AN APPRAISAL OF
INFRASTRUCTURAL FACILITIES AND PERSONNEL FOR TEACHING PHYSICS IN SENIOR
SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ADAMAWA STATE
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Poor schooling has proved to be the greatest
barrier to political, social and economic transformation in many African
countries. School
infrastructural facilities have been observed as a potent factor to
quantitative education. The importance to teaching with provision of adequate
instructional facilities for education cannot be over-emphasized. Pertaining to
the teaching of physics in secondary schools, Infrastructural facilities
include equipments and materials that are available to facilitate students learning
outcome. It includes good buildings for classrooms and laboratories, laboratory
equipments, experiment materials/apparatus, books, audio-visual, software and
hardware of educational technology; so also, size of classroom and laboratory,
sitting position and arrangement, availability of tables, chairs, chalkboards,
shelves on which instruments for practicals are arranged (Farrant, 1991 and Farombi,
1998).
According to Oni (1992), infrastructural
facilities constitute a strategic factor in the functioning of a secondary
school system. This is so because they determine to a very large extent the
smooth functioning of any teaching and experimental demonstrations and even
other extra-curricular activities. He further stated that their availability,
adequacy and relevance influence efficiency and high performance. In his words,
Farombi (1998) opined that the wealth of a nation or society could determine
the quality of education in that land; emphasizing that a society that is
wealthy will establish good schools with professional personnel (quality
teachers), learning infrastructures that with such, students may learn with
ease thus bringing about good academic achievement. Writing on the role of
facilities in teaching, Balogun (1982) submitted that no effective science
education programme including physics can exist without equipment for teaching.
This is because facilities enable the learner to develop problem-solving skills
and scientific attitudes. In their contribution, Ajayi and Ogunyemi (1990) reiterated
that when facilities are provided to meet relative needs of a school system,
students will not only have access to the reference materials mentioned by the
teacher, but individual students will also learn at their own paces and there
is room and necessary equipment for the teacher for further research and
constant practice. The net effect of this is increased overall academic
performance of the entire students.
In recent times, there has been a growing public anxiety about the
poor performance of students in Physics in Nigerian schools. Studies showed
that large numbers of students seem to learn very little physics at school,
learning tends to be by rote and students find learning of Physics to be
difficult (Salau, 1996). The quality of the personnels handling Physics in
Nigerian schools has also been questioned over time by parents, science
educators, and the general public and even by the government (Okebukola, 1997).
Physics teaching in Nigerian schools has been criticized because of the poor
performance of Nigerian students in Physics relative to their counterparts in
other countries. This is evident from the Second International Science Study in
which Nigerian students came second to last in secondary science among the
participating countries of the world (STAN, 1992).
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The current situation of Physics teaching and learning in Nigeria
is a concern to all including government and the society at large. Research
indicates that many students found Physics as a subject to be difficult, boring
and not interesting to them (Salau, 1995, 1996). Large class sizes, inadequate
funding, insufficient curriculum resources, poor teaching skills and lack of
supports for teachers among other factors further limit the quality of Physics
teaching and learning in Nigerian schools (Okebukola, 1997). To solve these
lingering problems one needs to develop a realistic picture of what is
currently happening in the teaching and learning of Physics in Nigerian schools
and also to identify the factors that are limiting the quality of personnel
training. Furthermore, one needs to develop a reasonable ideal picture for
which the nation can strive towards within the existing resource limitations.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The
following are the objectives for this study:
1. To
examine if there is adequate infrastructural facilities for teaching Physics in
senior secondary schools in Nigeria.
2. To
examine the quality of personnel teaching Physics in Nigerian senior secondary
schools.
3. To
identify the relationship between infrastructure and performance in Physics in
senior secondary schools in Nigeria.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. Are
there adequate infrastructural facilities for teaching Physics in senior
secondary schools in Nigeria?
2. What
is the quality of personnel teaching Physics in Nigerian senior secondary
schools?
3. What
is the relationship between infrastructure and performance in Physics in senior
secondary schools in Nigeria.
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The
following are the significance of this study:
1. The
outcome of this study will educate stakeholders in the education sector and the
general public on the state of infrastructural facilities and quality of
personel available for the teaching of Physics in the Nigerian Senior secondary
schools.
2. This research will also serve as a
resource base to other scholars and researchers interested in carrying out
further research in this field subsequently, if applied will go to an extent to
provide new explanation to the topic
1.7 SCOPE/LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
This
study will cover the level infrastructural facility and personnel available for
teaching Physics in senior secondary schools in Nigeria.
LIMITATION OF STUDY
Financial constraint– Insufficient fund tends to impede the
efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature
or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire
and interview).
Time constraint– The researcher will simultaneously engage in this
study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time
devoted for the research work.
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Salau, M. O. (1996). The effect of class size on the achievement
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STAN. (1992). Raising the standard of performance in public
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STAN