EFFECT OF PEER TUTORING INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGY ON STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT AND INTEREST IN SOCIAL STUDIES IN JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ENUGU STATE

ABSTRACT

The  study  investigated  the  effect  of  peer-tutoring  instructional strategy  on students’ achievement and interest in social studies in secondary schools in Nsukka Local Government Area, Enugu State.   The design adopted in this study  is  a  quasi-experimental,  precisely  a  non-randomize,  non  equivalent pretest, posttest control group design. The target population of the study was the entire junior secondary III (JSS III) social studies students in Nsukka Local Government, Enugu State. One hundred and fifty seven (157) social studies students were purposively sampled from four intact classes from two purposively selected co-educational secondary schools in Nsukka Local Government and were used for the study. The main instruments used for data collection  were  the  Social  Studies  Achievement  Test  (SSAT)  and  Social Studies Interest Scale (SSIS). Data obtained were analyzed using mean and standard  deviation to answer  the four research questions  while analysis  of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to test the four null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study revealed among others that there was a significant (p < 0.05) difference in the mean achievement scores and interest mean scores of students taught social studies using peer-tutoring instructional strategy and those taught social studies by their regular social studies teachers in favour of those taught using peer-tutoring; There was no significant (p >

0.05) difference in the mean achievement score of male and female students taught social studies using peer tutoring instructional strategy and those taught social studies without peer tutoring instructional strategy. One of the implications  of  these  findings  is  that  the  use  of  conventional  method  of teaching social studies cannot lead to effective teaching of social studies and could not enhance students’ achievement and interest. It was recommended among others that seminars and workshops should be organized by the State government to educate teachers on the use of peer tutoring in teaching social studies.

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Social Studies is one of the compulsory subjects studied in junior secondary schools in Nigeria. Social Studies according to Nwaubani (2010) is a value-laden subject. It is a course of study which instils in man the relevant knowledge, values, skills and attitudes required for effective citizenship role in the society. The subject therefore helps learners in the process of understanding problems associated with everyday living which they are likely to encounter in their  respective  communities  (Mezieobi  &  Onyeanusi, 2012). Udoh (2013) point  out  that  “Social  Studies  is  a  discipline  that  can  be  used  in  solving problems of relationship and interaction in man’s dynamic environment”.

The objectives of Social Studies and peace education are consistent with the  goals  of  Nigeria’s  education  as  stipulated  in  the  National  Policy  of Education (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2004). These include:- The inculcation of national consciousness and national unity, the inculcation of the right type of values and attitudes for the survival of the individual and the Nigerian society, the  training  of  the  mind  in  the  understanding  of  the  world  around,  the

acquisition  of  appropriate  skills,  abilities  and  the  development  of  mental,

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physical and social skills and competencies as equipment for the individual to live in and continue to the development of the society.

These objectives of Social Studies education are in line with the philosophy and aims of Nigerian Education are hinged on the development of high competencies required for solving man’s diverse environmental problems for better and effective social living. Specifically, the focus of Social Studies is to extricate the Nigerian child from the apron strings of colonial education which merely propagated foreign values and therefore acquaints him with his own cultural values and traditions (Dania 2014). The teaching of Social Studies is  directed  towards  building a  great  Nigeria  Nation,  irrespective  of  ethnic diversity.  It  is  also  directed  towards  promoting  citizenship  and  values education in addition to skills development (Adeyemi & Ajibade, 2011).

Despite the important place of social studies in Nigerian educational system,  it  is  very  disappointing  to  note  that  students’  achievement  in  the subjects in both internal and external examinations have remained consistently poor over the years (Upper Basic Certificate Examination Annual Report 2010-

2014). As noted by Akpochafo, (2011). The analysis of Basic Education Certificate Examination results from 2010 to 2014 academic years in Nsukka Education  zone  as  reported  by  the  PPSMB  runs  thus:  2010/2011-  49%;

2011/2012- 48%; 2012/2013- 45%; 2013/2014- 52%.

In spite of the immense benefits to be derived from the introduction of Social Studies in our school curriculum there seems to be a poor handling of the subject in the secondary schools. Of  great concern is  that most  Social Studies teachers still rely mostly on the lecture method for imparting information.

Studies  like those of Umeoduagu (2014), Okobia (2010), Akpochafo (2011) and Arisi (2012) have pointed out that despite the more than thirty year existence of learning style theories (detailing how people learn), most teachers still dispense information using conventional lecture method without regard to students’ achievement and interest. This teaching method is theoretical and teacher-directed, instead of being constructive or activity-based. In the conventional  method,  the  teacher,  according  to  Akinlaye,  Mansaray  and Ajiboye (2006), Akinlaye, Bolarin, Olaniyonu and Ayodele (2007), Ogundare (2010) and Oganwu, (2014) simply becomes the expositor and drill master while the learner remains the listener and a storehouse of facts that can be retrieved when a student hears his name called by the teacher.

The  use  of  conventional  method  in  teaching social  studies  entails  a verbal presentation of social facts, concepts and principles to learners. The teacher focuses the students’ attention on the key points in the lesson (Okoli & Egbunonu,  2012).  The  predominant  use  of  conventional  method  does  not

always  enhance  the  understanding  of  social  studies  concepts  by  junior secondary school students. This is because this method does not take care of the individual differences in the learners and does not actually involve the learners in the learning process.

Ezengwu (2007) stated that majority of teachers in the field still employ conventional methods in the classroom teaching, these methods though not without some advantages are found to be didactic, stereotype, ineffective and non-result oriented. Nebo (2012) stated that this conventional method of teaching has failed to recognize the uniqueness of the inquiry base nature of social studies and the learner’s individuality thus failed to encourage creative thinking in the learner leading to poor achievement of students. Based on this, educators and scholars are challenged to seek for an intervention or innovative methods  that  would  enhance  academic  achievement  of  students  in  social studies.    Some  of  these  methods  includes  concept  mapping,  discovering method, co-operative learning, target task approach, peer tutoring e.t.c.

Peer tutoring is a method of instruction that involves students teaching other students, a system of instruction in which learners help each other and learn by teaching. Paul (2006) defined peer tutoring as an instructional strategy that partners students to help one another learn material, reinforce skills or practice a learned task. Peer tutoring consists of two or more students, working

together, teaching and learning from each other. Peer tutoring come helpful where the teacher  may not  be  able  to  give  individualized attention  to the learners  or  provide  each  student  in  the  classroom  the  opportunity  to  deal directly with the teacher especially in large classes. Given the above condition, peer tutoring come useful. In peer tutoring the brighter students or fast learners are made to teach (tutor) the less bright or slow learners on a particular social studies   concept.   Peer   tutoring   provides   small   group,   intense,   focused instruction that allows students the opportunity for active interaction among themselves and by so doing learn from their peers (Abrami, Poulsea & Chambers, 2014; Horvath, 2011).

Several studies have shown that peer tutoring is an important predictor of  academic  achievement  of  junior  secondary  school  students  in  school subjects; (Rohrbeck, Ginsburg – black, Fantuzzo & Miller, 2013; Azubuike,

2012, Romano & Walker, 2010). There is need to find out if peer tutoring can produce positive results when used in teaching social studies to learners in junior secondary schools. This study therefore, will investigate the effects of peer  tutoring  on  achievement  and  interest  of  students  in  junior  secondary school Social studies.

Academic achievement is referred to as the knowledge attained or skills developed in the school subjects, usually determined by test scores or marks

assigned by the teacher (Azubuike, 2012; Mirabelli, 2009; Topping & Bryce,

2014). Achievement is a result – oriented construct that shows the extent of attainment in a learning task. It is used to ascertain the extent to which programmed goals are realized (Horvath, 2011; Nixon & Topping, 2014; Spencer, 2006). There are conflicting reports in literature concerning effect of teaching strategies on students’ academic achievements. Some strategies like cooperative learning have been found to enhance male and female academic achievements in social studies (Abrami, Poulsea & Chambers, 2014; Okoli,

2010; Okoli & Egbunonu, 2012; Spencer, 2006).

Achievement in learning social studies is associated with students’ interest. Interest is very important in learning in the sense that one achieve highly in what he/she is interested in. Interest is seen as eagerness to participate in an activity from which one deserves a pleasure. Ching-Yaw (2011)  defined interest  in  learning as  personal preferences  with  regard to  learning,  which sometimes means what an individual chooses one thing rather than other things and sometimes a positive psychological state occurs during his/her interaction with the circumstances that engenders further learning motives. Students’ interest in social studies can be sustained through innovative strategy like peer tutoring.  Peer  tutoring  instructional  strategy  helps  in  motivating  male  and female students in learning social studies.

Gender is the physical and/or social condition of being male or female (Azubuike, 2012). Although the number of female in education have increased, yet gender equality has not been achieved (Imoko & Agwagah, 2006;).  In this study, gender differences in achievement and interest in social studies among junior secondary school students taught social studies using peer tutoring approach will be investigated.

Statement of the Problem

In  recent  years, the  persistent  poor  achievement  of  junior  secondary school students in social studies in Upper Basic Education examination has continued to receive research attention. Many factors such as inadequate qualified  social  studies  teachers,  large  class  size, and  use of  inappropriate teaching   methods   by   social   studies   teachers   have   been   identified   as contributing to students’ poor achievement in social studies. Several studies have shown peer tutoring as an important factor that enhances academic achievement and interest in other school subjects such as French, mathematics, English Language and Music. Because of students’ poor academic achievement and interest in social studies, the need therefore arises for a study on the effect of peer tutoring instructional strategy on students’ achievements and interest in social studies in junior secondary school. The problem of this study posed as a question  is;  what  is  the  effect  of  peer  tutoring  instructional  strategy  on

students’  achievements  and  interest  in  social  studies  in  junior  secondary school?

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of Peer-tutoring instructional strategy on junior secondary school students  in social studies. Specifically, the study will determine:

1.  The mean achievement scores of students taught social studies using Peer-tutoring instructional strategy and those taught social studies by their regular social studies teachers.

2.   The mean interest scores of students taught social studies using peer- tutoring  instructional  strategy  and  those  taught  social  studies  those taught by their regular social studies teachers.

3.  The mean achievement scores of male and female students taught social studies using Peer-tutoring instructional strategy.

4.  The  mean  interest  scores  of  male  and  female  students  taught  social studies using peer-tutoring instructional strategy.

Significance of the Study

This   study   has   both   theoretical   and   practical   significances.   For theoretical significance, the result of this study would support the Vygotsky’s theory of learning and Piaget’s theory of learning.

For practical significance, the findings of this study would be beneficial to  curriculum  planners,  Social  studies  teacher  educators,  social  studies teachers, and students. The result of this study, therefore, would be useful in the following ways:

If  Peer-tutoring  instructional  strategy  is  found  to  be  effective  for teaching social studies to learners, curriculum planners may have to include Peer-tutoring  instructional  strategy  as  an  effective  instructional  strategy  in social studies curriculum delivery.

Social studies teacher educators may adopt Peer-tutoring instructional strategy in the teacher education programmes. Social studies teachers on their own part would have to adopt Peer-tutoring instructional strategy as an innovative approach for teaching social studies learners and thereby promoting closer interaction among social studies students.

Scope of the Study

The study was delimited to the teaching of “population” under the following sub headings:

 Meaning of population and total population.

 Population structure.

 Population census and

 Population change.

It focused on junior secondary year three (JSS 3) students in Nsukka Local Government Area of Nsukka Education Zone using Peer-tutoring instructional strategy. The choice of this topic is because it features often in the Upper Basic Education Examination and students do not perform well in questions based on population. The study was delimited also to co-education schools in the zone. The choice of co-education schools is to enable the researcher find out if there would be any significant difference in the mean achievement scores of male and female students taught social studies using peer tutoring instructional strategy.

Research Questions

The following research questions guided the study;

1.  What are the mean achievement scores of students taught social studies using Peer-tutoring instructional strategy and those taught social studies by their regular social studies teachers?

2.   What are the mean interest scores of students taught social studies using peer-tutoring instructional strategy and those taught social studies those taught by their regular social studies teachers?

3.  What are the mean achievement scores of male and female students taught social studies using Peer-tutoring instructional  strategy.

4.    What are the mean interest scores of male and female students taught social studies using peer-tutoring instructional strategy.

Hypotheses

The following null research hypothesis guided the study and was tested at 0.05 level of significance;

1.  There is no significant difference in the mean achievement scores of students taught social studies using Peer-tutoring instructional strategy and those taught social studies by their regular social studies teachers.

2.   There is no significant difference in the mean interest scores of students taught social studies using peer-tutoring instructional strategy and those taught social studies by their regular social studies teachers.

3.  There is no significant difference in the mean achievement scores of male and female students taught social studies using Peer-tutoring instructional strategy. 4.  There is no significant difference in the mean interest scores of male and female students  taught social studies using peer-tutoring instructional strategy.

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