CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

The use of instructional materials has been observed as a powerful strategy to bring about effective teaching and learning. The importance of quality and adequate instructional materials in teaching and learning can occur through their effective utilization during classroom teaching. Instructional materials here include all the tools that the teachers can use to make the learning more interesting, memorable and also improving on academic performance of students. Writing on the influence of instructional materials in teaching and learning, Balogun (1982) commented that science education programs cannot be taught effectively without the existence of equipment for teaching. This is because teaching materials help those who learn to develop problem-solving skills and scientific attitudes.

This work is made of five chapters, chapter one consist of introduction, background of the study, justification of the study, statement of the problem, objectives of the study, research question, research hypothesis, significant of the study, delimitation of the study, operational definition of terms and chapter summary. Chapter two consists of introduction, literature review and summary of literature review. Chapter three consist of introduction, research design, area of the study, population of the study, sampling procedure, sample, instrumentation, validity of instrument, reliability of instrument, administration of the instrument, procedure for data analysis, and ethical consideration. Chapter four is made up of introduction, general description of data/variables, data analysis and interpretation and summary of results. And finally chapter five which is made up of discussion of findings, conclusion, recommendations and suggestion for further research.

 

Background of the study

Historical background

Historically, according to Raiser (2001), in 1900s teachers were the primary means through which instruction was presented to learners. But in 1905, the first school museum was built in St. Louis. School museums housed supplemental instructional materials that could aid teachers when teaching different topics. Increased interest in visual media and instructional films led to the visual instruction movement. In 1910, the first catalogue of instructional films was developed to be used in the classroom.

Thomas Edison predicted in 1913 that books will soon be obsolete in schools. Scholars will soon be instructed through the eye. It is possible to teach every branch of knowledge with the motion of picture. Our school system will completely be changed in the next ten years. As a result, five national professional organizations were established visual instruction, five journals began to publish information about visual instruction, and more than 20 teacher-training institutions began offering visual instruction courses.

During the 1920-1930s, technological advances increased interest in instructional media and as a result the audio-visual instruction movement began. In 1923, the association for educational communications and technology was founded. Also, by the 1930s people believed, that due to the advances in radio broadcasting, that the radio would be a medium that would revolutionize education. Unfortunately, the radio did not have as big of an impact on instructional practices as audio-visual enthusiasts predicted.

Moreover, Reiser (2001), recounted that in the 1940s, World War II led instructional designers to design and develop instructional films that would train military personnel for combat. Instructional films were also developed to aid US citizens that were entering the business and industry field. The films were success because they could train individuals quicker without taking away training effectiveness.

At the end of World War II the German chief of General staff stated they had everything calculated except the speed America used to train its people. He reiterated that their major miscalculation was in underestimating their quick and complete mastery of film education.

Given the success in military films, there was a renewed interest in instructional films for classroom use in schools. Media comparison research studies compared how much students learned after being presented with instruction via a specific instructional medium, films and radio, with how much students learned through teacher-led instruction on the same topic.

During the 1950s leaders in the audio-visual movement became interested in theories and models of communication. Authors of the models stated that when planning for communication, it is important to think about each stage of the communication process. The process involved sending through a channel or instructional to reach the receiver of the information. In 1963 David Berlo emphasized that communication was primary and media was secondary. Communicating is essential for learning to occur.

Instructional television made a huge growth during the 1950s as well. In 1952, the Federal communications commission set aside 242 channels for educational purposes unfortunately, some people believed that the instructional quality of some of the programs were mediocre. Along with teacher resistance, installation expenses and the meritocracy of the instructional television programs instructional television was discarded by the mid1960s. By the early 1970s, instructional media still had not made a big impact on educational practices.

Also, according to Reiser (2001), in the 1950s, computers were utilized by researchers at IBM. The researchers developed computer-assisted instruction (CAI) author language and developed the first CAI program to be used in public schools. In elementary schools, computers were mostly used for drill and practice or they were utilized to teach computer-related skills such as typing but, the wide-spread interest in computers as a medium of instruction did not occur until the 1980s.Since then, the instructional technology field has expanded and changed. The field is constantly evolving with the introduction of new technologies. Some technological advances have revolutionized how instructional technology is being utilized. These modern instructional developments are: utilization of the internet, distance education opportunities, learner centered learning environments, virtual environments such as second life, wikis and blogs.

Before the coming of missionaries in Cameroon, traditional societies in Cameroon had their own means of providing education to the new generation, which was growing up. There was no formal education, however the young ones were taught through storytelling, and through tribal traditions. Under this system of education, the youth grew to become brave and skilled men and women; men became hunters, soldiers and craft workers, while women became good mothers and food gatherers and craft workers, (Ajayi, et al. 1999).

Formal education which was introduced in Cameroon by the missionaries became the responsibility of colonial masters (Germany, Britain, and France). The Baptist missionary were the first to visit Cameroon and the first school was opened by Joseph Merrick in 1844 in Bimbia, and the second was opened by Alfred Saker in Bethel in Douala in 1845.

Schools were also opened in Bota for craftsmanship, local pastors acted as teachers in these schools. Students were also taught carpentry and how to make blocks. In financing the schools, they were financed by the missions themselves and the home board of London Based Baptist Missionary society, (Oni 1992).

The origins of measuring academic performance date back to the 1830s. Education advocates Horace Mann and Samuel Gridley Howe used a standardized test to evaluate student progress in Boston. Kansas school administrator Frederick J. Kelly advanced the idea of standardized testing with the Kansas Silent Reading Test in 1914. This multiple-choice test was used to decrease grading time and standardize student evaluations. IBM employee Reynold B. Johnson developed a grading machine in 1934 that could grade test sheets by picking up the electrical current created by pencil marks. Henry Chauncey developed the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) in 1934 to evaluate scholarship candidates at Harvard University and University of Iowa Professor E.F. Lindquist created the first version of the American College Test (ACT) in 1959.

Conceptual background

Agun (1989) view instructional materials as didactic materials/things which suppose to make teaching and learning possible. According to Abdullahi (1997) he defi as anything a teacher uses, from small stones, pieces of paper, small sticks, samples of leaf, to chalk board, maps, charts, projectors, radio, television, computers and indirectly the teacher himself to facilitate teaching learning process.  While according to Johnson (1989) instructional materials are the collection and selection of resources which are applied and integrated into a systematic process of teaching and learning to make learning more effective.

Ikerionwu (2000) in his view define them as objects or devices, which help the teacher to deliver lessons to the learners. According to Agina-Obu (2005) instructional materials are concrete or physical objects which provide sounds, visuals, or both to the senses aimed at facilitating teaching-learning process.

They are materials or tools locally made or imported that could make tremendous enhancement on a lesson impact if intelligently and carefully used (Abdullahi, 1982). In a nutshell, instructional materials involve any aid (audio or visual) used by the teacher to facilitate effective understanding of a lesson (including the teacher himself).

Statement of the Problem

For quite some times now, the learning of geography has suffered in the hands of un-resourceful and un-motivated teachers, especially at the secondary school level. There has been general outcry of poor academic performance of learners in geography in secondary school in Buea municipality as a result of the use of in appropriate instructional materials.

This is evidence in geography result from 2017 that 38000 registered, 33037 sat for the exam and just 11670 passed given a percentage of 35.5% at the 2017 General Certificate of Education unlike the previous years, and from 2017 geography results has been on a drop, (Journal of education, 2018).

In Cameroon, the schemes of work for secondary schools are designed in such a way that teaching should be done with the use of instructional materials. But this is not the case in all Schools, as some schools are not adequately equipped with instructional materials, and in some cases, some Schools can afford for instructional materials only for subjects with high coefficients like Mathematics and English, and consequently allowing subjects like geography to the mercy of the chalk board as lone instructional material.

Moreover, there could be some cases where schools have instructional materials, but some teachers are not conversant with the use of some of these materials. In such cases there will either be poor   usage or non-usage at all of the instructional materials. This problem can be further explained using the variables of computer, real objects and textbooks

Objectives of the Study

 General Objective

The general objective of this study is:

To examine the extent to which instructional materials affects secondary school student’s academic performance in the Buea municipality.

Specific Objectives

The specific objectives include:

1. To find out the extent to which computer can have an impact on student academic performance.
2. To verify the extent to which real objects affect student academic performance.
3. To assess the extent to which the use of textbooks influence student academic performance.

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