Students’ Utilisation of School’s Facilities and their Academic Performance in Biology

Students’ Utilisation of School’s Facilities and their Academic Performance in Biology

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine Student’s Utilization of Schools’ Facilities and their Academic Performance in Biology in Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government Area. Two research questions and two hypothesis were formulated to guide the study. Survey research design was adopted for this study.

The populations for the study were all the SS2 Biology students in the study area. Sample size of 120 students were selected from four schools using simple random sampling technique. The instruments for data collection were biology achievement test and questionnaire, while the data collected were analyzed using independent t-test.

The result revealed that school facilities such as laboratory and library facilities promote the academic performance3 of students in Biology. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended among others that government should provide the necessary school facilities in the school system in order to enhance the academic performance of student

  Students’ Utilisation of School’s Facilities and their Academic Performance in Biology 

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

An engine that drives the development of any nation is education. This means that the overall development of any nation is inextricably tied to its educational system. Education could be seen as a light that shows mankind the right direction to follow as well as being the key for growth and development of any society (Ita, 2016). Education is responsible for the building of human capital which breeds, drives and set technological innovation and economic growth.

In the broadest sense, education is any process by which an individual gains knowledge, an insight or develops attitudes or skills. It is an experience that has a formative effect on the mind, character or physical ability of an individual. In the technical sense, education is the process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, values, skills, customs, norms, and culture from one generation to another (Home, 2011).

The school is a medium through which all educational goals and objectives are achieved. Cotton (2016) opined that school is a medium of knowledge transfer and agent of socialization and including agent of social change and transformation through which educational objective can be achieved. School environment has responsibilities towards students’ development. The school environment consisted of everything around the school system. It consist of both the human resources and the material resources which could be seen as school facilities.

The function of education cannot be achieved if the school environment is not encouraging. Students are individuals who accumulate knowledge with the help of the teachers in a motivating and conducive school environment. Thus, the school needs to be properly equipped with functional facilities for effective teaching/learning process to be achieved. Onyeji (2013) defines school facilities as the materials which supports the operation of the school system.

It helps in carryout the daily activities and promote the growth and development in the school. School facilities could also be refer to as the entire environment of the school or institution. If refers to both the physical and materials resources available to the students and teachers in the school to facilitate the teaching learning process.

Students’ Utilisation of School’s Facilities and their Academic Performance in Biology

School facilities could be seen in many angles. It includes the facilities in the school’s library, facilities in the classrooms, facilities in the hosted, facilities in the laboratories and sporting facilities to mention but a few.

Library facilities refers to those tools, materials and equipment found or available in the school’s library which is accessible by both students and teachers. These facilities in the library include; textbooks, newspapers, dictionaries, encyclopedia, journals, magazines, and computer system to mention but a few.

Utaka (2015) examined the difference between the academic performance of students who utilized the utilize hostel’s facilities (boarding students) and those who do not utilize hostel’s facilities (day students). His findings revealed that students who utilized the school’s hostel facilities performed significantly better than their counterparts who do not make use of the school hostel.

School facilities improves the quality of teaching and makes learning content meaningful. Knezvich (2012) opined that school facilities play a vital role in the actualization of educational goals and objectives. If these facilities are adequately available and the learners makes good use of it, there will be an improvement in the academic achievement of students.

The importance of school facilities cannot be over emphasized. This is because school facilities play a vital role in student’s academic performance. Thus, there is need to examine students’ utilization of school’s facilities and their academic performance in Biology.

Students’ Utilisation of School’s Facilities and their Academic Performance in Biology

1.2 Statement of the Problem

The importance of school facilities in the development and growth of the educational sector cannot be overemphasized. This is because school facilities played a vital role in the teaching–learning process. Unfortunately, many schools do not have adequate facilities that could help in the teaching-learning process in order to make learning easy and enjoyable to both students and teachers.

Often times, there has been a constant outcry of the inadequate provision or non-provision of the school facilities as library facilities, hostel accommodation facilities, laboratory facilities and classroom facilities. Lack of these facilities has negative implication on the academic performance of students in Biology and other subjects. Biology is an important science subject because its knowledge is useful in everyday human activities.

Unfortunately, the poor academic achievement of students in this important subject has been a source of concern to the government, teachers and parents. Due to this, problem of poor performance among Biology students, the researcher considered it necessary to carry out this research on students utilization of schools facilities and their academic performance in Biology.

1.3 Purpose of the Study

The general purpose of this study is to examine students’ utilization of school’s facilities and their academic performance in Biology in Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government Area.

Specifically, the study is aimed at;

1. Examine the effects of laboratory facilities on students’ academic performance in Biology in Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government Area.
2. Examine how students’ gender influence their academic performance in schools with laboratory facilities.
3. Examine the effect of library facilities utilization on the academic performance of Biology students in Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government Area.

1.4 Research Questions

1. How does school laboratory facilities affect the academic performance of secondary school Biology students?
2. How does students’ gender influence their academic performance in schools with laboratory facilities?
3. How does school library facilities affect the academic performance of secondary schools Biology students?

1.5 Research Hypothesis

The following hypothesis were formulated to guide the study;

1. There is no significant effect of laboratory facilities utilization on the academic performance of Biology students in secondary schools.
2. There is no significant difference between the academic performance of male and female students in school who utilized laboratory facilities.
3. There is no significant effect of library facilities utilization on the academic performance of Biology students in secondary schools.

1.6 Significant of the Study

It is hopeful that the findings of this study will be of great benefit that the educational planners, teachers, students, and future researchers in the following ways;

The educational planners will see the need of providing adequate school facilities to the secondary school system. The teachers will benefit from this study because there will be adequate school facilities to the used for effective lesson delivery. The students’ performance will improved when there is enough facilities in the school. The findings of this study will also serve as a reference point to the future researcher who will carry out research on this same or similar topic.

1.7 Delimitation of the Study

This  study is delimited to students’ utilization of school’s facilities and their academic performance in Biology in Secondary Schools in Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government Area. The target population for this study are all the SS2 Biology students in the study area. The sub-variable considered are laboratory facilities and library facilities.

1.8 Limitation of the Study

In the process of conducting this study, the following challenges were confronted by the researcher;

1. Time Factor: The period of time given for the completion of this study were not enough.
2. Financial Factor: High cost of transportation to the visiting schools was a great problem to the researcher.
3. School Location: Some schools were located in the rural areas. Therefore, bad road network also posed some problems to the researcher.

1.9 Definition of Terms

The following terms were defined for easy understanding of this study.

1. School Facilities: These refers to those resources available to both the students and teachers in the school to facilitate the teaching/learning process.
2. Laboratory Facilities: These are those equipment’s in the laboratory which help the students carry out their academic activities.
3. Library Facilities: These are resources in the school’s library which could be used by both students and teachers to promote effective teaching/learning process.
4. Academic Performance: This refers to the grade of students recorded in test or examinations.