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DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/gjedr.v21i1.7
GLOBAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH VOL 21, 2022: 55-61
COPYRIGHT© BACHUDO SCIENCE CO. LTD PRINTED IN NIGERIA. ISSN 1596-6224
www.globaljournalseries.com; globaljournalseries@gmail.com
ENVIRONMENTAL VARIABLES AND ACADEMIC
PERFORMANCE OF JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL
STUDENT’S IN BASIC SCIENCE IN CALABAR SOUTH
LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF CROSS RIVER STATE,
NIGERIA
IGWEBUIKE, OSEDUMME, OKRI, JOHN ARIKPO AND OBI, JOY JOSEPH
(Received 17, August 2021; Revision Accepted 4, February 2022)
ABSTRACT
The main purpose of this paper was to evaluate the extent to which Environmental variables influences
secondary school students’ academic performance in Basic Science in Calabar South Local
Government Area of Cross River State. To achieve the purpose of this study, two research questions
were posed and two null hypotheses were formulated and tested at .05 level of significance. Review of
literature was carried out according to the sub-variables of the study. The study adopted the descriptive
survey design. The population of the study is restricted to all junior secondary three (JSS 3) students in
Calabar south L.G.A. of Cross River State with a population of 1830, comprising of 912 males and 918
females respectively. The instrument was “Basic Science Performance Test (BSPT)”. Face and content
validity of the instrument was done by the supervisors and three experts in Test and Measurement
Department Faculty of Education University of Calabar. Kuder Richardson formula 20. (KR-20) was
used to determine the reliability of the instruments. From the administered test (BSPT), data was
organized and analysed using One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The findings of the study
revealed that the two environmental variables used in the study significantly influences secondary
school student’s academic performance in Basic Science in Calabar South Local Government Area of
Cross River State. The researcher recommends among other things that, the government should make
science education free to motivate people to go into sciences discipline which is the bedrock of every
economy.
KEYWORDS: Environmental variables, Academic performance, junior secondary school students,
Basic Science, Cross River State, Nigeria.
INTRODUCTION
Science is gotten from the Latin word “scientia”
meaning "knowledge".
It is hence a systematic enterprise that builds and
organizes knowledge in the form of testable
explanations and predictions about the universe.
Science plays a major role in society, and even
55
Igwebuike, Osedumme, Department of Curriculum and Teaching, University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria
Okri, John Arikpo, Department of Science Education, University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria
Obi, Joy Joseph, Department of Science Education, University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria
© 2022 Bachudo Science Co. Ltd. This work is Licensed Under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 international license.
nonscientists can appreciate scientific progress.
Because of science, human understanding of the
past, present, and future is constantly in a state
of flux. Time and distance have been empowered
by science. Within a few hours, we are on the
other side of the globe. The traditional ploughs
and bullocks have been replaced by tractors
making agriculture and cultivation an easier
process and with science there is also a great
improvement in medical sciences like the invitro
fertilization that makes it possible for almost
everybody to have a child (Esiobu, 2000).
Basic Science in Nigerian schools Science
covers Biology, Physics and Chemistry and
provides students with the key, or core, scientific
ideas and theories. Science education plays a
vital role in the lives of individuals and the
development of a nation scientifically and
technologically (Alebiosu & Ifamuyiwa, 2008). It is
widely and generally acknowledged that the
gateway to the survival of a nation scientifically
and technologically is scientific literacy which can
only be achieved through science education. To
make her citizens show interest in science
education, Nigerian government came up with a
policy that 60% of the students seeking
admission into the nation’s universities,
polytechnics and colleges of education should be
admitted for science oriented courses, while 40%
of the students should be considered for arts and
social science courses (Ajibola, 2008). This
government’s effort cannot be said to have
yielded much fruits given the dwindling nature of
number of students seeking admission into
science-oriented courses in the Nation’s tertiary
institutions. Integrated science is defined as a
cumulative approach of scientific study that
synthesizes the perspectives of the individual
disciplines, and integrates them during all phases
of the approach to a question or problem, with
the results having an influence on policy and
management decisions (Gallagher et. al. 2008).
Basic Science is a revolutionary introductory
science curriculum developed at Princeton,
intended for students considering a career in
science. By breaking down traditional disciplinary
barriers, a year-long course taken in the
freshman year provides students with first-rate
preparation for a major in any of the core
scientific disciplines, and in such a way that helps
retain the connections to the other disciplines.
The curriculum is founded on the expectation that
learning, physical and socio-economic
environment and it plays a key role in quality of
educational activities of students, as dynamic and
living factor. In fact, in science communication,
education is considered as a kind of providing
information. In this view, student education not
only is influenced by teacher speech, but also
numerous other elements are involved in the
transmission of the message to him.
According to education experts, in a systematic
perspective, school environment and its
constituent elements such as student-teacher
relationship, teacher teaching method,
equipment, etc. as well as other factors can have
significant impacts on learners and students.
Learning involves the experience of the
environment. This environmental experience is in
three broad settings, which are, home, the school
and the society. The home is the child’s first
social setting and the parents, the first batch of
significant adults that the child associates with
(Isangedighi, 2010). The very nature of the family
is a very important agency of education. This is
because the specific purpose of the family is
generation, development and or formation of the
offspring. Since the family is the initial take off
point of any human being, it then implies that the
child’s education must begin at home and extend
to the society at large. The aim of this study was
to investigating the impact of environmental
factors (teacher-students relationship, teachers
teaching method, parent-child relationship and
parental education) on learning and academic
achievement of secondary school students.
When teachers form positive bonds with
students, classrooms become supportive spaces
in which students can engage in academically
and socially productive ways (Hamre & Pianta,
2001). Positive teacher-student relationships are
classified as having the presence of closeness,
warmth, and positivity (Hamre & Pianta, 2001).
Students who have positive relationships with
their teachers use them as a secure base from
which they can explore the classroom and school
setting both academically and socially, to take on
academic challenges and work on social-
emotional development (Hamre & Pianta, 2001).
This includes relationships with peers, and
developing self-esteem and self-concept (Hamre
& Pianta, 2001). Through this secure relationship,
students learn about socially appropriate
behaviors as well as academic expectations and
how to achieve these expectations (Hamre &
Pianta, 2001).
The purpose and goals of science education are
to, develop creativity in learners, improve
scientific and technological literacy of citizens,
and prepare citizens for an active contribution
towards their own culture and to inculcate the
spirit of scientific thinking in the learner. To be
56 IGWEBUIKE, OSEDUMME, OKRI, JOHN ARIKPO AND OBI, JOY JOSEPH
effective in teaching, the teacher must adopt
varying strategies to satisfy the varying
capabilities of students. There is no single
method that meets the entire child’s requirement.
The teacher needs a combination of methods in
order to achieve the goal of a particular lesson
especially in the area of sciences (Uche, 1998).
American Association for Advancement of
Science (1989) argued that, an understanding of
science concepts and principles is crucial to
developing scientific literacy and meaningful,
productive careers which require people who
have the ability to learn, reason, think, make
decisions, and solve problems as well as engage
in scientific discourse. These views have been
echoed by National Research Council (1996)
which indicates that, scientific literate persons are
those who can think, ask questions, and provide
logical and coherent answers to any situation in
everyday experiences. Constructivist theorists as
John Dewey believe that education must engage
with and expand experience and that methods
used to educate must provide for exploration
thinking, reflection and interaction with the
environment necessary and uphold democracy
(Kliebard, 1992). This research study sought to
find out if teachers at Rev. Muhoro School were
aware of these goals and how the teaching
strategies adopted in class were contributing on
performance in sciences
The effect of these environmental variables on
academic achievement on students in Basic
science was investigated in this work. As a result
of the broad variables involved, a few
environmental variables like home and school
factors was the major concern of this study. The
study is therefore meant to answer the question,
is there any significant influence of environmental
variables on secondary school students
academic performance in Basic science in
Calabar south, Cross River State, Nigeria?
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
This study is anchored on the theory of classical
conditioning by Ivan Pavlov (1904).
Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936) was a Russian scientist
interested in studying how digestion works in
mammals. He observed and recorded information
about dogs and their digestive process. As part of
his work, he began to study what triggers dogs to
salivate. It should have been an easy study:
mammals produce saliva to help them break
down food, so the dogs should have simply
began drooling when presented with food. But
what Pavlov discovered when he observed the
dogs were that drooling had a much more far-
reaching effect than he ever thought: it paved the
way for a new theory about behavior and a new
way to study humans. The people who fed
Pavlov's dogs wore lab coats. Pavlov noticed that
the dogs began to drool whenever they saw lab
coats, even if there was no food in sight. Pavlov
wondered why the dogs salivated at lab coats,
and not just at food. He ran a study in which he
rang a bell every time he fed the dogs. Pretty
soon, just ringing a bell made the dogs salivate.
Pavlov said the dogs were demonstrating
classical conditioning. He summed it up like this:
there's a neutral stimulus (the bell), which by
itself will not produce a response, like salivation.
There's also a non-neutral or unconditioned
stimulus (the food), which will produce an
unconditioned response (salivation). But if you
present the neutral stimulus and the
unconditioned stimulus together, eventually the
dog will learn to associate the two. After a while,
the neutral stimulus by itself will produce the
same response as the unconditioned stimulus,
like the dogs drooling when they heard the bell.
This is called a conditioned response. Think of an
unconditioned response as completely natural
and a conditioned response as something that
we learn.
The basics of Pavlov's classical conditioning
serve as a historical backdrop for current learning
theories (William, Manning & Smith, 2001).
However, the Russian physiologist's initial
interest in classical conditioning occurred almost
by accident during one of his experiments on
digestion in dogs (Tarpy, 2005). Considering that
Pavlov worked closely with animals throughout
many of his experiments, his early contributions
were primarily about animal learning. However,
the fundamentals of classical conditioning have
been examined across many different organisms,
including humans (William; Manning & Smith,
2001). The basic underlying principles of Pavlov's
classical conditioning have extended to a variety
of settings, such as classrooms and learning
environments.
Classical conditioning focuses on using
preceding conditions to alter behavioral
reactions. The principles underlying classical
conditioning have influenced preventative
antecedent control strategies used in the
classroom (Mugulis, 2001). Classical
conditioning set the groundwork for the present
day behavior modification practices, such as
antecedent control. Antecedent events and
conditions are defined as those conditions
occurring before the behavior (Mugulis, 2001).
Pavlov's early experiments used manipulation of
ENVIRONMENTAL VARIABLES AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENT’S 57
events or stimuli preceding behavior (i.e., a tone)
to produce salivation in dogs much like teachers
manipulate instruction and learning environments
to produce positive behaviors or decrease
maladaptive behaviors. Although he did not refer
to the tone as an antecedent, Pavlov was one of
the first scientists to demonstrate the relationship
between environmental stimuli and behavioral
responses. Pavlov systematically presented and
withdrew stimuli to determine the antecedents
that were eliciting responses, which is similar to
the ways in which educational professionals
conduct functional behavior assessments.
Antecedent strategies are supported by empirical
evidence to operate implicitly within classroom
environments. Antecedent-based interventions
are supported by research to be preventative,
and to produce immediate reductions in problem
behaviors
By implication to this work, a poor environment
may not provide stimulation and reinforcement
that is needed for academic performance.
Students should be active respondents to
learning and the learning processes. They should
be given an opportunity to actually behave or
demonstrate learning. But when a behavior is
learned it is easily displayed. Therefore drill,
practice repetition of stimulus response habit can
strengthen those habits. For example, some
believe that the best way to improve reading is to
have the students read more and more.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Basic Science in Nigeria context treats scientific
concepts in a manner free of the restrictions
imposed by the arbitrary subject boundaries of
the separate sciences. It has a dynamic process
approach to the teaching and learning of science.
Science is a body of knowledge characterized by
unbiased observation and systematic
experimentation. In all level of education and in
any nation of the world science is the same but
the teachings differ. There is no good foundation
for teacher teaching science teaching in
secondary school especially in the unit discipline
under integrated science
Since introduction of Basic science into Nigeria
secondary schools a lot of achievement has been
made but at the same time there are many
challenges like the presence of unqualified
science teachers in secondary schools as one of
such challenges. Science is different from all
other disciplines and its teaching and curriculum
must be different too. Akinola (2006) observed
poor teacher’s method of teaching and
structuring of curriculum as problems of
secondary science teaching. Uchenna (2005)
affirmed that, the greatest challenge in education
in Africa has been the question of curriculum
development, especially science curriculum at all
levels of education. Maduabum (1991) in a paper
titled primary school science teaching in Nigeria:
Other challenges include teacher student
relationship, home environment and parents’
socioeconomic status playing a role in influencing
students’ performances in science.
Sequel to the challenges above, the researcher
was poised to investigate the influence of
environmental variables on secondary school
students’ performance in Basic science in
Calabar South Local Government Area Cross
River State, Nigeria.
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The main purpose of this study is to investigate
influence of environmental variables on
secondary school students’ performance in Basic
science in Calabar South Local Government Area
Cross River State, Nigeria.
METHODOLOGY
The study adopted a survey research design.
The population of the study is restricted to all
junior secondary students (JSS 3) in Calabar
south L.G.A. of Cross River State. The study
area has 30 secondary schools, with a population
of 1830, comprising of 912 males and 918
females respectively.
The sample for the study consisted of ten (10)
schools; one hundred and fifty junior secondary
school students were used for the study. From
each junior secondary school, 15 sampled
students were taken, making a total sample of
150 used for the study. The brake down of study
sample is shown in Table 1.
58 IGWEBUIKE, OSEDUMME, OKRI, JOHN ARIKPO AND OBI, JOY JOSEPH
TABLE 1: Sample distribution by gender
S/N
Name of School
Total
Male
Female
Total
1.
Calabar Academy, Mayne Avenue
200
7
8
15
2.
Modern Comprehensive Collage Ekpo Abasi
200
7
8
15
3.
Government Technical College Mayne Avenue
200
7
8
15
4.
Holy Child Secondary School Goldie
200
7
8
15
5.
Government Science School Idang
200
7
8
15
6.
Pin Margaret Commercial Secondary Sch. Atakpa
200
7
8
15
7.
Duke Town Secondary School Henshaw Town
200
7
8
15
8.
Government secondary School Anantiga
200
7
8
15
9.
Government Science School Atu
200
7
8
15
10.
Government Secondary School Atu
200
7
8
15
Total
1,830
70
80
150
The instrument used in collecting data is Basic
Science Performance Test (BSPT) to test
students’ academic performance.
Research questions
1. Is there any significant influence of
teacher-students’ relationship on students’
academic performance in Basic science in
Calabar South Local Government Area Cross
River State, Nigeria?
2. How does teaching method influence
students’ academic performance in Basic science
in Calabar South Local Government Area Cross
River State, Nigeria?
Research hypotheses
1. There is no significant influence of
teacher-students’ relationship on students’
academic performance in Basic science in
Calabar South Local Government Area Cross
River State, Nigeria
2. There is no significant influence of
teacher’s teaching method on students’ academic
performance in Basic science in Calabar South
Local Government Area Cross River State,
Nigeria
Presentation of result
The data in both variables wear analysed using
One-way Analyses of Variance (ANOVA), at .05
significant level and 2 and 147 degrees of
freedom
Hypothesis 1 There is no significant influence of
teacher-students’ relationship on students’
academic performance in basic science in
Calabar South Local Government Area Cross
River State, Nigeria. Result presented in Table 2.
Table 2: ANOVA analysis on influence of teacher-students’ relationship on basic science performance
S/N
Teacher-Students’ Relationship
N
̅
Sd
Variable
Low
39
7.11
2.93
Average
53
8.42
3.85
High
58
6.32
2.63
Total
150
5.62
3.14
Source of Var
SS
Df
Ms
F-cal
B/W Group
683763
2
418.82
Within Group
368002.10
147
160.45
4.62*
Total
1051765.1
149
*Significance of groups at p<05, df=2 and 147, crit f=3.20
ENVIRONMENTAL VARIABLES AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENT’S 59
From table 2, it could be observed that the
calculated F-value of 4.62 is higher than the
critical f- value of 3.20, required for significance
at 0.05 level with 2 and 147 degree of freedom.
The null hypothesis is therefore rejected.
Implying that teacher-students’ relationship does
not influence students’ academic performance in
basic science in Calabar South Local
Government Area of Cross River State, Nigeria.
Hypothesis 2: There is no significant influence of
teacher’s teaching method on students’ academic
performance in basic science in Calabar South
Local Government Area Cross River State,
Nigeria
The independent variable in this hypothesis is
teacher teaching method. The dependent
variable in this hypothesis is students’ academic
performance in basic science. One way analysis
of variance (ANOVA) was the statistical tool used
for this data analysis. Result of the analysis is
presented in Table 3.
TABLE 3: One-way analysis of variance of the influence of teachers’ teaching method on students’
performance in basic science
S/N
Teachers Teaching Methods
N
̅
Sd
Variable
Poor
35
7.11
2.93
Fair
65
8.42
3.85
Good
50
6.32
2.63
Total
150
5.62
3.14
Source of Var
SS
Df
Ms
F-cal
FRCP b/w Group
683763
2
418.82
Within Group
368002.10
147
160.45
4.53*
Total
1051765.1
149
*Significance of groups at p<05, df=2 and 147, crit f=2.30
From Table 3 above, it could be observed that
the calculated F-value of 4.53 is higher than the
critical F-value of 3.20, required at 2 and 147
degree of freedom respectively. The null
hypothesis is therefore rejected. Implying that,
there is a significant influence of teachers’
teaching method on students’ academic
performance in basic science.
DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
Teacher-students’ relationship and
students’ academic performance in basic
science
The result of hypothesis one show that there is
indeed a significant influence of teacher-students
relationship on students’ performance in
integrated science. The conclusion was sequel to
the fact that F-calculated value of 4.62 is higher
than F-crit. of 3.20 tested at .05 sig. level and 2
and 147 df. Thus the null hypothesis was rejected
and the alternate hypothesis retained meaning
that there is a significant influence of teacher-
students relationship on students’ performance in
integrated science.
This finding is in line with Asuquo (2010), who
explains that clear understanding of the behavior
of teacher and students towards one another will
certainly improve their interactions and ultimately
teaching and learning activities. This is because
relationship with students is an important feature
of a teacher’s life and may exert a considerable
influence on their classroom behavior. Although
most research regarding teacher-student
relationships investigate the elementary years of
schooling, teachers have the unique opportunity
to support students’ academic and social
development at all levels of schooling (Baker et
al., 2008).
Teacher teaching methods and
students’ academic performance in Basic
science
The result of hypothesis one show that there is
indeed a significant influence of teachers
teaching method on students’ performance in
basic science. The conclusion was sequel to the
fact that F-calculated value of 4.53 is higher than
F-crit. of 3.20 tested at .05 sig. level and 2 and
147 df. Thus the null hypothesis was rejected and
the alternate hypothesis retained meaning that
there is a significant influence of teachers
teaching method on students’ performance in
basic science.
60 IGWEBUIKE, OSEDUMME, OKRI, JOHN ARIKPO AND OBI, JOY JOSEPH
This finding is in line with American Association
for Advancement of Science (1989) argued that,
an understanding of science concepts and
principles is crucial to developing scientific
literacy and meaningful, productive careers which
require people who have the ability to learn,
reason, think, make decisions, and solve
problems as well as engage in scientific
discourse. These views have been echoed by
National Research Council (1996) which
indicates that, scientific literate persons are those
who can think, ask questions, and provide logical
and coherent answers to any situation in
everyday experiences.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Based on the findings of this study, the
following recommendations were made:
1. Teacher-students relationship should be
more cordial to give every student equal
opportunities to learn.
2. The teacher should be given on job
training through compulsory seminar/workshops
on the new improve methods of teaching
sciences to enhance their teaching and promote
students understanding of science concepts.
3. Parents should be more concerned about
their children educational welfare and be ready to
advise them and solve their finances problem
4. Finally, the government should make
science education free to motivate people to go
into sciences discipline.
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