CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
It is a popular fact that when there is no goal it is difficult for humans to survive. Similar to when there is no motivation it is complicated for a student to learn successfully in classroom. According to (Fredricks & Bulumenfeld, 2004) those students who are motivated and participated in learning have the tendency to perform considerably higher academically and are better behaved compared to unmotivated and unengaged peers. When students found study uninteresting, they attempt to skip the classes or pick the back seats to ensure that they can shun from such kind of lectures, which in the future give rise to undesirable results which maximize the dropout rates (Paris, 2004). That is why motivation has constantly been main issue in education and has also been described as one of the most complicated and challenging issue dealing with by the teachers of the past and present. McDonough (1983) mentioned that motivation of the students is just one of one of the most crucial factors affecting their success or failure in learning.
This demonstrated that motivation play an important role in student learning. This is mostly concerned with teachers motivating techniques. These techniques practiced in classroom affect the student motivation. These are mental needs, physiological drives, survival, urges, feelings, impulses, fears, threats rewards, possessions, wishes, intensions, values, mastery, intrinsic, satisfaction, interests, pleasures, dislikes, habits, ambitions, and so forth (Lewis, 1998). Therefore, there are range of techniques used by teachers to enhance the student motivation.
However, for Social Studies teachers to teach effectively, he/she must employ a motivational technique or strategy that will make them impart knowledge in their students. Social Studies is just one of the subjects offered at the Junior Secondary School level in Nigeria. The aim is to expose students to experiences that will prepare them for higher education and helpful living within the society. According to Middleton and Spanias (1999), findings of some studies recommend that the decline in positive attitudes towards social studies can be explained in part as functions of absence of teacher supportiveness and classroom environment. This issue can be averted if students are inspired with action learning. In social education, action learning, the genesis of which is in the early childhood experience, has natural levels of maturity. The motivation for action learning in social studies education slowly changes from winning games to success in real-world endeavors. The vital to success is the capacity to address issues. Research discovers that curiosity can be identified in terms of exhilaration about peculiar observations and unanticipated phenomena, (Sofian, & Rambely, (2018). Furthermore, "What children will be curious about depends in large part on the nature of the world about them and their previous experience" (Prachi, Heidi, Blair & Niko, 2018). Curiosity has been underemphasized in the classroom, but research shows that it is just one of the strongest markers of academic success. Students in all educational levels look for concreteness, are normally curious regarding the real world, and enjoy benefits of action learning, particularly when they use it consistently in social studies education.
In particular, in the social studies majors, the problems ought to have applicability to reality. Remarkably, we appear to go back to "gaming" when we deal with pure theory, since we may look for an abstract solution for solution itself. The motivation aids students to see the herculean task as something they are capable of. Motivation have shown to be more efficient compared to many teaching techniques and using corporal punishments for deviant behaviors. Motivation could be summed up as an internal drive that directs behavior to some end (Online Article). It is thought to be essential to the educational process (Skollingsberg, 2003) as it gives teachers the capacity to maximize learning and therefore leading to minimized misbehavior amongst students (Wiseman and Hunt, 2001; Patrick & Yoon, 2004). On a good note, motivated people are stimulated and triggered to the end of the task as their interest and desire to achieve is improved (Ryan & Deci, 2000) and particularly it enhances genuine student engagement in learning (Saeed, Sitwat & Zyngier1, David, 2012). Thus, this study sought to investigate the influence of motivational techniques on social studies students' academic achievement in Ovia North East Local Government Area, Edo State. Nigeria.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
In the Nigerian Education System, social studies is just one of the crucial subjects in secondary schools, since it exposes students to experiences that will prepare them for higher education and helpful living within the society. Schools are typically assessed using the student achievement, and teachers cannot be dissociated from the schools they teach and academic outcomes of those students. Students' underachievement in social studies is not simply an issue for the state but have likewise ended up being the national issue for many years. This study is therefore conducted against this backdrop in a view to examining the various motivational techniques used by teachers to improve students' academic achievement in social studies. Hence, the reason for this study on the influence of motivational techniques on social studies students' academic achievement in Ovia North East Local Government Area, Edo State, Nigeria.
1.3 Objectives of the Study
The main goal of this study was to investigate the influence of motivational techniques on social studies students' academic achievement in Ovia North East Local Government Area, Edo State, Nigeria. However, the specific objectives were:
i) To understand the resources employed by teachers to motivate students’ academic achievement in Social Studies in secondary schools in Ovia North East Local Government Area, Edo State
ii) To determine how teachers’ qualities motivate students towards achievement of students in Social Studies in secondary schools in Ovia North East Local Government Area, Edo State
iii) To suggest the strategies for effective implementation of motivational techniques for improving teaching and learning of Social Studies among teachers in secondary schools in Ovia North East Local Government Area, Edo State. investigate
1.4 Research Questions
The following statements were the research questions that guided this study:
i) What are the resources employed by teachers to motivate students’ academic achievement in Social Studies in secondary schools in Ovia North East Local Government Area, Edo State?
ii) How do teachers’ qualities motivate students towards achievement of students in Social Studies in secondary schools in Ovia North East Local Government Area, Edo State?
iii) What are the strategies for effective implementation of motivational techniques for improving teaching and learning of Social Studies among teachers in secondary schools in Ovia North East Local Government Area, Edo State?
1.5 Research Hypotheses
The following statements were the research hypotheses questions that guided this study:
i) There is no significant relationship between resources employed by teachers to motivate students’ and academic achievement in Social Studies in secondary schools in Ovia North East Local Government Area, Edo State
ii) There is no significant relationship between teachers’ qualities that motivate students towards and achievement of students in Social Studies in secondary schools in Ovia North East Local Government Area, Edo State
1.6 Significance of the Study
Findings of this study may help the Ministry of Education, school administration, and career teachers to know the motivational strategies to be used more to improve enrolment in Social Studies in secondary schools and not just only in Ovia North East Local Government Area, Edo State but throughout Nigeria.
The outcomes of the study would also be of significance to teachers by making them know how do different issues that have a negative effect on teachers’ motivation in relation to teaching and learning in schools. The study would help them in altering the current circumstances to mend the academic scores of students. The study would also be of significance in administering of the school as it would show the issues affecting teacher’s motivation.
1.7 Scope of the Study
This study will consider only Head teachers, academic teachers, Social Studies teachers and Junior Secondary School students of four public secondary schools in Ovia North East Local Government Area, Edo State. The study will investigate whether students’ motivation strategies will enhance their morale to improve their academic achievement Social Studies subjects in form four public secondary schools in Ovia North East Local Government Area, Edo State.
1.8 Limitations of the Study
The study was conducted in Ovia North East Local Government Area, Edo State only. The results may therefore not apply to the rest of the countries in Nigeria.
Given that a questionnaire was used to collect data, some of the career teachers could have given wrong information. This was taken care of by the researcher getting the same information from Social Studies teachers and students using interview schedule and focus group discussions respectively.
