ABSTRACT: This study examined Cooperative Learning Method And Students’ Academic Performance In Economics In Secondary Schools in Nsit Ubium Local Government Area. Three null hypotheses were formulated in line with the specific objectives of the study. The quasi – experimental research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised all (SS2) students offering Economics in public secondary schools in the area. A sample size of 360 SS2 students was used in the study. The instrument for data collection was Economics Achievement test (EAT). The data collected from the study were analyzed using independent t-test. The result showed that cooperative learning has a positive effect on students’ academic performance in Economics as students who adopt cooperative learning performed significantly better than those who adopt the individual learning method. It was concluded that cooperative learning is effective for improving students’ Academic performance. Consequently, it was recommended among others that cooperative learning technique should be adopted in the learning of Economics among students so as to improve their academic performance.
Cooperative Learning Method And Students’ Academic Performance In Economics In Secondary Schools
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Learning is a vital tool that can serve as a catalyst in literacy promotion and hence all round development of an individual and the nation at large. It is an important exercise in human life. The role of learning in changing an individual at birth from a biology being to a social and academic being cannot be over-emphasized.
According to Umoh (2006), the process of learning starts from the womb and does not cease or stop until one goes to the tomb or grave. It does not however occur on its own. It follows series of interaction with people or things in our immediate environment and beyond. It helps man ton acquires skills with which he can adopt to and even change his environment.
Parents send their children to school because they believe that the school can transmit desirable attitudes, skills, knowledge, behaviours etc. to the children. The government funds public schools because it hopes that by so doing the society will have citizens that are productive and self-reliant, that have a positive attitude to fellow citizens, public and private property, that will shun crime and live peacefully with other’s and that can bring social progress.
Kosemani and Ituen (2009), maintained that reading is basic to meaningful learning. In formal education, it is the gate way to success since it is the principal instrument employed by students in learning. It creates opportunities for academic growth and promotes the development of insight into life.
Essentially, the professional goal of all teachers is to enhance and promote effective learning among the students in the classroom. Effectiveness in teaching will be an illusion if the learners are not ready to learn, if there is no corresponding change in their behaviors as well as improvement in their academic performance in schools (Edem,2009).
According to Okpo (2012), there was a time when students were great readers. They were voracious and ardent readers, reading every printed materials that came their ways. It was time students did not read because they had examination to write or to record resounding success at interviews. But student permanently devoted their time to reading so as to develop their understanding of the world around them. Students did not just parade themselves as students, but to be a student was synonymous with learning through effective reading. Learning had formed an integral part of students’ life such that a student’s felt lost any day he failed to read a novel or any printed material. Students were not afraid of examination.
It was a pride to be a student, thus students earned respect and honour from members of the society. What is the situation today? All these have changed as technological advancement in our society has swept away the culture of reading among our youths. In an age when internet browsing, watching football, playing with funky handsets seem to be the in-thing among the youths, reading a good book in a quiet corner of the school Libraries as it was in the past became an archaic idea.
However, the contention that learning is an activity presupposes that certain skills, styles and approaches are required for that activity to be effectively carried out. There are different learning approaches or methods one can adopt in learning. One of each learning approaches or method is cooperative learning.
Cooperative learning is one of the recommended learning methods. It is a learning method in which students advance learning goals by helping each other in a social setting. Cooperation is a compulsory component of cooperative learning. Cooperative means working together to accomplish shared goals within cooperative group, individuals seek result that are beneficial for all members of a group Students work together to maximize their own and each other’s learning for optimal academic performance.
According to Neuman (2010) cooperative learning may be contrasted with competitive learning in which students work against each other to achieve an academic goal. It may also be contrasted with individualistic learning in which students work on their own to accomplish training goals unrelated to those of other students’.
In cooperative learning group. Students work together on specific tasks or projects in such a way that all students in the group benefit from the interactive experience. Since learners are different in their intellectual capacities, there is therefore the need for cooperative learning in order to improve the academic performance of student’s not only in Economics but also other school subjects.
Cooperative Learning Method And Students’ Academic Performance In Economics In Secondary Schools
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Over the years, there have been a serious concern by well meaning individuals on the declining state of students’ academic performance in schools. In fact, the poor academic performance of student’s in schools has assumed a frightening dimension and it is worrisome. The big question is, what factors are responsible for the abysmal performance of students in school? Does it means that teachers are not teaching well? Are parent not providing for the basic educational needs of their wards any longer? Is the government paying lip-services to the educational sector?
Certainly, it is an incontestable fact that the aforementioned stakeholders in the educational industry are continuously playing their respective role in this regard, yet the performance of students in both internal and external school examination has remained nothing to write home about.
However, it has been found that one major problem that lead to the downward trend in student’s academic performance in recent times is the poor reading culture among students. The various approaches adopted by teachers and students in teaching and learning are no exception in this regard.
It against the background of the continuous poor academic performance among students which many attribute to teaching and learning methods, that this study Cooperative Learning Method And Students’ Academic Performance In Economics In Secondary Schools in Nsit Ubium Local Government Area was carried out.
