The Effect of Teaching Methods on Classroom Participation in Secondary Schools in the BUEA Municipality

Abstract

The title of this research is the effects of teaching methods on classroom participation in a secondary school in the Buea municipality. It has four specific objectives; to determine the relationship of demonstration method of teaching and student participation in the classroom, to investigate the explicit method and student participation in the classroom, to assert the drill and practice method and student participation in the classroom, to find out how the illustration method of teaching affects student participation in the classroom.

A survey research design was used for data collection. Data collected was analyzed using simple frequencies and percentages and was presented in a tabular and graphical form. The findings of the research showed that teaching methods affect student participation in the classroom in the Buea municipality.

From the conclusion of the research’s findings, the following recommendations can be made; administrative stakeholders and experts should help improve on the teaching tools available in the various schools and also make a show that the various classes should not be overcrowded to enable effective teaching, parents on their side should make sure that student should have all the school requirements the school had prescribed.

Finally, teachers should be more flexible in using teaching methods with a less positive responses from students to meet student needs and improve student performance.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0 Introduction

Teaching methods are standard procedures of presenting subject matter and organizing teacher-student interaction during a lesson. Thus teaching methods can be classified as direct and indirect teaching methods. The direct teaching method is centered when the teacher is active and the students are passive this information is directed to one source that is from teacher to learner thus learners are active recipients of information and not contributors.

Every trained teacher who has undergone skillful training of pedagogy has his or her own method of approaching the students during a particular lesson. Teaching methods used during a lesson can influence the student’s rate of assimilating a lesson. A teacher without a concrete teaching method should not expect the complete response of the students during lessons dispensation as this may sometimes lead to bias or jerkiness of the class.

The teaching method also comprises the principles and methods used by teachers to enable student learning. These strategies are determined partly on subject matter to be taught and partly by the learner. For a particular teaching method to be appropriate and efficient, it has to be in relation to the characteristics of the learner and the type of learning it is supposed to bring about. Westwood.P.(2008).

The indirect learning method is the learner’s centered method, learners contribute to their own learning because they are active participants in the teaching-learning process, this information is bi-directional as the lesson taught is always lively and encourages the learners.

Thus there is a cordial relationship between the students and the teacher. However, there is no best method designed to teach a particular lesson. Thus teachers should use a blend of each method to meet student’s individual needs since students are from different social and cultural backgrounds.

1.1 Background of the Study   

The primary purpose of teaching at any level of education is to bring a fundamental change in the learner (Tebabal & Kahssay, 2011) To facilitate the process of knowledge transmission, teachers should apply appropriate teaching methods that best suits specific objectives and level exit outcomes.

In the traditional epoch, many teaching practitioners widely applied teacher-centered methods to impart knowledge to learners comparative to student-centered methods Until today questions about the effectiveness of teaching methods on student learning have consistently raised considerable interest in the thematic field of educational research (Hightower et al.,2011).

Early in the nineteenth century, many languages started to appear in the school curricular which was very different from our mother language and it requires a systematic approach to teaching them. Rather than speaking as it was with our mother language, the goal was for students to be able to read literature in the target language and benefit from the mental discipline of studying the language.

Textbooks combined abstract grammar rules, vocabulary lists with translations, and sentences for student to translate. Sentences were chosen to illustrate grammar with no relation to actual communication. During the lesson, the teacher presented grammar structures, rules were studied, and the students work through translation exercises. Grammar-Translation was influential until the 195os.

Often the frustration of language learners who experienced this method was that they spent years studying, but still could not speak the language. In methods such as the direct method of teaching put proficiency in speaking the language at the top of the agenda. Lessons were taught exclusively in the target language. Teachers were usually native speakers and used a lot of demonstration, pictures, gestures, and association of ideas to make meaning clear.

The goal was to build up communication skills through question and answer drills between teacher and student, and there was a carefully graded progression from simple grammar structure to more complex grammar. Grammar was taught through the use of examples. In the 1960s both grammar-Translation and the direct method were questioned as applied linguistics became a mature discipline.

US entry into the second world war created the need to teach oral proficiency in foreign languages quickly to troops. Behavioral psychology also influences the development-speech was just another habit to be acquired. Dialogue and drills form the basis of classroom activities according to the Audio-Lingual Method. dialogue is used for repetition and memorization, and then specific grammatical patterns in the dialogue are selected and become the focus between 10 and 15 possible types of drill exercise. While the role of the student is entirely reactive, and they have little control over the content, pace, or style of learning, the role of the teacher is central and active.

The teacher models, control the direction and pace of the lesson and monitors responses to correct all mistakes. In the 1970’s the humanistic values that informed the times led to a series of methods that focused more fully on the learner’s needs and abilities.

Some other methods were used in the early such as; The communicative approach, The community-language, Learning Curran (by American psychologist CHARLES CURRAN), Suggestepodia (developed by Georgi Lozanov),

The total physical response by Psychologist JAMES ASHER was based on the observations that children learn in stress-free environments by responding physically to commands before they start speaking. The 1980s saw the Natural Approach and with it linguist Stephen Krashen’s seminal views on how language is learned. Krashen claimed that language is a subconscious process of acquisition.

TASK-BASED learning, one of the most talked-about recent methods, can be traced back to the ‘strong’ communicative approach, where teaching is done entirely through communicative tasks. There is no set grammar syllabus. From these various approaches, there has been a great modification in the way teaching has been carried out. These could be seen clearly from the early 1800s to the recent. This transitive period of teaching methods led to the outcome of new teaching techniques.

As an educator, the researcher has always been fascinated by the relationship between teaching methods and students’ participation in classroom activities in secondary school; especially when it comes to applications in the context of 21st-century education. It seems that there is something in teaching that opens the gate of learning.

It is true that successful learning depends on various factors that are not all teacher-related, but the methods that a teacher uses continue to play an important role in student learning and in their academic achievements. The challenges that educators face in the 21st century are so diverse that using better teaching methods is more crucial now than ever before.

Since good teaching among other factors plays a significant role in enhancing performance, this study attempted to find out which method of instruction better facilitates learning in secondary schools by beaming light on the different methods of teaching in secondary schools.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Given the high value placed on government at the Cameroon Senior Secondary School Curriculum and the nature of the subject, the need to teach it effectively through an effective method is indisputable. A few of the problems affecting the teaching and learning of government are the meaningfulness of the content, the sustainability of the methods, and probably, the teacher who handles both the content and method.

The incidence of ineffective teaching of government in Senior Secondary has resulted in poor achievement in the examination. This necessitated the need for a more effective and result-oriented. What a teacher does in the classroom depends to some degree upon his approach to learning situations. However, students’ negative attitudes toward learning may be related to the method of instruction (Dyer,1995).

Though teachers with high morale, motivation and mastery of knowledge, learner difficulties, and capacity to facilitate learning are important (Zandra,2000), correct use of an appropriate teaching method is critical to successful teaching and learning. Knowledge of how teaching method affect students’ learning may help educators to select methods that improve quality, effectiveness, and accountability to learners and the public. It may also help them keep up with information technology, globalization and avoid the status quo (Foster, Pink, and Husman,1991).

Organizing for effective teaching in vocational education is centered on certain factors such as what to teach when to teach and how to teach. The teacher does not only teach the most relevant, meaningful, and useful materials for specific students, he must also recognize and adopt a good and well-researched method of teaching what guarantees better understanding and also stimulates the students.

Several methods of instruction have been employed for students’ interests depending on the situation. Varying factors ranging from the socio-economic background, intelligence, the attitude of students to teaching methods employed by teachers have attributed to this poor achievement.

Tawari (1986) observed that teaching methods that encourage students centered activities for developing reasoning and process slides through a scientific approach are conspicuously lacking. For effective teaching to take place, the teacher must stimulate, encourage and maintain active participation of the students, through the selection of appropriate teaching methods.

This would require a balance between what is taught and what is taught. Thus, successful teaching in vocational education does not depend only on the teachers’ method employed. Hence, Ogbonna (2000) opines that one of the most influential factors in a teacher’s method of teaching.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

1.3.1 General Objective

The objective of this study is to find out the effect of teaching methods on classroom participation in secondary schools in Buea Municipality.

1.3.2 Specific Objectives

The specific objectives of this study are;

To determine the relationship between demonstration methods of teaching and student’s participation in the class.

To find out the illustration method of teaching affects student participation in the classroom.

To investigate the explicit method and student’s participation in classroom

To assert the drill and practice methods of teaching and student’s participation in classroom