ABSTRACT: The research examines School Variables and Students Attitude toward the Learning of Biology in Secondary Schools in Onna Local Government Area. Two research questions and two research hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. Quasi-experimental design was adopted as a research design for the study. From the population of 1,876 (SS2 Biology students, 200 SS2 Biology students were randomly sampled from ten (10) secondary schools out of the total of thirteen (13) secondary schools in Onna Local Government Area. Instrument used for data collection was Biology Achievement Test (BAT). Data collected were analyzed using independent t-test analysis.
Findings showed that there is a significant difference in learning attitude of students taught in a school that has a well-equipped laboratory and those taught in a school that has a poorly-equipped laboratory, there is a significant difference in learning attitude of students taught with a well-equipped school library and those taught with a poorly-equipped school library. It was recommended among others that parents should try as much as possible to send their children/wards to schools that have good variables like laboratory and library.
School Variables and Students Attitude toward the Learning of Biology in Secondary Schools
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the study
The nation’s overall development is in extricable tied to its educational system since education is a light that shows mankind the right direction to surge as well as being an engine for the growth and progress of any society. Its not only imparts knowledge, skills and inculcates values but is also responsible for building human capacity which breeds, drives and sets technological innovation and economic growth (Ukanu, 2011)
Education in its broadest meaning is any process by which an individual gains knowledge and also develops right attitudes or skills. It is an experience that has a formative effect on the mind, character or physical ability of an individual and in its technical sense, education is the process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, values, skills from one generation to another generation (Ukpong, 2014)
The function of education is both social and individual. Its social function is to help each individual become more effective member of society by passing along to him the collective experience of the past and the present. Its individual function is to enable him to lead a more satisfying and productive life by preparing him to handle new experience successfully (Sadler, 2012). This can only be achieved when the environment of the school is encouraging students are individuals who accumulate knowledge with the help of the teachers in a motivating and encouraging school environment. The learning experience accumulated in a sound school environment serve as the bridge to overcome life’s circumstances and eventually becomes a more effective member of the society. With this view, there is the need to introduce quality into the system by creating sound and conducive environment for teaching and learning process.
However, school variables according to Ajayi (2012) is a schools physical surrounding which includes the classrooms, school location, libraries, technical workshops, laboratories, teachers’ quality, school management, teaching methods peers, builders and school type. They are variables that affect students’ attitude toward learning either positively or negatively. Hence the school variables remain an important area that should be studies and well managed to enhance students’ learning attitudes. George (2013) added that the extent to which students learning could be enhanced depends on their location within the school compound, the structure of their classroom, availability of instructional facilities and accessories. It is believed that a well planned school will gear up expected outcomes of education that will facilitate good social, political and economic emancipation, effective teaching and learning, academic performance of the students and positive students’ learning attitudes.
Thus, for learning to take place and the performances of the students enhanced, the school must be stimulating and encouraging. The environment must be inviting or welcoming, conducive and accommodating for adequate and effective learning to take place. According to Williams (2011), school buildings should be a suitable building, finished and well-equipped for habitation. As dilapidating buildings, lacking mental stimulating facilities that are characterized with low or no seating arrangement will also be destructive to students’ learning attitudes. It has been proved that students that are taught in stimulating environment with laboratory equipment, rich instructional aids, pictures and are allowed to demonstrate using their functional peripheral nerves like eyes, hands and sense of taste have good learning attitudes than those trained under theoretical and canopy of abstraction.
However, Michael (2013) opined that the students’ attitude toward the learning of Biology depends on certain factors (school variables) such as school facilities, school location, teachers’ qualification, class size and school type. It is believed that a well-planned school with these factors will gear up expected outcomes of education that will facilitate good social, political and economic emancipation, effective teaching and learning process and positive learning attitudes among students.
School facilities are school equipment and materials used in facilitating the teaching – learning process. An effective school facility is responsible to the changing programs of educational delivery and at a minimum should provide a physical environment that is comfortable, safe, secure, accessible, well ventilated and aesthetically pleasing (Bello, 2012). These facilities include; a well-equipped library, a well-equipped laboratory, seat, tables, chalkboard, lighting, charts, maps, and computers with internet connection. The facility also includes furnishings, materials and supplies, equipment and information technology as well as various aspects of the building grounds namely athletic fields plays grounds, areas for outdoor learning and vehicular access and parking.
Marsden (2010) reported that safe and orderly classroom environment (aspect of instructional space), school facilities (accessories) were significantly related to students’ attitude toward learning in schools poor performance and ineffective ventilation systems leads to poor health among students as well as teachers which leads to poor performance and higher absentee rates. These factors can adversely affect student’s behavior and leads to higher level of frustration among teachers and poor learning attitude among students. It is against this background that this work is undertaken.
School Variables and Students Attitude toward the Learning of Biology in Secondary Schools
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Academic attainment is an important parameter in measuring students’ success. Observations and reports have shown that success or high academic achievement has become a herculean task to accomplish by students in recent times. Poor academic performance were recorded both at the secondary and tertiary levels of education in Nigeria (Essien, 2012). This poor students’ academic performance is as the result of negative students’ attitude toward learning. This negative attitude of students toward learning at all levels in educational institutions in Nigeria has attracted much criticisms from all and sundry from time immemorial. Soyinka (2012) observed the decline in the academic performance of students in post primary institutions as a result of poor learning attitude among students and maintained that secondary schools system in Nigeria needed restructuring. He went further to say that academic standard had fallen drastically and the quality of secondary school graduates being produced is questionable and subject to re-examination.
It becomes necessary to find out the causes of poor learning attitudes among students in our secondary schools. Though, these poor learning attitudes among students have been attributed to a lot of indicators such as students’ factors and the home factors, the school factors and other exogenous variables are thought to have also determine students’ positive attitude. The interest of this research has been activated by the fact that all the efforts made by Akwa Ibom State government to improve the learning attitude of secondary school students have not yielded the desire result. It is against this background that this study is conducted to examine whether the following school variables (school laboratories and school libraries) determine students’ attitude toward the learning of Biology in secondary schools in Onna Local Government Area.
