THE IMPACT OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS IN TEACHING AND LEARNING IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

 Background to the Study

            Individuals and the society have seem education as the key to success in life. In all humansocieties, past and present, education has been instrumental to impacting positively to the survival of individuals and the society. The capacity of development in any country can be measured through a properlyplanned and well directed education.

            Thus, Education is a behavioral characteristic. It impacts skills, attitudes, belief, ability to reason, knowledge and any other form which enable one to adjust and interact effectively with other individuals. Through the acquisition of skills, it enable an individual and the group to proceed into the actualization of the individuals destiny.

            Indeed, Instructional materials provides concepts and attitudes to the student which improved his skills, ability to reason and makes him/her informed about what is going on in the global village. Education has helped to bring the entire world into an entity through the information and knowledge education has helped us to achieve.

            Education has helped to reduce the problem of language barrier. Through instructions and teaching  by your teacher, Individual has acquired different languages outside the traditional language. This has led the individual to associate properly with people from different countries. It has helped one to adjust from his traditional behaviour to a more modest behaviour that makes the individual to be accommodated any part of the world he visits. Education has been a means to an end. That a country is developed is as a result of instructional aid created by education. It serves as a catalyst to governmental principles, policies and laws. With the acquisition of knowledge, and the society structured their means of livelihood.

            Instructional material is an aid to teaching and learning. It helps to raise learning from verbalization to practical aspect of teaching and learning. Instructional materials makes teaching and learning interesting, easy and amusing. It makes learning more effective (Clark, 1997).

            In another development, the use of instructional materials makes different continents to shape their rules and regulations, to accommodate the other. This they do by providing them with the socio-cultural and political differences and how to adjust the traditional socio-cultural and political ways and accommodate another. An instructional material makes students understand more easily when the teacher makes use of working model. It makes the teachers task easier and more effective. Olardi (1990) has highlighted the impact of instructional materials that teachers use to improve the students from understanding and perception of the subject as an enhanced aids. It brings clarity and creates recognition that allow them to have a realistic hand and a total knowledge of the subject. It enhanced learning, improve the competence of learners and makes learning more meaningful to students.

            In Onicha Local Government Area, teaching and learning through the use of instructional materials facilitates, stimulates and aids students to take active interest in any topic introduced by the teaching. In structural materials has emotional impact on the students of Onicha Local Government Area and affects their attitude towards what is presented as the topic to study by the teacher. It provides both the teacher and students with relevance and meaningful source of information.

            Kay (2008), Instructional materials stimulate the students desire to learn. It assist learning process by making assimilation and memorization of materials easy.  Also, it helps to hold attention, include greater acquisition and, as well as objectives which may be in accessible to many students. 

           Finally, an instructional material makes learning available to a wider audience, control the pace of learning, promote better understanding and help to overcome physical difficulties in presenting the subject content.

Statement of the Problem

            The use of instructional materials has lots of general benefits that guides a greater impact in teaching and learning process. The teachers level of resourcefulness, creativity, and imagination is credited to the achievement of quality education. These are expressed in how well the teacher is able to perceive, create and use the relevant information that can enhance and promote effective teaching and learning activities.

            In Ebonyi State, there is a fair use of instructional materials which makes teaching and learning activities mere theoretical, abstract and ineffective. The issue of whether instructional materials provides the necessary knowledge is widely recognized in the central role the assimilation and retention of information it makes available to a wider audience.

            Instructional materials is a major determining variables that control the pace of learning. It has to do with the creation of an environment in which students can develop their full potentials and lead productive lives in accordance with the demands of their interest and needs either as individuals or as group within the society.

            The Nigerian government, at all levels has over the years placed enormous emphasis on instructional materials in shaping efforts and strategies aimed at improving students standard of learning in the country but both theoretical and empirical literature failed to captive the real factors as to why the standard of education in the country still remain very low.

            Okereke (2009) observes that many schools in the state cannot boast of instructional materials. He contends that every government should contend with the issue of making education her priority to help improve our standard of learning by providing the required instructional materials to schools.

            Obasi (2010) holds the view that government should provide funds to principals who monitors the teaching staff to help principal provide the instructional materials needed by their students at all time.

            To get to the core of this inquiry, there are central questions which must serve as guides in determining the direction and focus of our research. With this in view, the study is aimed at addressing the following questions;

1.         How does the use of instructional materials in teaching and learning influence cognitive performance of secondary school students?

2.         How does the use of instructional materials in teaching and learning influence effective performance of secondary school students?

3.         How does the use of instructional materials in teaching and learning influence psychomotor performance of secondary school students?

4.         How does the use of instructional materials in teaching and learning influence teachers classroom performance?

Purpose of the study

Generally, the purpose of this study is to Examine the impact of instructional materials in teaching secondary school students in Onicha LGA of Ebonyi state specifically, this study tries to find out the following :

1.         Impact of instructional materials on students cognitive performance in schools.

2.         Impact of instructional materials on students affective performance in schools.

3.         Impact of instructional materials on students psychomotor performance in schools.

4.         Impact of instructional materials on the teacher’s classroom performance.

Significance of the Study

            This study will have much significance on the following people.

            First and foremost, the findings of the study will be of much significance to students, researchers and teachers in secondary schools. This is so because the report of the study will serve as a good reference document to this group of learners when conducting a research on the impact of instructional materials on teaching.

            Again, the study has much significance on the government in Nigeria. This is so because, it will serve as a source of information to the government that the non-provision of instructional materials to teaching provides basis for the falling standard of learning in the country.

            Furthermore, the study will be significant to parents, this is so because when conducting parents-teachers meeting, such an issue might be  raised and this will serve as a good reference document in providing solutions.

Scope of the study

The study focused on the impact of instructional materials in teaching and learning in secondary schools in Onicha Local Government Area of Ebonyi state.