousands of students spread throughout the world.
The study would be beneficial to curriculum planners who would design functional curriculum by taking into consideration the relevance of educational media during the course of curriculum planning as educational media will be included for each of the concepts in the curriculum. It will also assist them in the presentation, evaluation and development of the curriculum as it will increase speed since the process is carryout using educational media.
To governmental and non-governmental organizations together with the general public, the study would be of importance as it would enable them to know the need of providing adequate human and material resources to secondary schools. And appropriate functional storage facilities and infrastructural facilities such as electricity to ensure the sustainability and durability of resources provided to biology laboratories in secondary schools.
The result of the study would provide information to researchers interested in working on a related topics, this may help them to get more information on the efficiency of educational media during the course of the study. Parents would be encouraged on how to use educational media available to them to assist their wards at home.
1.5 Research Questions
The following research questions guided the study
- What is the extent of utilization of educational media in learning of biology?
- To what extent does utilization of educational media influence students’ interest in learning of biology?
- To what extent does teachers’ mastering of educational media utilization influence students’ interest in the learning of biology?
- To what extent does gender difference influence students’ learning of biology when educational media is utilized?
- What are the problems associated with the use of educational media in the learning of biology?
1.6 Research Hypotheses
The following research hypotheses were formulated to guide the study;
- There is no significant influence of teachers’ mastering of educational media on students’ learning of biology
- There are no significant differences between male and female students taught with the utilization of educational media.
- There is no significant influence of education media utilization on learning of biology
1.7 1.7 Delimitation of the study
The researcher did not consider all educational media used in teaching. The study was confined to The Influence of Educational Media Utilization and Students Interest in Learning of Biology in Secondary Schools in Bonny Local Government Area.
It also concentrated on the challenges faced by the teachers of biology in the use of educational media in teaching. The educational media that was assessed were audio, audio visual and visual media, filmstrip etc.
1.8 Limitation of the Study
The study of this magnitude had many limitation, one of such was the unavailability of empirical data on the study, the location of some of the school visited by the researcher the road was in a deplorable condition, hence was not motor able, also insincerity on the part of the respondents on the medium available.
1.9 Definition of terms
Educational media: This refers to any type of media used to teach biology students during lessons delivery. They can be used in the classroom to facilitate the -teaching-learning process.
Utilization: This is simply means putting to use the educational media
Teaching: This is the way of impacting biology knowledge to the students.
Biology: This is the basic science that deals with the study of life.
Challenges: The difficulties faced by the biology teachers in the utilization of educational media in teaching of biology.
Students: A student is primarily a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution and who is under learning with goals of acquiring knowledge, developing professions and achieving easy employment at a particular field
Students Interest: it refers to the degree of attention, curiosity, interest, optimism, and passion that students show when they are learning or being taught, which extends to the level of motivation they have to learn and progress in their education.
