COMPARATIVE STUDY OF STUDENTS ATTITUDE TOWARDS BIOLOGY IN SELECTED SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN URBAN AND RURAL AREA OF EKITI STATE

COMPARATIVE STUDY OF STUDENTS ATTITUDE TOWARDS BIOLOGY IN  SELECTED SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN URBAN AND RURAL AREA OF EKITI STATE


CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
            In Nigeria, education is regarded as the light of every citizen in our democratic society. Education had been a means, through which a person is developed morally, physically, intellectually and emotional. This fact has been established through the definitions of some researchers in education. According to Faunas (2003), education is the aggregate of all the processes by means of which a person develops activities, attitudes, skills and other behaviours that are of positive values in the society in which he lives. however, this implies that education embraces the entire processes through which individuals are exposed to all that are needed for the realization of the need and the aspirations of the individual and the society at large. These processes however include training, instruction, indoctrination and schooling. Education according to the view of Osokoya (2000), is leading out of the inborn powers and the potentialities of skills, aptitudes and competence, necessary for self realization, this also establishes the fact that every child possesses the power to know is also endowed with some qualities to be developed, so that he will be useful to himself and the society.
            Therefore, education sees to all the processes, which help the individuals to lead the fullest life he is capable of living. However, all these views about education are revealed in both traditional education is geared towards western education. The traditional education towards the stability progress and unity of the society. individual are exposed to the education that enabled them to display every desirable behaviours and contribute meaningfully to the development of his neighbours and the larger society. Western education in its own case aims at integrating the individual into a sound and effective citizen by allowing for equal education opportunities for all citizen of the nation, at all levels of education. Also, it is geared towards self-realization, better human relationship, self and national economic sufficiency effective citizenship, national consciousness, national unity, social and political progress, scientific and technological growth and national reconstruction.    
            In order to make all these goals to be attained, people like Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe emphasized that free education should be implemented in Nigeria, so that many people could have access to Western education and produce the needed man power in all sector of Nigeria economy.
According to Adesina (2002) the introduction of free education tagged “UPE” brought into schools all school aged children. In addition to the developments observed, there was increase in the number of institutions (primary to tertiary), classrooms and science laboratories were constructed for the successful implementation of the programmes. Scholarship and bursary awards were given to students. The federal government established advanced teachers colleges and the old Ondo State government established College of Education through which teachers earned the National Certificate of Education (NCE) however, the NCE is not considered to be minimum teaching qualification.
            Urban secondary schools and rural secondary schools are established within the society in order to bring education and enlightenment to an individual.
            Therefore both of them serve as the tool with which an individual is integrated into the society so that he can achieve self-realization. The students of urban secondary schools have been observed to be performing better in Biology than students of the  rural secondary schools. Certain factors have been accountable for the disparities in the attitude of these students. Disparities in the infrastructure facilities have been observed as one of the major distinction between rural secondary schools and urban secondary schools. The students of urban secondary schools are improvised with conducive environment, in terms of the w ell built classrooms with chairs and tables, unlike in the rural secondary schools where the students study in dilapidated classrooms and sit on broken chair and tables. incessant strike by teachers of rural secondary schools as a result of certain request which are needed to be fulfilled by the government have reduced the quality of education which the students are supposed to receive in the rural secondary schools. Considering the above, the problem of this study, was to determine what differences exist in students’ academic attitude between rural and urban secondary schools of Ekiti State. In addressing the problem of this study, the following general questions were raised.
(i)        What is the attitude level of students in rural senior secondary school in Ekiti State
(ii)       What is the attitude level of students in urban senior secondary school in Ekiti State     
Purpose of the Study
            The broad objective this study is to compare students’ attitude in Biology in rural and urban senior secondary school of Ekiti State. However, the specific objective are to:
(i)        Examine the difference between students’ attitude to Biology selected in rural and urban senior secondary schools.
(ii)       Examine the effect of instructional materials on the performances of students in Biology
(iii)     Examine if teachers population affect the attitude of students in Biology in urban and rural secondary schools.
(iv) To examine if teachers qualification and working experience affect students attitude towards biology  between urban and rurak area
Research Questions
  1. Is there any significant difference between attitude of students in rural and urban senior secondary schools in Ekiti State?
  2. Does availability of instructional materials influence the attitude of students in Biology?
  3. Does years of teachers’ qualification and teaching experience affect the attitude of students in biology in both urban and rural secondary schools.
  4. Does the population of students in a class affect the attitude in Biology in both urban and rural secondary schools?

Significance of the study  
            A comparative study of rural and urban secondary schools students attitude in Biology in Senior secondary certificate examinations is desirable. The findings of this study could be useful possibly to show a great disparity in the provision of instructional materials, availabilities of qualified and dedicated teachers employed to teach the subject and the types of environment in which the students area being exposed to. Therefore the study would be of immense benefit to the government, Biology teachers, professional organizations and school proprietors.
Delimitation of the Study
            The study was delimitated to the attitude of rural and urban senior secondary school students in Biology in Ekiti State.
Definition of terms
The following terms have been operationally defined for the study;
COMPARATIVE STUDY: The analysis which brings out the difference between attitude of students of urban and rural secondary schools in Biology.
RURAL SCHOOL: This is a school that is located in a settlement or village.
URBAN SCHOOL: This is a school located in a town with more than two secondary schools.
BEHAVIOUR: This is what can be observed and described as activities of an organism (man).     
LEARNING: According to Cronbach (1999); learning is shown by a change in behavior as a result of experience.
TEACHING: According to Denta (2000), stated that teaching is a profession that deals with the systematic interaction between the teacher and the learners to acquire knowledge and skills.
SUBJECTS: An individual who participates in an experimental situation.



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