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ANALYSIS OF CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF FAILURE IN
PHYSICS AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS
CHAPTER ONE
BACKGROUND
TO THE STUDY
Osokoya (2003) defines
Education as a continuous process which the society establishes to assist its
members to understand the heritage of the past and to participate
productively in the future. It is the leading out of the in-born powers and
potentialities of the individuals in the society and the acquisition of skills,
aptitudes, and competencies necessary for self-realisation and for coping with
life’s problem. For Afe (2000), Education is considered as a tool to be used
for the integration of the individual into the society to achieve
self-realisation, develop national consciousness, promote unity, and strive for
social, economic, political, scientific, cultural and technological progress.
Education in science and physics therefore becomes bedrock and indispensable
tools for scientific, technological and economic advancement in any nation. It
gives the nation the capacity to apply technology for the exploitation of the
resources of nature. Such exploitation will depend greatly on physics for
laying the foundation for political, governmental, military, civil, scientific,
technological advancement, economic development, socio-cultural and
environmental peace.
There are number of questions
which need to be answered at this stage. What then is Physics? Why should
everybody learn Physics? What is the importance of this subject in life and in
school curriculum? What shall be the advantage of devoting so much effort,
time, and money to the teaching of Physics? The importance of physics
transcends all the definitions and the prosperity of any country depends on the
volume and quality of physics offered in its school system. Obe (1996)
conceptualises physics as the master and servant of most disciplines and
thus, a source of enlightenment
and understanding of the universe. He further opines that without it, the
understanding of national problems would be superficial.
Greaber and Weisman (1995)
agree that physics helps the individual to understand the environment and to
give accurate account of the physical phenomena around every person. To this
end, Setidisho (2001) submits that no other subject forms a strong binding
force among various branches of science as physics, and without it, knowledge
of the sciences often remains superficial.
Emphasising the importance of
the subject to the society, Robert (1987) stated that in the United States,
physics has come to play important roles: in the engineering of highways, the
search for energy, the designing of television sets, the profitable operation
of most business, astronauts flying space-crafts, the study of epidemics, the
navigation of ships at sea all depends on the study of physics. Ogunbanjo
(1998) opines that all over the world, sciences has been accepted as a vehicle
of technology, social and economic development. Physics is not only basic to
these but is the language of science. In another related study, Igbokwe (2003)
highlights the intricate link of physics to science and technology, and
contends that without physics there will be no science and without science
there will be no technology, and without technology there will be no modern
society. These and many more reasons are why the Nigerian government believes
that the subject should be taken seriously in our school system; and Nigeria in
her march towards technological development, has not made physics a compulsory
subject in the curriculum of the primary and secondary school levels of her
educational system (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2004) but also as a
prerequisite to the study of science courses in her colleges, polytechnics and
universities (JAMB Brochure, 19992-2007).
Shapiro (2000) defines Physics
as the study of qualitative relations; put simply, it is the science of
structure, order, numbers, space and relationships about counting, measuring
and describing of shapes and objects. It qualifies in its own right as a science
but it is often regarded as a language of and a link between all the sciences.
Soyemi (1999) Physics is a body of knowledge that opens up the mind to logical
reasoning, analytical thinking and the ability for creative thinking, deep
focusing and clarity of thought and precision. It is the hub on which all
scientific and technological studies find their bearings. In pure sciences it
is the basis and language of study, in applied sciences and technology it is an
indispensable tool of analysis, with the social sciences it is a scaffold and
for the Arts the light that gives consistently and completeness to its study.
Osafehinti (1990) observes that the learning of physics in schools represent
first, a basic preparation for adult life and secondly a gateway to a vast
array of career choices. And from the societal perspective, competence in
physics is essential for the preparation of an informed citizenry and for
continuous production of highly skilled personnel required for industry,
technology and science. The progress of any nation depends upon her scientific
and technological advancement which can only be built on a sound mathematical
education capable of making the citizens effectively functional in the natural
and applied sciences. The study of Physics therefore will go a long way to
“equip students to live effectively in our modern age of science and
technology” (NPE 2004).
Fakuade (1977) sums up this
assertion; for the purposes of economic survival, the ordinary citizen needs to
be able to compare and estimate values of articles, determine prices of
foodstuffs, reckon distances and time, weigh evidence and be able to sift
substances from chaffs. Thus in the complexity of the modern society
everyman requires a certain
amount of competence in basic physics for purposes of handling money,
prosecuting daily businesses, interpreting mathematical graphs and charts and
thinking logically.
In concluding this section
therefore, Physics Education must contribute towards the acquirement of these
values: knowledge and skills, intellectual habits and power, desirable
attitudes and ideals that are indispensable tools for a successful and balanced
human existence.
During the last fifty years
there had been unprecedented efforts in curriculum reforms in Physics education
in Nigeria, from the indigenous innovation of the Africa Mathematic Programme
(AMP) (The Entebbe Physics (1961-1969), through the formation of Nigeria
Educational Research Council (NERC) in 1969. In spite of the efforts made by
these bodies, students’ failures rate in physics has been on the increase.
Similarly workshops and
conferences have also been held to salvage the situation and gave a solid
foundation to mathematic education, curricula developments and implementation.
To name but a few of such events are: The comparative Education Study and
Adaptation Centre (1976) that took care of the secondary level physics
syllabus, the Benin Conference (1977) and The National Critique Workshop at
Onitsha (1978).
Subsequently The National
Physics Centre formulated and adopted the following objectives for teaching
physics in Nigeria secondary schools:
i.
To generate interest in physics and provide a solid foundation for everyday
living.
ii.
To develop computational skills
iii.
To foster the desire and ability to be accurate to a degree relevant to the
problem at hand.
iv.
To develop and practice logical and abstract thinking
v.
To develop capacity to recognise problems and to solve them with related
physics knowledge.
vi.
To provide necessary mathematical background for further education
vii. To
stimulate and encourage creativity.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Observations and reports from
examining bodies like WAEC, NECO and JAMB revealed that a high percentage
of secondary school students continue to perform poorly in physics
examinations. Despite the laudable efforts at developing an acceptable general
physics curriculum students’ performance in the subject appears to be declining
over the years. To alleviate the situation in the 1989, the National Physics
Centre was established. Chief amongst its functions include:
1.
To encourage and support activities leading
to the improvement of the teaching and learning of
mathematical sciences at all levels.
2.
To tackle national set goals in the development of mathematical sciences.
3.
To inject mathematical
education to the rarefied
area of theoretical physics with a view to increasing
the number of mathematicians.
Yet in the face of all these
efforts the rate and degree of students’ poor performance in senior secondary
school examination in physics must now be a problem of national concern. This
sad situation is aptly described by Adeniyi (1988) who rightly observes, that
one’s involvement in the marking of physics for the West African
Examinations Council (WAEC) is
enough to get anyone sorrowful at the state of Physics in Nigeria secondary
schools. Some candidates submit their answer scripts without writing anything
in them. Some candidates merely recopy the questions, while a high percentage
of those who try to write anything at all score below 40%. This is aptly confirmed
with the release of WAEC result for May/June 2011 as quoted in the Leadership
newspaper, “the West African Examination Council (WAEC) released results of the
May/June 2011 west African senior secondary certificate examination, (WASSCE)
with an abysmal 30% of the candidates making credit in English and Physics.
Details of the results showed that the results of 81, 573 candidates
representing 5.29% were withheld.
The question that readily comes
to mind is; what are the factors responsible for the students’ poor performance
in physics in secondary school examination? This project will therefore take a
survey of the factors responsible for these failures, the effect on students
and the future of our society, the attendant problems and proffer means of the
changing the trend of students’ poor performance in physics.
The decline in the numbers of
candidates opting to pursue the studies in the sciences has become a matter of
considerable societal concern and debate among researchers (Jenkins, 1996).
Consequently, the promotion of favourable attitudes towards science and
learning of Physics is extremely critical and important. However, the concept
of poor performance in physics is rather ill-defined, often poorly expressed
and not well understood.
Fundamental to this quest are
the questions that the researcher seeks to address:
1.
Are the teachers of physics adequately qualified and properly trained in the
subject?
2.
Is the excessive workload and lack of teacher training facilities at the root
of poor performances of student?
3.
Is the WAEC syllabus inadequate, irrelevant and ambiguous?
4.
Are parents as committed to the progress and success of their ward?
5.
How is the Physics taught in schools?
6.
Has the taste for learning being diluted by the answer-centeredness of most
school teaching?
7.
Is WAEC, NECO, GCE and JAMB only servicing failures yearly with profit? Is
that ethical?
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
This study examines the factors
responsible for the students’ poor performance in physics in selected secondary
schools in Idah Local government area of Kogi State.
Specifically, it will examine;
1.
Teachers’ and students’ attitude to teaching and learning of physics.
2.
The nature of school environment.
3.
Teachers’ teaching methods, and
4.
Teachers’ use of instructional materials.
Schools are established to
accomplish specific goals and objectives and incidentally one of the most
common criteria of evaluating the effectiveness of any school system is the
extent to which the students perform in their examinations.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
To achieve the objective of the
study, five research questions were raised.
1.
Does teachers’ attitude to the teaching of physics constitute a problem in the
students’ performance in the SSCE Physics?
2.
What is the nature of school environment in which teaching is done?
3.
Does the students’ attitude and commitment towards physics constitute a
significant problem in performance in SSCE physics?
4.
Does teaching method constitute significant problem in students’ performance in
physics examination. How is physics taught in schools?
5.
Does the lack of instructional materials, educational facilities and inadequate
supervision constitute a significant problem in students’ performance in SSCE
physics examination?
SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY
It is the sincere hope of the
researcher that by carrying out this study of the factors responsible for
students’ poor performance in physics and proffering solutions, the findings
and recommendations would be of a great help to all stakeholders who have
anything to do with the success or failure of the child in school; school
administrators, classroom teachers, psychologists, teacher trainers, theorists,
examination bodies, curriculum designers and professional associations.
It will equally guide and guard
government at all levels and ministries of education, school guidance
counsellors and parents. It is hoped that this study will help in improving the
whole system in such a way as to induce better performance in physics
examination at the secondary school level.
SCOPE OF STUDY
The present study used five
secondary schools in Idah local government area of Kogi state. These schools
present students for the senior secondary school certificate
examinations conducted by both NECO and WAEC.
LIMITATION OF STUDY
The research work covered
only five sampled selected schools in only one local government area. It also covered
only public senior secondary schools.
DEFINITION OF TERMS
To set stage for our survey of
the factors responsible for the poor performance of students in physics, we
present working definitions of some of the terms.
Factor: In this study, a factor
is taken to mean any element, force, condition or circumstances that has a
causal influence or can contribute to the students’ performance in physics.
Performance: Accomplishing or
achievement of specific goals, objectives or set mark in any academic
endeavour. It is one of the most common criteria of evaluating effectiveness of
schools.
Curriculum: A sequence of
potential experiences, set up in the schools to discipline children and youth
in ways of thinking and acting whether it is carried out in groups or
individually, inside or outside the school.
Innovation: is a way of
changing and adapting for the purpose of attaining certain goals and
aspirations.
Qualified Teacher: For this
study a teacher who holds the following certificate is assumed to be qualified:
NCE, B.Ed., B
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