INFLUENCE OF TEACHING METHODS ON STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ENUGU STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study focused on influence of teaching methods on students’ academic performance secondary schools in Enugu State. Descriptive survey research design was used for the study. Two research questions and two corresponding hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The population for the study was 8819 respondents. Sample size for this study comprised of 1150 respondents, which consisted of 298 principals and 852 teachers. The instrument for data collection was a structured questionnaire developed by the researcher titled “influence of teaching methods on students academic performance Questionnaire (ITMSAPQ)”.The instrument was face validated by three research experts. Two of the experts were from the Department of Educational Management and one from the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science Education, all from Faculty of Education, Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), Enugu. To ensure the reliability of the instrument, a trial test was conducted involving 40 respondents (15 principals and 25 teachers) from secondary schools in Ebonyi State. The analysis produced reliability coefficients of 0.81and 0.78for clusters 1 and 2respectively, showing a stable pattern. The overall reliability index was calculated as 0.80, confirming that the instrument was suitable for data collection purposes. The research questions were answered using mean and standard deviation. Meanwhile, the null hypotheses were tested using t-test statistic at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study showed that lecture teaching method influences secondary school students’ academic performance in secondary schools in Enugu State to a high extent and that demonstration method influence secondary school students’ academic performance in secondary schools in Enugu State to a high extent. In line with the findings, the researcher recommended among others that teachers should use lecture method of teaching base on demand to facilitate students’ academic performance in secondary schools in Enugu State and that teachers should use demonstration method especially when teaching abstract topics to bring students close to the actual experience as to improve their academic performance in secondary schools in Enugu State.