Summary of the study
The abysmal performance of pupils in
basic science and technology which leads to poor academic achievement (FME/UNESCO/UNICEF
1997; Odunusi 1997, Salami, 2007; UNICEF, 2001) prompted the researcher to develop
interest into searching for ways of enhancing pupils’ academic achievement in
basic science and technology. The need for the search is obvious as basic
science and technology is the foundation of further studies of science at all
levels. Therefore, this study sought to find the effect of experiential
teachings approach on pupils’ achievement in basic science and technology. The
study explored the influence of gender, and interaction due to teaching methods
and gender on achievement of pupils in basic science and technology.
The quasi-experimental, pretest,
post test, non-equivalent group design was adopted for the study. A total of
426 basic six pupils drawn from six schools selected through simple random
sampling from Onueke Education Zone were involved in the study. In each school,
all the basic six classes were selected and assigned to either treatment or
control group. The teaching was done during the regular periods for basic
science and technology in each school. The regular teachers who served as facilitators
or research assistants taught in each group (treatment and control) Efforts
were made to control those extraneous variables which pose threats to the
validity of the study. Both treatment and control groups were taught with the same
lesson plan but the treatment group was taught with experiential teaching
approach while the control group was taught with the conventional teaching
method.
The instrument used for the study
was the Basic Science Achievement Test (BSAT). It was developed by the
researcher and validated (Face and content) by experts in Basic Science and Lecturers
in Measurement and Evaluation in Ebonyi
State University,
Abakaliki. The instrument was used for pretest but reshuffled and used for post
test. BSAT had reliability estimate of 0.774 and internal consistency of 0.87.
Three research questions and three hypotheses
were used in the study. The research questions were answered using the mean and
standard deviation. The hypothesis was tested using the analysis of co-variance
at alpha probability level of 95%.
The results revealed that
experiential teaching approach was more effective than the conventional
teaching method in enhancing pupils’ achievement in basic science and
technology. It was also revealed that there was no significant difference
between the mean achievement scores of male and female pupils taught basic
science and technology using the experiential teaching approach. In addition,
there was no interaction between gender and teaching methods on pupils’
achievement in basic science and technology.
The findings of the study have
reaching implications for teachers, ministry of education, research institutes
and higher institutions that train teachers. Based on the implications, certain
recommendations were made. Limitations of the study were indicated while some
suggestions for further researches were made.
Conclusion
From the result obtained in the
investigation into the effect of experiential teaching approach on pupils’
achievement in basic science and technology, it is stated that; experiential
teaching approach involves hands-on, participatory approach and pupils are involved in meaningful activities in
the classroom which lead to their understanding the concept better and higher
academic achievement in basis science and technology therefore it is more
facilitative than the traditional conventional teaching approach. It was also
noted that the adoption and use of experiential teaching method in teaching of
basic science and technology will help learners to transfer knowledge acquired
in the classroom to homes. This will help them utilize the knowledge acquired
to solve their problems at home. Moreover, the teaching method is suitable for
both male and female learners; it does not discriminate between genders.
Teachers are advised to adopt and use this method in a bid to ensure higher
achievement for both male and female pupils in our schools.
Recommendations from the Study
Based on the findings of the study
the following recommendations were made:
1. Since experiential teaching approach has been
proved to enhance pupils’ achievement in basic science and technology, teachers
should be encouraged to employ it more in the teaching of basic science and
technology.
2. Teachers’ training tertiary institutions should
train their teachers in the use of this pedagogical approach in teaching not
only basic science and technology but all other subjects taught in schools.
3. Teacher preparations should be overhauled as it
is glaring that most teachers lack the competence for using experiential
teaching approach. Efforts should be made to equip them with the skills. Therefore,
series of teaching seminars, workshops and short in-service training should be
organized for practicing teachers by the local Government, Ministry of Education,
SUBEB, UBEC or other parastatal, research institutes and development partners
such as UNICEF DFID, USAID etc. Indeed the State Colleges of Education that
currently conduct the millennium development goal (MDG) capacity development trainings
for teacher should incorporate experiential teaching in their training plan.
4. Teachers should encourage mutual participation
among pupils, setting up materials and play guided role in the course of
learning among the pupils. They should encourage pupils to work in groups,
which the teachers carefully constitute in the classroom.
5. Basic science teachers should pay greater
attention to the issue of gender differences in classrooms. They should as much
as possible eliminates contents, techniques and materials that will bring
gender differences in their classroom. They should treat both male and female
pupils as equal intellect by engaging them in same task of science based
practical activities in and out of the classroom.
6. The conventional teaching method should be
de-emphasized in our school system. This study has revealed its inadequacy in
enhancing high pupils’ achievement in basic science and technology.
Educational Implications
The findings of this study have
obvious Educational implications for pupils, basic science teachers, ministry
of education, research institutes, faculty of Education of universities and
colleges of Education and development partners in Education.
The findings of this study have
shown that the method helps pupils to achieve higher academic results,
therefore efforts must be made to ensure that teachers adopts this method in teaching to enable the
reversal of the current poor academic achievement being recorded by pupils in
schools especially in basic science and technology
Since
the findings of this study have shown that experiential teaching method is good
and a viable alternative to the traditional method of teaching, there is the urgent
need for efforts to be concentrated on training teachers in this approach and ensuring
that they adopt it as a teaching approach particularly in the
teaching of basic science and technology and other subjects in basic schools. From
the findings of the study, the method led to higher achievement of pupils and
does not encourage gender bias in instructional delivery.
The
findings of this study have shown that this teaching approach is highly effective,
therefore the ministry of education and other parastatals under the ministry in
Nigeria
especially in Ebonyi state should concentrate efforts to build capacities of
teachers and other support staff on the use of this method. This should be done
by organizing workshops, seminars and conferences for teachers on use of
experiential teaching approach in teaching basic science and even other
subjects. As the study revealed, male
and female pupils achieved high scores when taught with the method. It means
that experiential teaching method can be adopted by the ministry of Education
and other relevant parastals for the purpose of promoting gender equity in the
classroom. The ministry should liaise with instructional material developers
and text book writers to supply instructional materials and write text books
that are compliant with experiential teaching method. The ministry should also
train teachers on how to improvise teaching aids from local sources. Improvised
teaching materials are cheap and are familiar to learners and make more meaning
to learners. The ministry should also
adjust the time in the school time table in order to enable the teachers apply
this method effectively.
Although experiential teaching
method is an old teaching method in advanced countries, such as South Africa and
United States of America (USA), but it is relatively new and an innovation in
teaching in Nigeria. The findings of this study showed that experiential
teaching approach is more facilitative in teaching basic science than the
traditional teaching method currently dominant in our schools, as such research
institutes should carry more research works on the use of this method in all
the subjects taught in Nigerian basic and secondary schools. The findings of
such research study should be published so that Nigerian Educationist, Teacher
training institutions and professionals can make use of the findings.
Since
the faculty of educations of universities and the colleges of Educations train
the teachers that teach in basic and secondary schools, they should incorporate
the experiential teaching approach in their curriculum, because the findings of
this study have shown that the experiential teaching method is more effective
in facilitating higher academic achievement than the traditional teaching
method, which they currently train their students on. This will enable the
faculties and colleges train teachers who can effectively use this method in
teaching when they graduate and are employed to teach.
The results of the findings have
shown that experiential teaching approach promotes gender equality and
guarantees higher achievement for pupils in basic science; therefore
development partners such as UNICEF, USAID, DFID, UNESCO and other stakeholders
such as NTI, UBEC. NERDC and other philanthropic organizations can organize or
sponsor capacity building and workshop for teachers on the use of the method in
instructional delivery in schools. Currently teachers do not know how to use
the method. In order to improve teaching and learning in schools which will
give rise to higher achievement for all pupils, teachers must acquire the skill
in the use of the method to enable them adopt and use the method in teaching.
Limitations of the Study
The generalizations drawn from this
study are subjected to the following limitations.
1.
It was only basic six pupils that were used and the content of the study does
not cover all the topics in basic science curriculum taught in basic schools.
2.
The pupils’ socio economic background and location of the schools were not
considered.
3.
The use of different research assistants or facilitators for the study will
invariably introduce extraneous variables. However, measures were adopted to
control it.
Suggestion for Further Research
The findings
of this study have generated some areas for further research which are;
1.
Effects of location on pupils achievement in basic science and technology with
the use of experiential teaching method.
2.
Effects of location on pupils’ achievement in integrated science with the use
of experiential teaching method.
3.
The awareness of serving teachers on experiential teaching methods.