THE
EFFECT OF INTEGRATED GROUP BASED MASTERY LEARNING MODEL ON SOCIAL STUDIES
STUDENT’S ACHIEVEMENT.
CHAPTER
ONE
Background of the study
The recent socio-political and
economic changes in the whole global world have also sought about changes in
our educational aims, objectives and goals and greater challenges for social
studies. The schools are called not only to equip the individual with the basic
knowledge in social studies contents but also with higher cognitive skills such
as problem solving and reflective skills that allow for self-development and
self-reliance. To meet up with these challenges, there is a movement away from
the behaviourist method of direct teaching such as in the lecture method, note
taking and dictations, where the learner is given content to memorize.
In order to implement the National
Policy on Education (2013), the government at all levels became more interested
in the schooling process in terms of educational outcomes, learning activities,
instructional resources, instructional strategies and evaluation procedures. In
view of this emphasis has been on the need to:
·
Make educational activities centre on
the learner for maximum self-development and self-fulfillment.
·
Structure the educational system to
develop the practice of self-learning (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2013). The
implications of these for class teachers is that, they should develop a
teaching approach which encourages the learners full participate in the learning
processes.
Despite
the efforts of government in restructuring the educational system to develop
the practice of self-learning, the dominant approach to instruction in schools
has been the expository type especially since the inception of Western
Education in 1983. For instance, since 1960, curriculum planners have
emphasized the inquiry approach by claiming that carrying out investigations is
the most promising method by which students will master inquiry skills and
become literate in social studies (Yager, 2004).
Quite
a number of studies have been conducted to investigate the causes of students
under achievement in junior secondary school social studies (Onasanya, 2005).
The most reoccurring factor in all is the inadequate teaching method used by
social studies teachers. Consequently, learners’ individual needs, preferences
and interest cannot be met by most strategies utilized in the
traditional, expository method of teaching. This is one of the reasons the
researcher is interested in trying out other method such as mastery learning
strategy. If the objectives of social studies education are to be met, then the
need to look for an alternative teaching paradigm in the form of an improved
and effective teaching strategy that is result oriented becomes necessary. The
teaching of social studies is therefore an activity that involves both the
teacher and the learners in other to ensure that learning takes place. While
learning involves a behavioural change in the learner, social studies teaching involve
the transmission of the relevant body of knowledge, attitudes, manner,
dispositions, skills and values that enable the individual to survive in a
growing and dynamic society. On this premise, the need for mastery learning as
an instructional strategy becomes indispensable.
According to Lynn, Douglas and Gerald
(2009), mastery learning is an instructional process that provides students
with multiple opportunities to demonstrate content mastery. Initial instruction
is presented at a fast pace to engage all learners. Students who do not
demonstrate mastery are given additional instruction specifically designed to
correct their misunderstandings. Re-teaching should involve strategies that are
different from the original instructional methods. For example, if the original
material was presented in a lecture format with visuals, the re-teaching
process might involve hands-on activities and cooperative learning strategies.
A retest is later given to these students to allow them to demonstrate content
mastery. The teacher must be an effective facilitator who thoroughly processes
his information of social studies content and present it in an orderly and
comprehensive manner. There must be an established feedback mechanism, so as to
enable correction of lapses in instructional methods which can thus bring about
improvement in the teaching and learning of social studies.
Summarily,
to instruct for mastery, the following guidelines are to be followed:
ü Clearly
state the objectives representing the purpose of the subject matter without any
ambiguities.
ü The
curriculum should be divided into smaller learning group, each with modeling,
practice, formative evaluation, re-teaching, reinforcement, and summative
evaluate strategy inclusive.
ü The
results of the formative tests are used to provide supplementary instruction,
or corrective activities to help the learner overcome problems.
Statement of the Problem
The problems of students’ poor
performance and underachievement in social studies have been major issues of
concern and interest in the Nigerian educational sector. The need for
intervention is not only recognized but also acknowledged by all stakeholders.
Quite a number of studies earlier cited provide enough evidence on the poor
performance of students in social studies teaching. This problem has been acknowledged
to be a major factor in students’ achievement. In spite of the need for
innovation approach to social studies teaching the expository instructional
approach continues to dominate the teaching of social studies in Nigerian
schools. This method to a large extent neglects human, cultural, social and
effective dimensions of social studies. This has continued to attract
criticisms and as a result, researchers have continued to stress the need for
learner-centred methods, one of which is the mastery learning models. This
instructional approach is not likely to enhance students’ achievement in social
studies.
Research Questions
The
following research questions were raised to guide the study:
1. Will
there be a difference in the achievement of social studies students taught
using the integrated group based mastery learning models and those taught using
the traditional model?
2. Will
there be a difference in the learning achievement of male and female students
taught using the integrated group based mastery models?
Hypotheses
The following null hypotheses were formulated to
give the study a direction:
1. There
is no significant difference in the achievement of social studies students
taught using the integrated group based mastery learning models and those
taught using the traditional method.
2. There
is no significant difference in the achievement between social studies male and
female students taught using the integrated group based mastery learning model.
