PROPOSAL FACTOR AFFECTING THE USE OF FIELD TRIP IN TEACHING

AND LEARNING OF BIOLOGY IN SECONDAY SCHOOL IN AKURE SOUTH

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Science, from its linguistic origin derived from the Latin word "Scienta" which means "Knowledge"

(Eneh 2000). Science as a branch of knowledge is the systematic study of things around us. The

totality of Knowledge obtained from such studies constitutes scientific knowledge. In addition science

deals with nature, by observing it and later to experimental investigation (Anaso, 2007 and Kalu

2007).

The purpose of education is to develop the knowledge, skill or character of students. Thus, education

is the process of learning and knowing, which is not restricted to school or textbooks. Education is

important for an individual life. It is a major aspect of development of any modern society. The value

of education is evident at every stage of education whether at primary, secondary and higher

education. Since students are the main beneficially of secondary education therefore, they require not

only quality education but also effective and latest means of learning to have a better knowledge, and

have a command on what they are learning so they can apply the knowledge in their future lives also.

For this purpose, different sort of activities such as seminars, discussions, presentations, workshops

and field trips are essential at this level. Meanwhile, schools lacking the basic equipment could be

engaged in industrial visitations through community resources and field trips (NERDC, 2007). In

science education, students are exposed to several methods/ strategies of teaching and learning of

science. These include lecture method, demonstration, discovery, discussion, laboratory activities, co-

operative learning etc, depending on the aspect one wants to teach. Usman, (2008), defines science as

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to consist of specific branch of a general body of knowledge such as Biology, Chemistry,, Physics,

Geology or Astronomy to mention but a few.

Biology as a branch of the general body of knowledge (science), has been defined by different

scientists according to perception and understanding of the subject. Okwo and Tawtiyas, (2000)

define biology as a science which involves systematic study of living things and interaction with each

other and their environment. Kalu, (2007) simply defines biology as the science of life. Biology as a

science of life is concerned with the characteristics of living things, their forms, functions and

relationship with one another and with their environment among others.

However, for effective biology teaching, the use of method/strategy which would make the use of the

environment would achieve much and bring home the actual meaning of the concepts. Among science

subjects (chemistry, physics and biology), biology is the most popular (Ibrahim 2008). It is a core

(compulsory) subject for almost all Senior Secondary 3 Schools Students in Nigeria. Also, the basic

knowledge of biology is a prerequisite for studying a number of disciplines such as medicine,

agriculture, pharmacy, microbiology, biochemistry and psychology among others (Bichi, 2003, Kalu

and Ndokwo, 2006).

The mission of field trip is to enhance learning and academic success by providing activities and

programs for the students by allowing community resource persons to share their skills, knowledge

and expertise. Field trips give learners opportunity to be active learners instead of passive or mere

recipients of knowledge which have been the major hindrance to effective learning and teaching

(Yusuf, 2006).

In Secondary School, experiential education, such as field experiences, has been widely used to

enhance the learning of students and prepare them to be effective teachers (McGlinn, 2003).

Classroom teachers also use experiential education, typically in the form of field trips, to expand the

school curriculum (Kisiel, 2003). Experiential learning is a teaching strategy that provides concrete

experiences to learners to aid their understanding of content, ideas, and concepts (A. Y. Kolb & Kolb,

2005). In the form of field trips, experiential education has been shown to positively influence the
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achievement of children and youth, such as helping students learn multiple perspectives and access

content in novel ways (Marcus, 2008). Moreover, field trips provide children a unique context within

which to transfer previous knowledge and acquire new knowledge (Nadelson & Jordan, 2012). Such

learning contexts help children recall material learned and provide a high level of engagement and

enthusiasm (Nadelson & Jordan, 2012).

Students who directly participate during a field experience generate a more positive attitude about the

subject. Many researchers have investigated knowledge gain and learning that occurred during field

trips (Hudak, 2003; Kisiel, 2006a; Mawdsley, 1999; Michie, 1998; Nadelson & Jordan, 2012; Scarce,

1997; Scribner-MacLean & Kennedy, 2007). Therefore the researcher seeks to study the factor

affecting the use of field trip in Teaching and Learning of Biology in Secondary School in

Akure South Local Government.

Statement of the Problem

Field trip is part of teaching method integrated into science oriented courses to enhance

effective teaching and learning thereby improving academic performance of students’ in

science courses. Looking back it was realized that the reversed is the case, there are many

factors that are challenging the field trip which include, transportation problem, poor student

attitude, time and energy, these are the predicted problem that are might be facing field trip in

schools, it is on this note that arouse the interest of the researcher to investigate on the

influence of field trip on academic performance of students in teaching and learning of

science oriented courses in Adeyemi College of Education.

Significant of the Study

The finding of this study will be of benefit and also will go a long way in helping all

stakeholders of education which includes teachers, students, community, curriculum

developer, private organizations schools and entire system of education.

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 Teachers will benefit when there is an improvement in the relationship between the

teachers and the students because it will serve as a sense of direction to them by helping them

to understand and know the reason why field trip is essential to learning and teaching. Also if

the students perform very well the teachers will as well be rewarded. Help the teacher to

effectively teach ecology concept in senior secondary school so as to minimized the failure rate of

final year Biology students, It also helps the curriculum planners in designing ecological concept

toward field work. Serve as an encouragement for teachers to use field trip for difficult concepts in

science

Encourage active participation of the students which will help in meaningful learning and teaching,

help in minimizing the high failure rate of secondary schools students in biology. Serve, as a

foundation for further research studies on field trip, particularly in teaching other science

courses..Encouraged parents to pay for their children/ wards to go on field trip. Serve as a foundation

to other research .The study to help Educational include field trip method in the curriculum

development to promote educational goal that the educational planners set out will be

achieved since their intention is for the schools to achieve the aims, goals and objectives,

once there is positive relationship between the teachers and students, the educational goals

will not only be achieved the society will have fruitful and intelligent graduates.

Purpose of the Study

The main purpose for this research is to study the factors affecting the use of Field trip

in teaching and learning of Biology in Akure South Secondary Schools. The study intends to

find out:

1. The important of field trip in teaching and learning of Biology

2. The factor affecting the use field trip in teaching and learning biology in Secondary

School

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 3. To seek for solutions to the factor affecting the use of field trip in Secondary in Akure

south Local Government of Nigeria.

Research Questions

The following questions were formulated to guide the study;

1. What are significant of use of field trip for teaching and learning Biology?

2. What are the factors affecting the use of field trip for teaching and learning Biology in

Secondary School in Akure South Local Government?

Scope of the Study

For an efficient and successful work to be carried out, the researcher limits this study to some

secondary schools in Akure South Local Government of Ondo State.

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 CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

Concept of field Trip

The importance of Field Trips

Factors Impact the Effectiveness Of School Field Trips

The Teachers’ Role in Field Trips

Supporting Better Field Trip Practice of Teachers

Impact of field Trip to Teaching and Learning

Factors Affecting the use of Field Trip in Teaching and Learning Biology.

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 CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH METHOD

Introduction

This chapter explained the methods employed in carrying out this research work, the

description of sample and sampling techniques and the validity of research instrument. It

contains a discussion on how data for this work will be collected and analyzed.

Research Design

This is the systematic analysis of steps and approaches to data collection and useful

suggestions and recommendation towards addressing the effect of field trip on teachers and

students in teaching and learning of science subject in secondary school in Akure South Local

Government Area of Ondo State.

Population of the Study

The population for this study will consist of four secondary schools and 25

respondents will be selected randomly, making up 100 respondents that were chosen from the

secondary schools selected in Akure South Local Government Area of Ondo State.

Sample and Sampling Technique.

The sample size consisted of 100 students in four schools will be purposely selected

for the study, thus, this allows the study to generate results/finding of the study to all

secondary schools in Akure South Local Government Area of Ondo State.

Name of School

S/N Name of School No of Respondents Percentage

St. Catherine Model College 20 20%

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 Federal Girls College 20 20%

Fiwasaye Girls Grammar School 20 20%

Apostolic Faith Secondary School 20 20%

Research Instrumentation

The major tools that will be used for collection of data for this research will be questionnaire.

The questionnaire consisted of two section i.e sections (A) and section (B). section (A)

contained information on personal data of the respondents, and section (B) focused on the

effect of field trip on teachers and students in teaching and learning of science subject in

secondary school in Akure South Local Government Area of Ondo State.

Validity of Instrument

The instrument for data collections will be personally designed by the researcher and

presented to the supervisor and all the necessary errors corrected. This is to ensure that the

items of the questionnaire measures what they suppose to measure; after the correction and

approval the researcher then administered the questionnaire to the respondents.

Reliability of the instrument

To ascertain the reliability of the research questionnaire, simple percentage method

will be used after necessary amendments and rectification that questionnaire will be neatly

corrected, typed and administer to the subject involved.

Procedure for data collection

The researcher seeks for permission from the school principal to administer the

questionnaire to some selected female students in SSS2 to SSS3 in the schools. The

researcher will be stress that all questions should be answered as honestly as possible, since

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all the answers will be treated confidentially. The researcher will stay with the respondents

and collect the complete copies immediately to avoid loss of materials.

Data Analysis

The copies of questionnaire will be administered and arranged properly to aid

researcher’s work. The information gathered from the respondents was tabulated into table

using frequency table and analyse using simple percentage; the findings is reported and

discussed in chapter four.

CHAPTER FOUR

Data Analyses and Discussion of Findings

CHAPTER FIVE

Summary

Conclusion

Recommendation