CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 1.1 Background of the Study:
Education is fundamentally designed to contribute to individual and national development, fostering a functional and sustainable structure for life. Government as a subject plays a crucial role in creating awareness about the foundation, organs, and functions of government, as well as economic development. The study of government enables individuals to understand governance, principles, policies, and the direction of any governmental administration, fostering peace, patriotism, and stability in society.
However, the persistent poor performance of students in government, coupled with a lack of interest and enthusiasm for the subject, indicates a deficiency in the effectiveness of teaching methods. Despite the fascinating nature of governmental agencies, there is a growing decay in the teaching and learning of government in secondary schools, particularly in Eket Local Government Area. Traditional teaching methods, which have been predominantly teacher-centered and verbally oriented, may not be effective in promoting student interest and performance in government.
Concept mapping, a structural representation of concepts in a hierarchical manner, offers an alternative instructional strategy. It visually organizes related information, allowing students to see interrelationships and promoting a deeper understanding of the subject matter. The National Policy on Education emphasizes the need for knowledge acquisition, the inculcation of national consciousness and unity, and the development of skills and competencies. The traditional teaching methods may not align with these educational objectives.
Concept mapping, with its hierarchical structure and ability to facilitate creative thinking, holds the potential to improve students' interest, attitude, and academic performance in government. It provides a template or scaffold to organize knowledge, making it a powerful tool for meaningful learning.
1.2 Statement of the Problem:
The consistent poor performance and lack of interest in government among students suggest that traditional teaching methods may not be effective in promoting meaningful learning. Teachers often rely on teacher-centered approaches such as lecture methods and talk-and-chalk strategies. The gap between recommended pedagogical practices and actual classroom implementation poses a challenge, with many teachers resisting innovative teaching-learning processes.
The expository instructional strategy, often employed in teaching government, may not be strong enough to induce a change in students' attitudes or enhance their performance. The deficiency in effective teaching strategies raises the question of whether alternative methods, such as concept mapping, can address these issues. While various instructional strategies have been explored in education, there is limited information on the use of concept mapping and its potential to facilitate students' learning and improve academic performance in government.
This study aims to investigate whether the use of concept mapping as a teaching strategy can bridge the gap between recommended practices and actual implementation in the teaching of government. The focus is on determining whether concept mapping can positively impact students' attitudes, interests, and academic performance in secondary schools.
1.3 Purpose of the Study
This study is mainly designed to investigate the effect of concept mapping method of instruction on students' achievement in government students in secondary school in Eket Local Government Area. Specifically, the study sought to:
- Determine the influence of academic performance in government based on the use of spider concept mapping instructional strategy in secondary schools in Eket Local Government Area
- Assess the influence of academic performance in government based on the use of flow chart concept mapping instructional strategy in secondary schools in Eket Local Government Area.
- Find out the influence of academic performance in government based on the use of hierarchy concept mapping instructional strategy in secondary schools in Eket Local Government Area.
1.4 Significance of the Study
This study will be of immense significance to the teachers in the classroom who will now diversify their instructional strategies and also bring in innovation in the instructions in the classroom. Teachers will also practice and use concept mapping as a framework for effective teaching that will be interesting. Students will also benefit from the study because they will change their attitude towards government as a subject and pursue it vigorously to have a good grade in the internal and external examinations. Students will be armed with knowledge and techniques of learning and writing examinations. It will foster greater interaction among students during lessons.
The study will also be beneficial to curriculum planners who will recommend concept mapping strategy for use as teaching strategy during government lessons. They will be challenges to readjust government curriculum to suit the demands of new technologies in the classroom. The study will also be useful to the state government who will see the need to provide facilities to encourage teaching competition among teachers on the use of diverse method of teaching.
1.5 Research Questions
The following research questions are formulated to guide the study:
- What is the influence of academic performance in government based on the use of spider concept mapping instructional strategy in secondary schools in Eket Local Government Area?
- What is influence of academic performance in government based on the use of flow chart concept mapping instructional strategy in secondary schools in Eket Local Government Area?
- What is influence of academic performance in government based on the use of hierarchy concept mapping instructional strategy in secondary schools in Eket Local Government Area?
1.6 Research Hypotheses
The following research hypotheses are postulated to direct the study:
- There is no significant influence of academic performance in government based on the use of spider concept mapping instructional strategy in secondary schools in Eket Local Government Area.
- There is no significant influence of academic performance in government based on the use of flow chart concept mapping instructional strategy in secondary schools in Eket Local Government Area.
- There is no significant influence of academic performance in government based on the use of hierarchy concept mapping instructional strategy in secondary schools in Eket Local Government Area
1.7 Delimitation of the Study
The study is delimited to the use of concept mapping instructional strategy on academic performance of Senior Secondary School Class Two (SS2) government students in secondary schools. Specially the study is delimited to Eket Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State and only concentrate on variables of students performance, gender and school location.
1.8 Definition of Terms
The following terms have been defined as used in the study:
Academic Performance: This explains the level of students and determined by scores from examination, tests and assignments.
School Location: This is explained where the school is situated either in the urban or rural places.
Gender: This explains whether an individual is either male or female.
Concept Mapping: A set of structural or diagrammatic representation of concepts in hierarchical manner such that there is a connection between two or more concepts.
