Influence of Teachers Mastery of Subject Matter on Students Academic Achievement in Economics Secondary Schools
Abstract
This study was carried out to ascertain the Influence of Teachers Mastery of Subject Matter on Students Academic Achievement in Economics Secondary Schools. The review of related literature was used as a guide establishing principles for the study in other to achieve these, three research questions were raised and three research hypotheses were formulated by the researcher. Economics achievement test (EAT) was the major instrument for data collection; a total number of one hundred and eighty students (180) senior secondary two (SS2) students were used as sample for the study. The data collected from the Economics Achievement Test (EAT) was analyzed using independent t-test statistical method.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Education facilitate one’s duties and responsibility to himself, the family, the society band the nation and also help an individual to live a successful and meaningful life that inspire and guide the younger generation (Adeogun, 2013). Adeogun went further to say that the quality of educational system depends on the quality of its teaching staff, and the school without human resources may not be able to achieve the goal and objective of the educational system. Teachers are the major indicators and determinant of quality education. The teacher is basically saddle with responsibility of imparting knowledge, skills, attitude and technique to his students. Sandra (2012) opined that the quality of teaching make a considerable difference in students learning and achievement. This implies that the teacher is a key factor in what the students study. It has been established that there is a high correlation between what teachers’ knows and what they teach. (Davis, 2011).
Usman (2013) argued that teachers’ incompetency is responsible for the poor academic achievement observable among the student; while Ademulegun (2011) asserted that students taught by competent and experience teachers perform better than those taught by incompetent and less experience teachers in terms of knowledge of the subject matter. According to Ekanem (2014) a competent teacher communicate effectively with the learners during teaching learning process, the teacher adopt better teaching techniques that suit the level of the learners, the teacher equally manage the classroom during instructional process and uses varieties of teaching aids to enable the students understand the lesson better.
Chan (2019) sees competency as teachers’ accumulation of skills, basic techniques which enable him or her to carry out a specific task. In the teaching process, teachers’ competence encapsulates necessary skills and knowledge which the teacher possesses in the course of teaching. These skills include; teachers’ mastery of subject matter, classroom management technique, instructional material utilization and proper communication skills.
Adeogun (2011) asserted that teachers classroom management skills is a strong determinant fo0r students performance. Adeogun went further to say that when the classroom is properly managed; students are positioned for the learning task. Teaching and learning is only achieve when they is a considerable flow of information between teachers and students. This simply means that teachers’ communication skills matters a lot in any learning task.
When the teachers communicate fluently and effectively with the students, it helps them comprehend properly the content and share their own view during instructional process. Also, teachers’ utilization of instructional materials during teaching learning process has proven to be a motivation that helps arouse learners’ interest in the learning process. Learning does not just occur; it comes through interaction with persons or things (Limon, 2011). Limon added that for students to achieved greater impact of learning process, teacher must communicate effectively with the students, arrange the classroom properly for better flow of information and utilized varieties of instructional materials/teaching aids for better academic achievement of students.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
In educational system, success is measured by academic achievement and how well a student meets the standard set out by the institution. The persistence low performance in Economics by students has been tackled in various ways by parents, schools, educationist and the government in a bid to solve the problem of poor academic achievement in Economics in schools. Parents teachers association (P.T.A) in schools have been bridging the gap between parents and teachers with the view of overcoming the root of this problem as such they have provided buildings, desks, laboratories equipment etc. in some of the schools on the basis of uplifting the problem of student poor achievement, agencies like non-governmental organization and government have done their best in improving the educational performance in Nigeria.
Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), Education Trust Fund (ETF), etc, have been building and supplying materials but the problem seems to be magnified. This issue of poor performance has been attributed to many factors such as teachers’ incompetence, family background, and juvenile delinquencies e.t.c. The government has averred teachers re-training but the root of the problem are yet to be resolved. Since all the efforts made so far have not been able to solve the problem of poor academic achievement of student in Economics the researcher was interested to ascertain the influence of teachers’ mastery of subject matter on students’ academic achievement. Also, the researcher intends to know whether classroom management, teachers’ communication skills and utilization of instructional materials influence students’ academic achievement.
1.3 Purpose of the study
The purpose of this study is to ascertain the influence of teachers’ mastery of subject matter on students’ academic achievement in Economics secondary schools in Ikot Ekpene Local Government Area. The study also sought specifically to:
(i). Ascertain the influence of teacher’s teaching methods on students academic performance in Economics.
(ii). Determine the influence of teacher’s communication skills on students academic achievement in Economics.
(iii). Examine the influence of teacher’s teaching experience on student academic achievement in Economics.
1.4 Significance of the Study
The findings of the study will be of great significance to the teacher, Ministry of Education and the Government. The results will enable the teachers to understand the uniqueness of instructional materials in the teaching learning situation. The Ministry of Education will benefits from the study as it would help in formation of policies that would benefit educational sector. The government would benefit from the study as it will be an eye opener in the provision of incentives that would help improve learning process.
1.5 Research Questions
The following research question was raised to guide the study:
(i). to what extent does teacher’s teaching methods influences the academic achievement of students in Economics?
(ii). to what extent does teacher’s communication influences students’ Academic achievement in Economics?
(iii). to what extent does teacher’s teaching experience influences students’ academic achievement in Economics
1.6 Research Hypotheses
The following research hypotheses were formulated to guide the study
(i). Teacher’s teaching methods does not significantly influence students academic achievement in Economics
(ii). Teacher’s communication skills does not significantly influence students academic achievement in Economics.
(iii). Teacher’s teaching experience does not significantly influence students academic achievement in Economics
