Abstract

This research work assessed the effects of Inquiry and Lecture methods on Social Studies students’ performance in Colleges of Education, North-West Geo-Political zone, Nigeria The objectives of the study were to determine the effects on performance of students taught using inquiry and lecture methods and to ascertain the difference in the attitude of students in the experimental groups with those of the control groups. The research design adopted for the study is a pre-test, post-test quasi-experimental design. The students were assigned to two experimental groups and one control group. The experimental groups were taught some social studies concepts using guided inquiry method and the guided lecture methods respectively. The control groups did not receive any treatment. The population of the study consisted of all the colleges of education in North West Zone of Nigeria offering NCCE accredited social studies programmes. A purposive sampling technique was employed to select six federal and state colleges of education and a sample of 300 social studies students for the study. Two research instruments were used for the study. The first is a forty-multiple choice social studies performance test (SPT) used for pre-test in order to determine the level of academic equivalence of students and as post-test in order to measure the potential effect of the intervention. The second is a social studies attitude scale (SSAS) developed to establish students attitudes towards social studies before and after the commencement of the treatment. The data obtained were analyzed using frequencies, means and standard error. The research hypotheses were tested using inferential statistics. Hypothesis One and Two were tested using Independent t-test statistic. Hypothesis Three was tested using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). Hypothesis Four was tested using Non-parametric test of Man-Whitney while hypothesis Five was tested using the Non-parametric test of Kruskal- Wallis. The results showed that students taught using guided inquiry method performed significantly better than those taught using guided lecture method, gender has a significant effect on the performance with male students performing better than their female counterparts, the guided inquiry method influenced students’ attitudes towards social studies better than the guided lecture method. The study recommended among others that heads of social studies departments in colleges of education should further emphasize the use of inquiry related teaching strategies in the implementation of social studies curriculum as it produces a better performance than other teaching methods.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

Social studies represent an interdisciplinary approach to the study of human beings in groups of interrelationships within both their social and physical environments. Social studies education is an instrument for preparing and mobilizing learners in schools for the purpose of enabling them cultivate an awareness and understanding that would transform them into citizens that can contribute positively to economic, social, political and cultural development of their societies. The objective of social studies teaching in Nigerian schools emphasizes students’ familiarity with their physical and social environments; improved social relationships and intentions, skills and abilities to think reflectively, critically, creatively and independently all of which are relevant to problem solving (Iyamu and Otete, 2006).

Social studies education is increasingly vital in helping to create individuals who are active and dynamic participants in our society. This view of social studies raises the problem of the organization of its interrelated components and how to make students become conscious of the underlying forces that make up its elements. There is, therefore, the need to select appropriate instructional strategies that will facilitate all round development in the cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains of the students. It is obvious that no single method of learning can adequately fit all learning situations and there is no best method of teaching social studies but a combination of the methods would definitely help in achieving the desired instructional objectives. Using various teaching techniques is considered by many a best practice, and numerous studies conclude positive results with regard to the use of various instructional methods to teach social studies. The NCE Minimum Standards for Teachers (2009, p. 86) states that: “various methodological approaches should be adopted in teaching social studies with special emphasis on inquiry and field trip”. The National Teachers’ Institute (NTI) Manual for the retraining of social studies teachers (2009, p. 4) also states that: “there is no single strategy which can be applied in the teaching of concepts and principles of social studies. Hence the use of multiple strategies in the teaching of particular concepts and principles should be adopted”.

Some methods of teaching social studies include lecture, study tours, problem solving method, team teaching, inquiry, dramatization, project, questions and answers, discussion, home assignment, construction method, discovery method, mapping, story-telling, role play etc. However, it is the teacher who selects the strategy according to the needs of the students.

Giving the high premium placed on social studies in teacher education curriculum, the need to teach it using the most effective methods cannot be overemphasized. Universities, colleges and other institutions are beginning to show an increased awareness of the importance of the ways students learn. Many of the standard methods of conveying knowledge have been shown to be relatively ineffective on the students’ ability to master and retain important concepts. Okam (2001) criticized a classroom or a pedagogical trend in social studies which emphasizes achievements and acquisition of objectives established in the cognitive domain while attainments that impinge on the affective and psychomotor domains are either seriously neglected or relegated to the background.

Ololobou (2009) also reported the seriousness of deplorable performance of students in social studies and identified persistent use of the traditional mode of instruction as one of the major short-coming affecting the learning and higher achievement in social studies.

Social studies education seeks solutions to societal problems and hence needs to be taught with solution finding methods like inquiry, problem solving, brainstorming and expository methods, but our present day lecturers at tertiary institutions adopt the traditional/conventional (lecture and note taking) in teaching and learning of the course. The methods identified are not suitable for effective teaching and learning of social studies and for this, Ebenene (2006) warned that social studies lecturers should move away from traditional teaching styles to creative (experiential) teaching styles which will make students move from traditional learning goals of subject assimilation to becoming critical and creative individuals. In the same vein, Yaroson as cited in Onuoha and Okam (2011) demonstrated that in spite of the popularity of social studies in Nigerian schools, the following curriculum processes and practices which are in-built into instructions in the subject area have been relegated to the background in many classrooms, namely: methodology of inquiry, employment of decision-making devices and principles including the use of critical thinking and problem-solving procedures. Thus Ogundare and Madubuike in Olukayode (2012) confirmed that few teachers (generally less than 20%) employed investigative oriented procedures and approaches in their instructional strategies in teaching social studies. Okam (2001) opined that social studies educators must accept their responsibility for involving learners in classroom activities if they are to achieve learning and behavioral objectives designated as being relevant to the acquisition of citizenship norms. Social studies educators have to aim at relevant utilization of a combination of some of the methods in teaching-learning situations, namely; enquiry methods, role playing, problem solving, group discussion, project methods, simulation techniques and even lecture methods (Okam, 2011). They must willingly accept that the application of some of the methods requires the collaboration and cooperative efforts of some of their fellow educators and other experts in order to bring about desired objectives. Against this background, this research work attempts to investigate the effects of inquiry and lecture methods on social studies students’ performance in colleges of education, North-West Geopolitical Zone, Nigeria.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

The fundamental goal of social studies education as a functional and qualitative curriculum design in all primary, secondary and teacher training colleges in Nigeria, is to equip learners with positive knowledge, attitudes, values and adaptive interactive skills for the purpose of producing a competent, humane and effective citizenry who can contribute positively to the good of society (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2004). Unfortunately, recent happenings in the country today easily reveal to us that the subject has not indeed achieved its goal. For example, the incessant killings by the boko haram in the Northern part of the country, ritual killings in many parts of the country, the increase in cult activities especially among youths in tertiary institutions, the problems of ethnic militia groups, the increasing threat of secession by different ethnic groups in the country and the rapid increase in youth involvement in crimes such as bribery, corruption in work places and armed robbery are all indicative of the inability of social studies to achieve citizenship education goals. Although the national policy on education accepted social studies education as a curriculum design for inculcating norms and values of active