AN ASSESSMENT OF THE ATTITUDE OF SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS TOWARDS EDUCATION FIELD TRIP IN BIOLOGY

ABSTRACT
The study investigated the attitude of senior secondary school teachers towards education field trip on biology in Ilorin metropolis.

The researcher used simple random sampling techniques thirty schools were randomly selected as research subject.

A questionnaire tagged,” school based attitude of senior secondary school teacher towards educational field trip” was one of the instruments used to gather information from the respondents.

A series of interviews with 30 secondary school science teachers was also used to determine the attitude of those teachers toward educational field trip.

The interview were evaluated using an interpretive methodology and indicate a range of influence.

Science teacher are in generally willing to use field trips as part of their pedagogy because they feel that their student need hands-on real life experiences or to examine application of science which augment their classroom studies.

Other influences that are identified and evaluated related primarily to the teaching and learning outcomes, the support of member of the school community and the factors that facilitate or hinder teachers taking field trips the influence of teachers past experience is also evaluated.

There is a number of implication for schools.

Teachers feel constrained by administrative procedure but this need to be balanced against consideration of the legal Implications of “duty of care” student behavior need to be balanced by accessibility to a range of teaching and learning strategies and, as more venues come on line, there is a need for appropriate professional development and curriculum support materials.
The study answered three (3) research question and tested three (3) hypotheses.

The data analysis tools were percentage and frequency distribution table used in analyzing and presenting the bio-data variables of the participants mean and standard deviation were used in answering the question raised by the study and t- test independent sample which was used in testing the three will hypotheses postulated by the study.

The study revealed that there is no significant relationship between teachers’ attitudes toward field trip in biology, teaching and learning, the attitude of student of far and near located schools from the available field trip as well as gender identity of teacher does not influence attitude of student to field trip in biology.

It was recommended among other that, teachers should take student on field trip so as to promote and encourage active engagement in learning, self motivation, discovery learning and learning by experience.

The study also recommended that biology teachers in the study area should be encouraged to adopt the technique of educational field trip for their student for optimum academic performance, the need for Government of Kwara state through the ministry of education to provide all the needed funds for conducting regular educational fieldtrip by student and teacher of biology, the need for wealthy corporations and individual to Sponsor Educational fieldtrip in secondary school in Ilorin Education Zone organized by biology teacher and the need for adequate time to be allocated to the biology student in the study area aimed at encouraging teachers to organize field trip for student.
 CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the problem
Biology is a vast subject containing many different topics but as a general overview it can be classified as the study of life and living organisms.

As a school subject it has to be one of the more interesting lessons because it looks at how the natural world has developed to be the way it is today from genetics and the human body to photosynthesis and the structure of leaves.

Biology is taught with the effective methodological approaches.

Field trips can be considered as one the three avenues through which biology can be taught, namely, through formal classroom teaching, practical work and field trips. (Duvall, 2011)
Wikipedia (2014) defined field trip or excursion as a journey by a group of people to place away from their normal environment.

The purpose of the trip is usually observation for education, non-experimental research or to provide student with experiences outsider their everyday activities.

The use of field trip in teaching and learning helps to bring about effective and efficient learning in biology Popular field trip sites include zoos, nature centers, hospitals, amusement park, science museums, and factories.
Shyly (2012) posited that teacher perception on the educational potential of biological field trip had been conceptualized to address the trend and its implication to the academic the quality of learning that student acquire and the degree of experience that student have from their educational activities depend greatly on their teacher.
Quantitative studies of the attitude of teacher toward field trip were undertaken by several researchers that include Falk and Balling (2010) Gaylord (2012) and Davidman (2014)

The researchers found that, in the opinion of teacher, the positive benefits derived from field trip were;- hand-on real world experiences, positive attitude to science and motivation toward the subject, improvement of the socialization between student which would impinge on the classroom and development rapport between student and teachers, enabling teacher to utilize other learning strategies such as cooperative learning.

However, negative attitude of teacher revealed by the research related to a number of factors, some of which are interrelated difficulties with transportation including cost.
In recent time there has been a growing interest in the development of fieldtrip to teachers and students according to Orion (2013).
School fieldtrip is an effective educational activity for students that helps facilitate fast and efficient learning method.

This is a wonderful opportunity for students to take a break from the classroom lecture and to have some fun and excitement while learning at the sometime.

Exposing students to an actual and hands-on learning experience like a school fieldtrip is an effective method of teaching.
Fieldtrips are recognized as important moments in learning, a shared social experience that provides the opportunity for students to encounter and explore novel things in an authentic setting.

It is important to recognize that learning outcomes from fieldtrips can range from cognitive to affective outcomes (Storksdieck, 2012). Among the many potential outcomes research has shown that fieldtrips:- expose students to new experiences and can increase interest and engagement in science regardless of prior interest in a topic (Kiesiel, 2011).

Fieldtrip are experiences that can be recalled and useful long after a visit (Falk, 2013). It can result in affective gains such as more positive feelings toward a topic (Nadelson, 2012). Research has demonstrated that fieldtrip can be designed to more effectively support students learning.

Fieldtrips work best when they provide support for students in a personally meaningful way. Learning in fieldtrips is impacted by many factors (Stocksdieck, 2012). The structure of the fieldtrip impacts learning.
A successful and quality fieldtrip requires teacher preparation and interaction. Taking students to fieldtrip help teachers see teaching in a different light.

Students ask questions on things they saw that leads in to intellectual dialogue and development.

When answers are found to the questions asked by students, it help the teacher to reflect upon his own biases and insider/outsider.

Many students who become interested in particular themes of sites during fieldwork become interested in employment in issues covered in fieldtrips.
It is not gain saying to say that, a key method of supporting the work done in the classroom or the laboratory is for teachers to take their students on an educational biology fieldtrip.

Students may not be aware of all the cultural implications of certain job and industries, and fieldtrip give them the opportunity to see these implications. Fieldtrip are also ideal for students who may become bored with the classroom routine.

They are particularly helpful for classes that have a large amount of repetitive material and can help students get excited for continued learning.

Fieldtrip hold the ability to make a classroom more lively and can provide energy for bored students.
Statement of the problem
The urgent need for using fieldtrip as part of teaching pedagogy to make the teaching of biology more meaningful, pragmatic and comprehensible cannot be overemphasized.

Recently, different reasons have been given for the fall in the quality of education in Nigeria.

Thus, poor funding incompetence among teachers, poor service delivery among different educational bodies in Nigeria, poor maintenance culture and lack of enthusiasm or hesitation of teachers to embark on fieldtrip have constituted among other things to the problems confronting Nigeria system of education.(Nadelson,2012)
There are a number of implications for schools.

Teachers feel constrained by administrative procedures but this needs to be balanced against consideration of the legal implications of “duty of care” student behavior needs to be balanced by accessibility to a range of teaching /learning strategies.

There is a need for appropriate professional development and curriculum support materials.

Other influences relate primarily to the teaching and learning outcomes, the influence of teachers past experiences, the support of members of the school community and the factors that facilitate or hinder teachers taking field trips. (Butter,2013)
It was against this background that the research intends to investigate the attitude of teachers toward education fieldtrip on Biology in Ilorin Metropolis.
Purpose of the study
The purpose of this study is to investigate the attitude of senior secondary school students and teachers toward educational fieldtrip on Biology in Ilorin Metropolis.

Specifically, the purpose of this study is to:
1. Determine the extent to which the use of fieldtrip enhance educational performance
2. Determine the relationship between teachers attitude to fieldtrip and students academic performance in senior secondary schools in Ilorin metropolis.
3. Find out the influence of teachers attitude on fieldtrip and teaching methodology in biology in senior secondary schools in Ilorin Metropolis.
4. Examine the accessibility of teachers and students to fieldtrip in biology in Ilorin Metropolis.