AVAILABILITY AND UTILIZATION OF …

1 , (3)2014: 292-295 ISSN2278 9103 AVAILABILITY AND UTILIZATION OF instructional MATERIALS INTEACHING BASIC SCIENCE IN SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOLS INABAKALIKI EDUCATION ZONE OFEBONYI STATE, , of Science Education,Faculty of Education,Ebonyi State University,Abakaliki-Nigeria2 Department of Technology and Vocational Education,Faculty of Education,Ebonyi State University,Abakaliki-NigeriaABSTRACTThis study, focused on the AVAILABILITY and UTILIZATION of instructional material in teaching and learning of Basic Science inselected junior secondary school in Abakaliki education zone of EbonyiState-Nigeria. The survey research design wasused for the study, population of the study was 92,414. The sample for this study comprised of one hundred students fromten selected junior secondary questionnaire was the instrument used for data collection, and theinstrument was face validatedby three experts.

2 Three research questions guided the study. The data were analyzed usingpercentages. The result revealed that onlytwo dimensional instructional materials are available in schools. Otherinstructional materials Audio materials, Audio-visual materials are lacking in most schools. The study also revealedthat teachers do not improvise instructional materials to facilitate theirteaching. The researchers therefore recommend thatteachers should be givenorientations/workshops from time to time on the improvisation and UTILIZATION of instructionalmaterials and that the government should also assist in the provision and supply of these instructional materials for use : instructional material , basic science, UTILIZATION , Improvise, audio material ,two-dimensional materialINTRODUCTIONIn Nigeria, the government pronouncement and activitiesgeared towards encouraging secondary school students tostudy the science abound.

3 Towards this development, theNigeria Educational Research and Development Council(NERDC) was mandated to develop science curricula foruse in Junior Secondary education and indeed all levels ofeducational system in Nigeria. In line with governmentdeclaration for Universal Basic Education Programme,The NERDC was directed by the National Council onEducation (NCE) to re-structure and re-alignthe existingJunior secondary school science curricula to meet thetarget of the Nine (9) year BasicEducationwhich seeks toachieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). Thecurriculum reflects depth, appropriateness, and inter-relatedness of the science curricula contents. Since thecurricula represents the total experience to which learnersmust be exposed, the contents, performance objectives,activities and instructional materials were materials refertomaterials that are used tofacilitate teaching and enables the teachercommunicate ideas or concepts with ease as they appeal tomany senses at a time (Munchi 2008).

4 The learner can see,touch, smell or taste thereby making learning agrees with the Chinese proverb thatstate:I hear I forget,I see I remember,I do science is designed to enable thelearners develop interest in science and technology,acquire basic knowledge and skills in science andtechnology, andalso apply their scientific andtechnological knowledge and skills to meet societal these objectives will be achieved, then efforts should bemade to provide adequate instructional materials toNigeria Junior secondary schools inteaching of Basicscience and to encourage its effective use. Despite theemphasis placed on the usefulness of instructionalmaterials in teaching and learning process, most studentsstill finds it difficult to cope with the study of basicscience in schools.

5 This may have resulted from lack of orunderutilization of instructional materials by teachers. Theresearchers focused group discussions and Fieldexperience reveal thatin most schools in the state, instructional materials are lacking and where theyexiststhey are not adequately utilized by ofstudytoascertaining the AVAILABILITY and UTILIZATION ofinstructional materials in teaching Basic science inselected junior secondary schools in Abakaliki educationalzone of Ebonyi , the study seeks to instructional materials for teaching and learning Basicscience are available in extent to which Basic science teachers improviseinstructional materials for extent to whichinstructional materials are utilizedby the of the studyResults of this study will be utilized by teachers.

6 Schoolauthorities, and government. The study is expected tocreate awareness to teachers,the school authority, theMinistry of Education, and the Government of Ebonyi292 UTILIZATION of instructional materials in teaching basic science in selected secondaryschools293 State on the AVAILABILITY and UTILIZATION of instructionalmaterials in schools. This will make teachers rise up to thechallenge; it will also make the school authority andgovernment to intervene, strategize andconsequentlysupervise andmonitor the classroom teachers on the use ofthese materials to facilitate learning in the of the studyThe study covers the AVAILABILITY of instructional materialsin teaching Basic science in Junior Secondary schools inAbakaliki Education zone of Ebonyi State, the extent towhich these instructional materials are utilized and theextent to which Basic Science teachers improviseinstructional QuestionsThe following research Questions guided instructional materials for teaching and learningBasic science available in schools?

7 Teachers improvise instructional materials inschools? instructional materials utilized by the teachers?METHODOLOGYD esign of the StudyThe study adopted survey research design. Surveyresearch design, in the opinion of Owens (2002) is that inwhich the same information is gathered from an unbiasedrepresentative group of interest. It is very valuable tool forassessing opinion and trends from representative group ofpopulation being (2011) asserted that survey research design isconsidered the best design as it is interested in collectingoriginal data for the purpose of describing conditions asthey exist in their natural of the studyThe population of this study consists of 92,414 studentsfrom sixty Junior Secondary schools (JSS1)in AbakalikiEducation Zone of Ebonyistate.

8 The JSS1 are chosenbecause at their level, basic science is compulsory for allthe and Sampling TechniquesThe sample for this study comprised of one hundred JuniorSecondary School JSS I students drawn from ten schoolsout of sixty secondary schools in Abakaliki education zoneof Ebonyi State. The ten schools were drawn through astratified random sampling each of theschools, 10 students were selected through simple randomsampling for Data CollectionThe instrument used for data collection is the questionnaire was divided into threesections, A, B, A is concerned with the dataneeded on the AVAILABILITY of instructional material B determined weather teachersimprovise instructional teaching aids and C obtainedinformation on the UTILIZATION of instructional material of InstrumentsThe instrument was face validated by 3 experts,oneinscience education and two experts in measurement andevaluation.

9 Ebonyi State University of InstrumentThe reliability of the instrument was determined using testre-test method with thirty respondents from Afikpoeducation instrument was administered on thesame respondents after two weeks. The reliabilitycoefficients of the two were determined using spearman srank order coefficient and result obtained was Thereliability of an instrument is the consistency of theinstrument in measuring whatever it is designed for AdministrationA totalof one hundred questionnaires were administeredto basic science students of the sampled schools. Ninety ofthe questionnaire were correctly filled, returned and wasused to analyze the data. Data were analyzed results of the study were obtained from the researchquestions answered through data collected and question 1:Are instructional materials for the teaching of basicscience available in schools?

10 The data for answering research question 1 were presentedin table :Percentage responseof respondents on the AVAILABILITY of instructional materials in materialsNYR%NNR%1 Two-dimensional instructional materials (pictures, chart, diagrams,posters etc).70(78%)20(22%)2 Three-dimensional instructional material (specimens, models, & games)35(39%)55(61%)3 Audio materials(tape, cassette, radio).37(41%)53(59%)4 Audio visual materials (television, video recoding, motion pictures)18(20%)72(80%)5 Electronic (computer)20(22%)70(78%)6 Materials/software (slide, film strip, over head project)30(33%)60(67%)Key:NYR =Number of yes response, NNR = Number of No response, % percentage responseThe dataon table 1 shows that seventy studentsrepresenting 78% of the respondents maintained thatpicture,charts, diagrams and posters were available intheir schools while twenty students representing 22% saidthat they are not available in their schools.