CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the study
Education has had a good impact on the survival of society as a whole; for this reason, improvements in the educational field are essential in order to encourage and facilitate teaching and learning while also keeping up with the current changes and trends. Education in the past focused on few or no instructional resources in order to effect knowledge in learners; their ideas were that knowledge could be pushed on students independent of individual differences in the classroom. (Obanya2013).
Importantly, attaining any teaching and learning objectives necessitates the use of both human resources and material resources and factors, namely the instructor as the enforcer of subject content and the availability of both conventional and improvised materials, also known as instructional materials. A teacher, in the true meaning, is someone who integrates materials and interprets concepts in order to achieve the desired change or outcome in the learners. A teacher’s duty is frequently formal and ongoing, carried out through occupation or profession at school or other formal contexts. These variables must be in place to ensure that educational objectives are met. Instructional materials are defined as all items required in the classroom for use by the instructor in the pursuit of supporting teaching and learning.
According to Benson (2011), instructional materials are materials or instruments that are either locally produced or imported and have the potential to make a significant impact if used wisely. Most learners struggle to understand particular concepts as a result of their cognitive operation and ability; thus, the need for teachers to adopt resources and approaches that will help students’ understanding of the concepts, like in the case of computer studies, is recognized. Against this backdrop, (Nwuba2016) quoted Jean Piaget, who proposed that humans are divided into sensory motor, pre-operational, concrete, and abstract cognitive levels. In Kay’s idea (2008), instructional materials increase students’ willingness to study and aid in the learning process by making assimilation and memorization of the learnt topic simple for pupils. Agun (2008) refers to them as learning materials, the right application of which aids learners in learning faster and better. Offering computer studies, the computer itself serves as an educational resource because the subject is more of a concrete item that both the teacher and learners can see and touch (Ituma, 2010).
Since computer centers are a current moving trend in society, the topic computer studies was added into the secondary school curriculum to develop and instill in learners the necessary knowledge and abilities regarding computers, as well as to empower the youth through entrepreneurship (Adebayo, 2013). According to Abu (2004), the importance of computer devices in modern culture cannot be overstated, which is why teaching computer studies should not be taken lightly and should be addressed with appropriate instructional resources. The pace of teaching and learning in the classroom is heavily influenced by the instructional material. Okereke (2009) emphasized that many schools at the state level lack instructional resources and contends that every government should make education a top priority in order to help enhance educational standards by providing instructional materials. Teaching and learning are aided by instructional material. It aids in moving learning away from verbalization and toward the actual aspects of teaching and learning. Instructional resources make teaching and learning more fascinating, simple, and enjoyable. They improve the effectiveness of learning.
According to Otu (2007), computer studies are a “tool”; they are genuine and should be regarded as such; the inability to provide the appropriate teaching instructional materials poses a significant threat to students’ academic achievements and performance in the subject. Because the topic presents a degree of abstract notions that need to be visualized by students in order to stimulate their understanding and to repair the issue of individual differences, there must be a computer device for computer studies to be learnt properly. As a result, for effective understanding of the subject matter in computer studies and for students to achieve better results in computer studies, there is a great need to investigate the effects of instructional materials on computer teaching and learning with the goal of stimulating students’ interest.
1.2 Â Â STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
In spite of the desire for technological development, couple with the fact that Computer Science is a very vital subject for technological development, there has been a dire need for effective teaching and learning of computer science in Junior secondary school. According to the national policy on education (NPOE 2004), the junior secondary school is the first part of the secondary school level of education, which means that proper attention is required to ensure that students perform well academically, which may not be possible without the use of instructional materials in the classroom. Thus this level of ingenuity, innovation, and imagination displayed by instructors is credited with the attainment of educational quality. These are based on how well the teacher perceives, creates, and applies vital information that can improve and encourage effective teaching and learning activities.
Conversely, instructional materials are significant determining variables that influence the rate of learning. It is concerned with the establishment of an environment in which students can realize their full potential and lead productive lives in accordance with the demands of their interests, either as individuals or as groups within society. The Nigerian government has placed enormous emphasis on instructional materials in shaping efforts as strategies aimed at improving students’ standard of learning in the country over the years, but both theoretical and empirical literature have failed to capture the real factors as to why the standard of education in the country remains very low. As a result, the research question is: what are the impact of instructional materials on computer science teaching and learning in the Abia State junior secondary school system.
