Factors Responsible For Primary School Pupils Poor Academic Performance In Information Technology In Oshimili South LGA Of Delta State

Abstract

The study examined the factors responsible for primary school pupils poor academic performance in information technology. To achieve the essence, the study was divided into five chapters. Three research questions were raise and answered in the study, related literature were reviewed in the study. The study used a descriptive survey. The population comprised of all public primary school teachers in Oshimili South Local Government Area of Delta State. Simple random sampling techniques were used to select one hundred and twenty five (125) public primary schools teachers in Asaba, Oshimili South Local Government Area of Delta State. The instrument for data collection was questionnaire which was validated by two lecturers; one from the department of primary education, and the other from measurement and evaluation in school of education. The method of data collection was mean statistics to answer the research questions. The findings revealed that, teachers’ qualification, pupils interest, learning environment and inadequate provision of information technology facilities influence the performance of primary school pupils in Asaba, Oshimili South Local Government Area. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that primary school teachers should adjust their attitude/behaviour in a way that will help motivate or improve the performance of pupils, government should supply needed instructional materials to enhance teaching and learning in various primary schools since the availability of teaching aids makes pupils performance better, student should make effort to develop interest in learning by paying attention during classroom lesson and parents should provide the basic needs of their child in the learning and also endeavour to check their children note every day.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

 Background to the Study

The development of any nation or community largely depends upon the quality of education available to its citizens. It is generally believed that the basis for any true development must commence with the development of human resources. Hence, formal education remains the vehicle for social-economic development and social mobilization in any society (Nwaokolo 2017).

Education as the key to development has the capacity to upgrade teaching effectiveness as well as learning efficiency among learners. Efforts have been made by school administrators to improve the performance of publicprimary school pupils. The school environment, which include the classrooms, libraries, technical workshops, laboratories, teachers’ quality, school management, teaching methods, peers, etc are variables that affect pupils’  academic achievement (Ajayi, 2001 and Oluchukwu, 2000).  Hence, the school environment remains an important area that has to be studied and well managed to enhance pupils’  academic performance.

Primary education is the foundation on which further education is built. Primary education has two main purposes. The first purpose is to produce a literate and numerate population that can jointly deal with problems both at home and at work. It also serves as a foundation on which further education is built (Akanle, 2017).

According to Jam  (2016) academic performance is the ability to study and remember facts and being able to communicate your knowledge verbally or on paper. In other words, academic performance refers to how pupils deal with their studies and how they cope with or accomplish different tasks given to them by their teachers.  Academic performance generally refers to how well a pupils is accomplishing his or her tasks or studies. There are quite a number of factors that determine the level and quality of pupils’  academic performance. (Scottk, 2012).

Achievement is generally a pedagogical terminology used while determining learners’ success in formal education and which is measured through reports examinations, researches, and ratings with numerous factors of variables exerting influence. Essentially, the National Policy on education (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2014) has identified school achievement contents according to school subjects which are classified as core or elective subjects.

The issue of poor academic performance of public primary school pupils in Nigeria has been of much concern to the government, parents, teachers and even pupils themselves. The quality of education not only depends on the teachers as reflected in the performance of their duties, but also in the effective coordination of the school environment (Ajao 2015). The issue of poor academic performance of primary school pupils in Nigeria has been of much concern to all and sundry. The problem is so much that it has led to the widely acclaimed fallen standard of education in Delta State and Nigeria at large. Over time pupils’  academic performance in both internal and external examinations had been used to determine excellence in teachers and teaching (Ajao 2015). Teachers have been shown to have an important influence on pupils’  academic achievement and they also play a crucial role in educational attainment because the teacher is ultimately responsible for translating policy into action and principles based on practice during interaction with the pupils (Afe 2016). Both teaching and learning depends on teachers: no wonder an effective teacher has been conceptualized as one who produces desired results in the course of his duty as a teacher (Uchefuna 2016). Considering governments’ huge investment in public education, its output in terms of quality of pupils have been observed to be unequal with government expenditure.

In Nigeria, there are so many factors influencing the ability of pupils to cultivate effective and efficient study habit. Ozmert (2015) emphasized the importance of environmental influence as a major factor in the development of pupils studying habit. In the same vein, Adetunji and Oladeji (2017) submit that the environment of most children is not conducive for studying; It was on the basis of this that Abdulla Al-Hawaj & Twizell, (2018) observed that the use of ICT in the teaching and learning of most school subjects is critical to make learners learn better and teachers to teach well. It ensures transactional instructional communication where the teacher manages the human materials, time and space to make sure that instructional conditions help in drawing pupils’ attention to stimulation and recall stimulus thereby improving performance (Balash, Yong & Bin-Abu, 2011; AlAmmary, 2012). No doubt ICT enable pupils to learn faster, remember longer, gain more accurate information and receive and understand delicate concepts. The use of ICT in schools includes computers, internet facilities, audio-visual devices, multimedia projectors etc. Computers and internet facilities are now in place in many institutions of learning. It is envisaged that educators will see ICT as a major teaching and learning device across all educational institutions. Kosoko-Oyedeko & Tella (2017) have shown that with the power of interactivity and participation of multimedia and communication devices, the computer proves an excellent tool for the teaching and learning of school subjects.

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are generally accepted as a modern instructional tool that enables the educators to modify the teaching methods they use in order to increase pupils interest. Its general definition covers any product that will store, retrieve, manipulate, transmit or receive information electronically in a digital form. It consists of hardware, software, networks and media for collection, storage, processing, transmission and presentation of information (voice, data, texts and images) (Jegede and Owolabi, 2003; Arinze, Okonkwo & Iwunor, 2012).

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are indispensable tools in the transmission of knowledge and have been accepted as viable means of communication in the contemporary world. ICT facilities in this study are instructional equipment and services which make teaching and learning processes to be done electronically and provide access to a wide range of innovation, information and educational materials on the internet in order to bring the world into the classroom. ICT is used for gathering, processing, storing, sharing and distributing information, knowledge and ideas (ESCAP in Ugwoke, 2011; Balash, Yong & Bin-Abu, 2015).

Effective utilization of ICT facility for instructional process reinforces the teacher’s ability to cater for individual differences and fosters learners’ involvement, participation and understanding, which help them in grounding their thoughts and feelings and in turns contribute to good academic performance in schools. In this current era, ICTs are recognized as means of quality assurance in curriculum management. For instance, the use of ICT to instruct pupils will help them learn better as they do not always forget what they are taught when used alongside the traditional method of teaching (Cushman & Klecun, 2006; Hussain, Iqbal, & Akhtar, 2010). ICT stands to improve teaching and learning, and primary schools with very good ICT resources achieved on the average, better results in teaching subjects than those with poor ICT resources (Ayeni and Ogubameru, 2013). Internet usage for teaching and learning can assist the teachers to discover new methods and simple process of teaching, while the pupils can construct their own understanding and be in complete control of their topics through the sharing of ideas and experiences worldwide by accessing diverse collections of information from books, magazines, newspapers, and many others. The teachers are therefore, expected to give considerable attention to the selection and use of appropriate instructional resources to stimulate pupils’  interest for meaningful learning during lessons. For instance, the use of interactive whiteboards, video projection units, and microscopes connected to computers, provide more opportunities and add value to curriculum delivery (Hussain, Iqbal, & Akhtar, 2010). Pupils learning activity and task engagement, higher order thinking skill, and flexibility in terms of time, learning environment and teacher-learner interaction have been reported to be enhanced by using ICT in learning. Effective use of ICT facilities promotes high academic achievement as indicators of quality learning outcome (Yusuf, 2004).

According to Nweke (2016) stated that despite the important of Information and Communication Technology in teaching and learning in other to improve the academic performance of pupils, the issue of poor performance of pupils in Information and Communication Technology still arises, this is because there are still some factor that are still negligent of and this are; employment of computer illiterate teachers, inadequate facilities, poor computer labouratory, lack of pupils interest more other. It was based on this fact that made the research to investigate the factor responsible for primary school pupils poor academic performance in Information Technology (IT).

 Statement of the Problem

Over the past few years, concerns have been raised about the poor academic performance of pupils in primary school. Parents and government are in total agreement that their huge investment on education is not yielding the desired dividend. Teachers also complain of pupils’  low performance at both internal and external examination. This problem is attributed to poor foundation from primary school due to poor teaching standards as well as other factors such as poor funding of education by government as well as negligence by parents.  However, researchers have shown that lack of teacher’s motivation, inadequate teaching and learning materials, lack of qualified teachers, lack of pupils interest, inadequate Information Technology (ICT) facilities, lack of ICT laboratory and several other related factors affect academic performance of primary schools pupils in information Technology.

This situation raises questions about the depth of understanding of factors affecting the low performance of pupils in Nigeria primary school. The pertinent questions to address, therefore, are what is the cause of this poor academic performance of pupils? Is the fault entirely that of teachers or pupils or both of them? Or is the poor performance of pupils caused by parents‟ neglect or school environmental factors? The present study therefore sought to identify factors responsible for primary school pupils poor academic performance in information technology in order to assist educational authorities to develop appropriate strategies to improve their output.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors responsible for primary school pupils’  poor academic performance in information technology in Oshimili South Local Government Area of Delta State.

Specifically, the study sought to:

1. Examine how teachers’ qualification in Information Technology (IT) can affect the academic performance of primary school pupils in Oshimili South Local Government Area of Delta State.
2. Determine how lack of pupils interest affects their academic performance towards learning Information Technology (IT) in primary schools in Oshimili South Local Government Area of Delta State.
3. Examine how environment can affect the academic performance of primary school pupils in Oshimili South Local Government Area of Delta State.
4. Determine how inadequate provision of Information Technology (IT) facilities can affect primary school pupils’ academic performance in Oshimili South Local Government Area of Delta State.

Research Question

1. To what extent does teachers qualification in Information (technology (IT) influence the academic performance of primary school pupils in Oshimili South Local Government Area of Delta State?
2. To what extent does lack of pupils interest affects their academic performance towards learning information technology (IT) in primary schools in Oshimili South Local Government Area of Delta State?
3. To what extent does environment affect the academic performance of primary school pupils in Oshimili South Local Government Area of Delta State?
4. To what extent does inadequate provision of Information Technology (IT) facilities affect primary school pupils in Oshimili South Local Government Area of Delta State?

Significance of the Study:

The importance of the study will be beneficial to the pupils, the teachers, the school authorities, and the government. The result of the study would help the pupils to discover how they contributed towards their poor academic performance in schools and it would help them to change from the horrible ways of behaviour so that they can improve in their academic performances in schools.

The result of the study would help the teachers to know the areas they need extra effort for maintaining effective teaching and learning in Information Technology (IT) in influencing primary school pupils to improve in their academic performance and also provide all needed materials for teaching and learning.

The school authorities from the result of the study will know those areas that contribute to pupils poor academic performance, and  provide all necessary measure in other to improve pupils poor academic performance in school.

The result of the study will also help the government to know the factors responsible for primary school pupils poor academic performance and haven known that, they will try to provide every necessary facilities needed by both school authorities/administer and the classroom teacher in other to eradicate the poor academic performance of pupils in primary schools.

Scope of the Study

The study focused on investigating the factors responsible for primary school pupils poor academic performance in information technology among primary school pupils at middle basic (primaries 4=6). The scope of the study was limited to public primary school pupils in Oshimili South Local Government Area of Delta State. The researchers concentrated on schools in Asaba metropolis, owing to the fact that there are social amenities in the metropolis. Other forms are in the  riverine area and prone to flood which made them inaccessible to the researcher.

Pages:  56

Category: Project

Format:  Word & PDF               

Chapters: 1-5                                          

Source: Imsuinfo

Material contains Table of Content, Abstract and References.