Social Studies

Effects Integrating Personalized Learning Environment On Students’ Achievement in Social Studies in Secondary Schools in Imo State. (Published)

This study is aimed at determining the effects integrating Personalized Learning Environment  on students’ achievement  in social studies in secondary schools in Imo State, Nigeria. A Qusi-experimental research design with non-equivalent intact groups, pre-test and post- test was adopted in this study. The population of the study comprised the entireUpper Basic( Junior Secondary School) students of 94,963 with 47,481 male and 48,481 female in the 68 secondary schools in Owerri Zone 1 of Imo State. Purposive sampling technique was used as the sample techniques. 39 Jss 2 students (19 male and 20 female) in one school were in treatment one (personalised learning environment) group, while 43 Jss 2 students (21 male and 22 female in the school were in treatment two (lecture method) group. The instrument for data collection was Researcher Made Social Studies Achievement Test (RMSSAT). The items in the instrument were subjected to content and face validation by five specialists, three specialists from Educational Measurement and Evaluation and   two from Educatonal technology. The reliability of the research instrument was established using Kuder-Richardson (K-20) and this gave a reliability coefficient  of 0.86. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions while the hypotheses were tested using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) F- test statistics at 0.05 level of significance was used to interpret the result. From data analysed, the findings from study are: Personal Learning environment is effective in the improvement of students’ academic achievement and also revealed that personal learning is more effective on the male students than on the female students. The study recommended among others that: since the use of personalized learning environment has been found to enhance achievement  in social studies, teachers of social studies should employ this technologically enriched method to teach students in the classroom more ewspecially those abstract to topics.

Keywords: Achievement, Social Studies, personalized learning environment

Teaching Social Studies to Primary II Pupils: The Place of Mother Tongue in Nigerian Schools (Published)

Language is human phenomenon that manifests itself in sounds and symbols. It is a basic factor in communication. The mother tongue is a language of the immediate environment where the child is born. It is the language of the child’s parents. Children learn their mother tongue from baby hood. It is part of the child as he or she grows up. The use of mother tongue in the lower primary school classes enhances the continuity in the child’s educational process. This paper seeks to examine the use of mother tongue as an option in the teaching of Social studies at this level, in contrast to what some teachers do, using English to teach the students especially in the cosmopolitan urban centers. The study revealed that Social studies taught using the mother tongue enhance pupils’ grades in examination. Suggestion and recommendations were made.

 

Keywords: Mother tongue, Pupils., Social Studies

Integrating Climate Change Education into Social Studies Curriculum at The Basic Education Level (Published)

The paper discussed the need to integrate Climate Change Education into the Social Studies curriculum at the basic education level. To achieve this, the concept of Climate Change Education, its effect on man and environment, and the need for its Education were discussed. Also discussed were the relationship between climate change education and Social Studies and possible areas where the tenets of climate education could be achieved via Social Studies curriculum content. The paper concludes that, creating the needed climate change awareness, which is the ‘‘Hallmark’’ of climate change education could be made possible via corresponding topics in Social Studies curriculum and hence, recommends that, effective and efficient integration of concepts, learning experiences of both subject matters (i.e climate change and social studies), is a sin quanon, if man’s survival problem is to be addressed.

 

Keywords: Climate Change, Integration, Social Studies, basic education level

Family Type, Family Size and Scholastic Success of Social Studies Students in Cross River State, Nigeria (Published)

This study was designed to ascertain the relationship between family size, family type and scholastic success of Social Studies students in Cross River State. To achieve the purpose of this study, two null hypotheses were formulated to be tested at .05 confidence level. An Ex-post facto design was adopted for the study. One thousand (1000) Social Studies students were selected for the study through proportionate stratified random sampling and simple random sampling techniques from a population of 19,169 junior secondary three students. Family type was categorized into two (monogamous and polygamous) while Family size was categorized into three (large, medium and small). The only instrument for the study was the Social Studies Academic Achievement Test (SOSAAT). The SOSAAT was paired with the categorized variables for data collection and trial tested using the split-half reliability estimate to establish reliability indexes of 0,78 and 0.82 while the reliability coefficient for performance test was 0.79 respectively. The reliability test was conducted in one of the schools within the study population but not among the sampled schools for the main study. The data collected were duly coded and analyzed in consistent with the formulated hypotheses using the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) test-statistics. The results revealed that students’ family size and family type are significantly related to students’ scholastic success in Social Studies. Based on these findings it was concluded that students’ scholastic success is dependent on family size and family type. The work recommended, inter alia, that since small size family has greater positive influence on scholastic success of students in Social Studies, parents should maintain small size families they can adequately nurture and positively impact on. Moreover, parents should endeavour to live together and maintain intact homes so that they can give children the warmth, nurture and encouragement to contribute to the development of the required academic excellence.(Word count: 305)

Keywords: Family Size, Social Studies, Students, family type, scholastic success

Effective Implementation of Social Studies Curriculum in Schools: Matters Arising (Published)

The purpose of this paper was to examine the extent to which social studies curriculum had been effectively implemented in schools. The paper highlighted content and context of the curriculum, adequate human resources, political factors and government policies, and availability and effective utilization of instructional resource as major factors that contribute to ineffective implementation of social studies curriculum in schools. Some challenges of social studies educationhad also been highlighted. The paper recommends that the government and other related agencies should organize conferences, seminars, workshops etc on the strategies, methods and construction of special tools for the evaluation of social studies curriculum if social studies must be effectively implemented.

Keywords: Curriculum, Human Resources, Instructional Materials, Social Studies

Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Practice; Teachers’ Utilization of Instructional Resources in Teaching Social Studies in Basic Schools in West Mamprusi District in Northern Region, Ghana (Published)

This research work examines the extent of teachers’ utilization of instructional resources in teaching Social Studies in Basic Schools. The study also examines the various instructional resources that can be utilized by Social Studies teachers’ for teaching purposes within West Mamprusi District in Northern Region, Ghana. The researcher used qualitative method for data collection and analyzing. The researcher elicited information from respondents using structured interviews. The research focused on Basic Schools within West Mamprusi District. Two research questions were formulated for the research. The descriptive research design was used for the study. The targeted population consisted of head teachers, teachers and pupils in basic schools within West Mamprusi District. Ten (10) Basic Schools were randomly selected for the study. Twenty (20) Social Studies teachers and twenty (20) pupils, two (2) each were selected from the ten (10) schools using purposive sampling. All head teachers from the ten (10) basic schools were also interviewed. The study found out that teachers do not use instructional resources in the teaching of social studies from the interviews conducted. The causal factors for not using instructional resources in teaching from the interviews include; waste of time in preparing and organizing instructional resources to teach a particular topic, difficulty to obtain and expensive to buy by either the teacher or school, financial constraints, teachers lack of identification of materials and human resources, lack of knowledge by the teacher of what type of raw materials and resource persons to rely on for use in order to enhance the learning capacities of his/her students, and teachers basing their lack of instructional resource use to their many years of experience in teaching the subject.  Based on the findings, recommendations were made that Social Studies teachers need to be given orientation on the need to always teach the subject using instructional resources through in-service training, workshops, and seminars, Ghana Education Service and Parent Teacher Association (PTA) should support schools in terms of procuring the needed instructional resources to enhance the teaching of Social Studies, Teachers should also be initiative and creative enough to improvise their own instructional resources within the environment to promote effective teaching and learning to enhance students understanding, and internalization and application of lesson content,  The government must take the lead in terms of financial and production of these resources for all schools, The education resource  centers  of the country  should   also be commissioned  to identify, relocate, collect, store and distribute instructional materials and ideas to institutions of learning ,Such resource centers should have  a common directorate and research unit, which  will help coordinate its activities  and  seek  ways of improving  its services.

Keywords: Citizenship Education, Effective teaching of Social Studies, Instructional resources, Resource centers, Social Studies, Utilization, basic schools

Achievement Motivation towards Social Studies on Students’ Academic Achievement in Tertiary Institutions in Cross River State, Nigeria (Published)

This research examined Achievement motivation towards Social Studies on students’ academic achievement in tertiary institutions in Cross River State, Nigeria. To achieve the purpose of this study, one hypothesis was formulated to direct the study. Ex-post facto research design was adopted for the study. A sample of six hundred and seventy-three (673) students was randomly selected for the study. The instruments for data collection were the Achievement Motivation towards social Studies Questionnaire (AMTOSSQ) and Social Studies Achievement Test (SOSAT) developed by the researchers which were subjected to validation by experts in measurement and evaluation and psychology. The reliability estimates of the instruments were established through the split-half reliability method and it associate Spearman Brown prophesy formula. Pearson product moment correlation analysis was adopted to test the hypothesis at .05 level of significance. The result of the analysis revealed that achievement motivation towards Social Studies on students’ academic achievement has a significant positive relationship in the subject. Based on the finding of the study, it was recommended that students should develop high achievement motivation towards social studies and other subjects as this will manifest in higher academic achievement and vice versa.

Keywords: Motivation, Social Studies, Students’ Academic, Tertiary Institutions

Social studies teachers and students attitudes toward cooperative learning method in junior secondary schools in Port Harcourt (Published)

The study investigated social studies teachers and students attitudes toward Cooperative Learning Method (CLM) in Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) in Port Harcourt Local Government Area (LGA) of Rivers State, Nigeria. The quasi-experimental design was used. A total of 240 JSS II students with an average age of 12 years and 11 social studies teachers participated in the study.  Two validated 10-item instruments, Students Attitude towards Cooperative Learning Method Scale (SATCLMS) and Teachers Attitude towards Cooperative Learning Method Scale (TATCLMS) were used for data collection. The test-retest method was used to determine the reliability of the instruments to obtain reliability indices of 0.78 and 0.86 for SATCLMS and TATCLMS respectively. Two research questions guided the exploration. Percentages and frequency were used to answer the research questions. The findings of the study were that both teachers and students had positive attitudes towards CLM, however, teachers had more positive attitudes toward CLM than the students. It was recommended among others that teachers of social studies should adopt the CLM in their instructions in the classroom so as to impact on the attitudes of the students.

Keywords: Cooperative learning method, Social Studies, Student, Teacher, attitude, junior secondary school

Examination of ICT Compliance and Utilization for Curriculum Delivery among Social Studies Teachers In Nigeria (Published)

Information and communication technology (ICT) has brought profound changes to almost all aspects of life, including educational practices. The role of ICT in the development of knowledge is widely recognized. This study investigated how teachers’ Compliance and Utilization of ICT impact on their curriculum delivery in Nigeria. Four research questions were raised and answered in this study. The study adopted survey design. The population of this study is 681 social studies teachers in 2015/2016 academic year, from where a total of 204 respondents were sampled. A 16-item instrument titled “ICT Compliance and Utilization Assessment Questionnaire” (ICUAQ) developed by the researcher and validated by experts in the Faculty of Education, University of Uyo was used for data collection with a reliability coefficient of 0.81, established through a correlation analysis. Data generated based on the research questions were analyzed with descriptive statistics using percentage. Findings revealed that social studies teachers show noncompliance attitudes towards ICT, measured in terms of acceptance of ICT training, and accessing ICT resources. The study revealed that teachers make less use of ICT in terms of frequency in the use of ICT in lesson preparations, teaching and learning. Based on the findings, the study concluded that objective of ICT in education in Nigeria has not been met, and that social studies teachers are yet to derive the benefits of ICT in curriculum delivery. Consequently, the study recommended that government and other stakeholders such as Parents Teachers Association (PTA) and Old Students should liaise with schools to determine the training needs of staff members and help them to organize appropriate training programmes.

Keywords: Curriculum, Education, ICT, Nigeria, Social Studies, Teacher, Training

Students’ Academic Achievements in Social Studies: Any Peer Group Influence? (Published)

This work used the causal-comparative research design to explore the relationship between peer group influence and students’ academic achievements in Social Studies. The sample comprised 160 Junior Secondary School (JSS) III^A students randomly selected from ten out of nineteen secondary schools in Calabar South Local Government Area of Cross River State, Nigeria. Two instruments were used: The Peer Group Influence Assessment Questionnaire (PGIAQ) on a 4-point Likert and a 50-item multiple choice questions in Social Studies. The instruments were trial-tested and a reliability coefficient of 0.87 obtained. Data generated were analysed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation analysis (r) at 0.05 level of significance. The result permitted the conclusion that there was a significant positive relationship between peer group influence and students’ academic achievements in Social Studies. This underscores the need to study group dynamics from the point of view of the development of students whose needs are, in the main, related to group living. This finding instructs parents, guardians and caregivers to keep a close watch on the companies their children and wards keep as such surely impact significantly on the academic performances of the affected children.

Keywords: : Academic Performance, Group, Influence, Peer-Group, Social Studies