ALLOCATION AND MANAGEMENT OF RESOURCES FOR EFFECTIVE TEACHING AND LEARNING OF BIOLOGY IN SOME SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ONDO WEST LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF ONDO STATE
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the study
Effective resource management is one of the most important responsibilities of school administrators. After schools receive funding from state and federal governments, they must allocate those resources to fund programs and other school necessities. Effective management of human and capital resources is a critically important responsibility. School administrators not only need to make the most of potentially scarce resources, but also align their resource management strategy with the mission and vision of the whole school community.
Brown and Wragg (1993) groups’ resources into four main categories. In the first category are visual materials which include objects, models, specimens, textbooks, workbooks, programmed instructions, charts, posters, diagrams, photographs, illustrations, slides, filmstrips, overhead projectors, opaque projects, chalkboards, flannel boards and bulletin boards. In the second category are audio aids which include radios, record players and tape recorders. The third category includes audio-visuals made up of motion pictures and televisions. The fourth group is community resources.
The community resources incorporates the above three categories in combined or sophisticated forms. They involve use of ICT’S and local resources. ICT’S include computers, DVDS/DVD players, CDS, mobile phones and E-library. Local resources are libraries, fieldtrips and resource persons. The justification for the latter classification is that they include the most recent resources for teaching and learning biology. This study adopts three level classifications of resources: visual, audio and audiovisual. Meaningful teaching and learning requires instructors and learners to effectively interact with various inputs. These inputs come in the form of learning resources encompassing both print and non-print media. Proponents of instructional resource use have unequivocally stated that resources help teachers deliver information more accurately especially where repetitions are required for concrete learning to take place (Gamble, 1984). Science subjects have some difficult concepts that can best be understood by sequencing instructions. Sequencing provides a logical progression of learning that can be achieved through use of various instructional resources. Inductive method of teaching where reasoning proceeds from specific to general is preferred to deductive methods where reasoning proceeds from general to specific. Inductive method of learning is best exemplified by use of resources.
Teaching biology as science requires not only theoretical but also practical skills that are transmitted to pre-service biology teachers through the use of instructional resources. With them, hands-on and critical thinking skills are developed in students. Their use in teaching pre-service science teachers build-up professional skills in them (Sonmez&Hakverdi-Can, 2012), thus empowering kills to notice when and when not to use available materials in class when becoming professional teachers.
Instructional resources innovatively support teachers to interchange the pedagogical model when teaching, and this ensures the production of professionally experienced teachers (Sasson et al., 2020). Beside, Instructional resources enable teachers to create methods of assessing students’ performance (Arop et al., 2015). Therefore, their use in training pre-service biology teachers is a valuable fact as they create inthem not only practical but also assessment skills. The use of Instructional resources in teaching allows teachers to specify class activities, thus ease the assessment of students’ conceptual understanding as noted by Mukuka et al. (2020), who agreed that through class exercises, students’ conceptual understanding is assessed. The types of instructional resources used in biology instructional methods are those instructive materials that aid instructors in effectively delivering biology lessons. They include print and non-print materials that aid instructors in involving students in the classroom activities.
The management and use of biology instructional resourceshas diverse importance not only for preservice biology teachers’ education but also for all kinds of students, and their use becomes fruitful, especially when students manipulate the used materials. For instance,Adebule and Ayoola (2016) affirmed that instructional resources use in teaching raises students’ level of discovery and stimulates students to learn more as they see what they are taught. Besides, (Johnson &Cotterman2015) found that the use of video clubs increased the pre-service science teachers’ understanding of their science subject content. Technology related instructional resources are more imperative for training pre-service science teachers, as they afford the required technology skill essential for a qualified teacher of this digitalized world (Oren, 2017). Besides, Arokoyu andChimuanya (2017) attested that the teaching process becomes less stressful for both teachers and students when instructional materials are used.
Therefore, identifying available instructional materials at schools, especially at higher learning institutions, is of imperative need as learning by hands-onand observation of instructional resources raise students’ level of memory and enhance learning achievement.Olayinka (2016) confirmed that there is an excellent achievement for students taught with instructional resources comparing to those educated without any teaching material. The difference is because instructional materials ease the communication between teachers and students and promote active teaching and learning, thus facilitate understanding of concepts that become complex by words only. Ongamo et al. (2017) attested that there are different instructional resources in the schools’ environments for teaching biology. Moreover, those are present in diverse varieties that Science teachers can readily use. Effiong et al. (2015) found them to be materials that include chalkboards, diagrams, models, digitals tools, written texts, pictures, and recording videos, among others. Belachew (2020) classified texts in two versions that can be used in science education like traditional texts that are universally used as textbooks, standard references, and conceptual change texts.
Okpechi and Denwigwe (2017), in their study, listed several biology instructional resources that, among others, include different types of projectors like “film loop projector, slide projector, micro projector, overhead projector, and opaque projector”.Bosibori et al. (2015), Musah and Umar (2017) classified instructional resources used in biology instructional methods in different categories like material resources, human resources, and physical resources. Arop et al. (2015) categorized types of resources used in biology instructional methods into three main types: Visual, audio, and audiovisual resources.
Visual resources support instruction through sight, and students can manipulate them; they include flashcards, posters, charts, textbooks, real objects, models, chalkboards, images, among others. Audio resources support instruction through hearing; they include tape recorders and radios, amongothers. Audiovisual resources are those instructional resources that teachers use as a combination of audio and visual tools; they stimulate sight and hearing sense.
Computers, television, tape recorder, radios, videos are excellent examples. Iji et al. (2014) attested that they could be made from industries, or by teachers, or students made from locally available materials through the concept of materials improvisation. Therefore, the particularity is that the present study categorized biology Instructional resources as classroom resources, basic biology laboratory resources, library resources, and ICT resources. The justification of this classification is that they wrap the importantly needed instructional resourcesfor biology teaching and learning in higher learning institutions.
1.2 Statement of the problem
The free secondary education in Ondo State has led to the rapid expansion of the secondary school system. It is no gainsaying that such rapid expansion of the school system will bring about high demand for more school buildings, more qualified and competent teachers and clerical staff and instructional facilities for effective teaching and learning in the schools. The specific research problem is to identify the various criteria for allocating resources to secondary schools in Ondo State and to ascertain the extent to which the available human, physical materials and financial resources are being prudently managed, with a view to offering some useful pieces of advice for improvement. In this respect, it is essential to investigate the extent to which secondary school administrators in Ondo State have been striving to achieve quality secondary education with the limited or scarce resources at their disposal particularly in a period of political and economic stress.
1.3 Objective of the Study
The main objective of this study is to investigate the Allocation and management of resources for effective teaching and learning of biology in some selected secondary School in Ondo West local Government Area, Ondo state.
The specific objective is to;
1. Investigate the available of resources for the teaching and learning of Biology in secondary schools in Ondo West local government area
2. Establish the extent to which the resources in the schools were utilized in the teaching and learning of biology.
3. Determine the problem affecting the management of allocated resources for teaching biology
4. Determine how resources for teaching biology can be effectively manage in the schools
1.3 Research Questions
The following research questions were raised to guide the study
1. What are the available of resources for the teaching and learning of Biology in secondary schools in Ondo West local government area?
2. To what extent does secondary schools the utilized resources allocated for effective teaching and learning of Biology?
3. What are the problem facing the management of allocated resources in teaching and learning of biology?
4. How does secondary school effectively manage the resources for teaching biology?
1.5 Significance of the Study
The findings of this study will have significant implications for the future of secondary schools inOndo west local government of Ondo state and Ondo state as a whole. The findings will enlightenthe education stakeholders which includes principals, teachers, parents, government and other existing organizations on the existing resources and how those resource can be manage for effective teaching and learning in the schools
It will also sensitize the stakeholders on the need to ensure adequate allocation and utilization of teaching/learning resources in secondary schools. This study will also help in charting the growth pattern of secondary school facilities in Ondo west local government, which involve enrolment, school size and teacher- pupil ratio.
1.6 Scope of the Study
This study is Allocation and management of resources for effective teaching and learning of biology in some selected secondary School. The study cover five selected secondary schools in Ondo West Local Government Area, Ondo State.
1.7 Definition of Terms
Physical facilities - Classrooms libraries, laboratories, workshops.
Educational resources - Physical, material, human and financial inputs in the teaching learning process
Utilization - The act of putting into use.
Instructional resources - Physical and material, inputs in the teaching learning process
Management can be defined as the process of administering and controlling the affairs of the organization, irrespective of its nature, type and size
Management of teachingresources: is process of maintaining and controlling of teaching material for proper use in teaching and learning in school.
Biologyis the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field
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