ABSTRACT
The study examined the Effect of Discussion method on Students‟ achievement in Social Studies in Secondary Schools in Osisoma Ngwa L. G. AA bia State, Nigeria. The study used quasi-experimental research design, 384 JSS II Students were sampled. The study used Social Studies Achievement Test (SOSSAT), and Test of Retention (TOR) as data collection instrument. The study answered five (5) research questions and tested five (5) null hypotheses. The data analysis tools were t-test Independent Sample, Cumulative Mean and Standard Deviation. The finding of the study revealed that JSS II Students performed better when taught Discussion method compared to their counterparts taught Lecture Method. Therefore, based on the findings of this research, it is recommended that the Discussion method is more effective with Students of Social Studies at Junior Secondary School than Lecture Method. The Discussion method is effective for both Male and Female Students at JSS level and in Urban and Rural Schools. Based on the above the study recommended the use of Discussion method by Social Studies Teachers in teaching JSS Students in Abia State,Nigeria.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
- Study
Social Studies Education is considered as necessary to be acquired at lower, middle and upper basic Education. As provided by Federal Government of Nigeria in the National Policy on Education that Secondary School.“ Shall teach basic subjects which will enable pupils to acquire further knowledge and skills. Every student shall offer a minimum of (10) and maximum of (13) subjects” (FGN 2004) these subjects include Social Studies as a core subject among others.
To strengthen further the need for Social Studies in nation building, the Nigerian Education Research and Development Council (NERDC) states six (6) objectives of Social Studies to be achieved by young Nigerian citizens. At both the basic Education and Junior Secondary levels as follows:
Develop the ability to adapt to his or her changing environment.
Become responsible and disciplined individual capable and willing to contribute to the development of their societies.
Inculcate the right types of values.
Develop a sense of comprehension towards other people, their diverse culture, history and those fundamental things that make them human.
Develop the capacity to recognize the many dimensions of being human in different cultural and social contexts andDevelop a sense of solidarity and sharing based on a sense of security in one‟s own identity.
In order to achieve these objectives some teaching strategies are developed in order to ease teaching and learning at all Educational levels the world over, These strategies include Discussion method, Aesthetic Value Strategy, Concept Mapping Strategy, Individualistic Instruction Strategy and many others. These Strategies have been confirmed by some research findings as effective. Aesthetic Value and Discussion Learning Strategies research on the effect on Primary Pupils Social Studies Academic Performance Retention and Application in Gwale Local Government in Abia State, shows that there is significant difference in the academic performance of primary school pupils taught Social Studies using Aesthetic Value Strategy, Discussion method and those taught using conventional method (Sadauki 2012).
