Abstract: The research work examine Learning Skills and academic performance in Economics among secondary students. The research work was conducted in Ibiono Ibom Local Government Area. A review of related literature was used as guided in establishing principles for the study. In other to achieve the objectives of this study, three research hypotheses were formulated for the study. A descriptive survey research design was employed in carrying out the study. The population of this study consists of all the SS1 to SS3 students in the ten (10) secondary schools in the study area.
A total of one hundred (200) randomly selected students were drawn from five secondary schools in Ibiono Ibom Local Government Area were used as the population for the research study. Economics Achievement test was the major instrument for data collection. The generated data was analyzed independent t-test.
Learning Skills and academic performance in Economics among secondary students
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Learning is an important exercise in human life. The role of learning in changing an individual at birth from a biological to an academic being cannot be overemphasized. The process of learning starts from infancy and ends only at death. Learning however does not occur on its own. It results from a series of interaction with people or things in our immediate environment and beyond. It helps man to acquire skills which he can adapt to and even change his environment. Parents send their children to school because they believe that the school can transmit desirable attitudes skills, knowledge, behaviors etc. to the children. The government funds public schools because it hopes by so doing the society will have citizens that are productive and self reliant that have a positive attitude towards fellow citizens, public and private property: that will shun crime and live peacefully with others and that can bring social progress.
According to Kosemani and Ituen,(2009) reading is basic to meaningful learning. In formal education, it is the gateway 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 their students. Effectiveness in teaching will be an illusion if learners are not ready to learn, if there is no corresponding change in their behaviours as well as improvement in their academic performance in schools.
There has been public outcry on the abysmal performance of students in school examinations. in fact, the poor performance of students in school has assumed frightening proportion and is worrisome. The big question is what factors are responsible for the continuous poor performance of students in school? Does it mean that teachers are not teaching well? Are parents not providing for the basic educational needs of their wards any longer? Is the government paying lip-service to the educational sector? It is absolutely true that even if afore-mentioned stakeholders in the educational industry have perfectly played their respective roles the problem will still remain if the students as learners do not play their corresponding roles namely reading and studying.
It may be interesting to recall that there a was a time when students were great readers. They were voracious and ardent readers, reading every printed material that comes their ways. It was time students did not read because they had examinations to write, or they read in order to record resounding success at interviews. Students permanently devoted their time to reading so as to deepen their understanding of their world around them. Students did not just parade themselves as students, but to be students was synonymous with reading. Reading had formed an integral part of student’s life such that a student felt lost any day he or she failed to read novel or any printed material. Students were not afraid of examinations. 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.
The wave of technological advancement in our society has swept away the culture of reading among our youths. In an age where internet browsing of social media platforms, watching football matches and 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 had become an archaic idea.
Empty school libraries are a silent witness to this dreary picture. They present a black picture of the depletion of avid readers who used to flock libraries after school hours and during free periods and in between classes. However, the contention that learning is an activity presupposes that certain skills and approaches are required for that activity to be effectively carried out. This is why Johnson and Olsson (2008) maintained that learning outcome is influenced by variables such as learning method, learning materials and motivation among others.
Charity (2006) sees learning Skills as plans or the techniques a learner implore to achieve the desire learning outcome and to maximize his or her learning process. Learning Skills could be described as bad or good. Bad learning Skills make the process of acquiring knowledge, skills and idea very rigorous. They tend to waste the learners’ energy, effort and time. It leads to the acquisition of knowledge, skills and ideas which may be easily lost whereas good learning Skills makes the learners to conserve effort, time and energy. The knowledge acquired through good learning Skills are also stable and will not be easily forgotten by the learners (Eneh, 2006).
Learning Skills have a simple structure by using which the learners would be able to learn the educational materials more quickly, understand than better and more importantly, to memories it for a longer period of time. The learner applying engage in learning process, will actively engage in learning process, will link new materials with their earlier information and will constantly monitor their learning process.
Learning Skills and academic performance in Economics among secondary students
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Continuous decline in the performance of senior secondary school students in public examinations have heightened the anxiety of every stakeholders in education with the teacher and the learners at the centre of challenge. This poor academic performance of students in school mostly in Ibiono Ibom Local Government Area, has worked against the realization of the goals and objectives of the learning process.
Factors like learning Skills, instructional Skills have been found among other variables as the factors that brings about the downward trend in the academic performance of students in Economics. It was on this background that the researcher was interested in determining whether learning Skills influences the academic performance of students in Economics in Ibiono Ibom Local Government Area.
