EFFECT OF COOPERATIVE LEARNING METHOD ON ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND RENTENTION OF STUDENTS IN BASIC TECHNOLOGY IN OYO STATE

Background to the Study

In a developing country like Nigeria, there is need for efficient and well trained individuals who would be able to cater for themselves and participate productively in the development of the society. From the ancient societies to modern nations, education proved to be the most potent tool for survival, growth and development. Agbatogun (2010) conceived education as a systematic action of imparting knowledge, skills and habits to the learners in their preparation for meaningful life and contribution to better society.

According to Lawal(2013), education is the act of giving knowledge to or developing the abilities of people by teaching, training or schooling.It is an instrument for helping both individuals and society to re-orient themselves towards more positive beneficial and more productive services.Eze (2013) affirmed that education,particularly technicalvocational education and training is a veritable tool for achieving the much needed economic and technological development. It is a fulcrum on which all other developmental facets are hinged. Technical Vocational Education and Training is the process of acquiring knowledge, skills, attitudes, interests, abilities, competences, and norms of a society by people to enhance perpetual development. In order to achieve this, the individual is exposed to different learning experiences ranging from individual’s culture, polity, knowledge, management, partnership, negotiation,

communication to information technology skill. It is in recognition of the importance of education that Nigeria has continued to make serious efforts towards providing the citizens with quality and functional educations for social, economic and political development.In making effort towards qualitative and functional education, the Federal Government of Nigeria(2013) in her National Policy on Education stated that one of the aims and objectives of education in Nigeria is to help the child acquire appropriate productive skills, abilities and competencies, both mental and physical as equipment for the individual to live and contribute to the development of the society. These skills, abilities and concepts could be acquired through the training provided in schools and colleges.

The implication of all these for teachers is that they should develop and employ learning approaches which should encourage learners to participate actively in the learning processes. Teachers are to promote learning methods which bring about interaction among students and improve on their relationship with individuals in the classroom.Igboko and Ibeneme (2006) pointed out that traditional education practices such as demonstration and lecture methods alone have proved incapable of producing skills required for coping with the challenges posed by rapid technological development. Igboko and Ibeneme noted that teachers are strongly encouraged to use the students’ activity-based and inquiry mode, involving substantial workshop activities in teaching to

ensure achievement and retention of concepts in technology. One of the suchmethods in this regard is cooperativelearning.

Cooperative Learning refers to instructional method in which pair or small group of learners with different levels of ability work together to accomplish a shared goal (Iqbal, 2004). In the view of Amita, (2006), cooperative learning refers to a situation where a small dedicated group of students learn together and take advantages of each other’s expertise to achieve a common goal.Mckeachie (2009) explained that in a cooperative learning class, students often elaborate on the concept being taught to achieve what is expected. Elaborations not only enhance the learning of students who receive the explanation but could also deepen the understanding of the student providing the explanation.

Cooperative learning comprises instructional method in which teachers organize the students into small groups which then work together to help one another learn some academic content (Slavin, 2011). It is a kind of learning method in which students study together and complete goals. Each student contributes in small groups to promote all students achievement. Slavin, (2011) posited that it could produce positive effect on student academic achievement and retention.

Academic achievement is defined as learning outcomes of the student in terms of level of skills, knowledge and ideas necessary for gainful employment in related occupations (Epunam, 2009). According to Epunam, academic

achievement connotes performance in a school subject as symbolized by scores in an achievement test.

Academic achievement is the extent to which a student, teacher or institution has achieved their short or long term goal (Alaba, 2010). Academic achievement is a permanent change in the conceptual attainment of knowledge, skill and attitude of the learner on the completion of a specified course of study or module.Spinath (2012) opined that academic achievement represents outcome that indicates the extent to which a person has accomplished specific goals that were the focus of activities in instructional environments, specifically in schools. It is described as the outcome of students’ effort in examinations. It could be high, average or low or poor. Abdullahi (2013) described poor academic achievement as any performance that falls below a prescribe standard. The classroom teacher is therefore faced with the challenge of teaching to attain effective conceptual change, high academic and skill achievement. Learning indeed occupies a very important place in one’s life. It is the basis of human survival as well as the development and progress of society.

However, the best efforts in learning may turn into a futile exercise, if the products of learning are not utilized at a later stage by the learner. For making use of material learnt it must remain in the learner’s mind, stored up somehow, to be used when the need arises. This process is called retention. Retention of learning according to Ausubel and Robinson (2002) is the repeated performance of behaviour earlier acquired by the learner and elicited after an interval of time.

Retention can therefore be described as the ability of a learner to recall to memory facts and figures in learning experiences. Retention can also be seen as someone’s ability to keep and recall past experiences or recognize what has been learned or experienced from memory.This implies that a learner who repeats an acquired piece of knowledge with less error is said to have retained the material learnt.Demmart (2001) noted that retention is affected by the degree of original learning, reinforcement, learners’ memory capacity and method of learning which could be passive and participatory(active). Shrun and Glinson (2001) contended that learning occurs often when student put more effort and attention in the learning process thereby being active learner. On the other hand, students do not learn or retain information when they are passive learners, which may lead to learning by memorization.

Further, Houghton (2007) defined retention as the ability of the mind to remember information acquired from reading, observation or other processes. In the world of psychology this ability or power of the mind to store the past experiences of learning and utilizing them at a later stage is known as ‘memory’ (Mckeachie, 2007). According to Mckeachie, memory or the process of memorization is quite a complex process which involves factors like learning, retention, recall and recognition.

The preservation of memory traces by the central nervous system or brain is known as retaining of the learned or experienced act. How long one can retain depends upon the strength and quality of the memory traces. Retention is the

amount of what the learner has retained about the learnt material equals amount the learner originally learned less the amount forgotten.(Zain, Subramaniam, Rashid &Ghani, 2009).According to Dancis, (2009) students learn and retain more when they develop their own knowledge and meaning from their own experiences. According to Safo, Ezenwa and Wushishi (2013) retention is the ability to keep or retain the knowledge of what is learnt and be able to recall it when it is required. Retention in this work can be explained as the ability to recall or remember what has been taught after a given time. This holds that learning is build upon knowledge that a student already has and learning is more effective when student are actively engaged in the learning process rather than attempting to receive knowledge passively. To this end, Moore(2008) noted that activity-based teaching method such as cooperative learning method which is learner centered may reverse the difference in academic achievementexisting between low and high achieving students. Hall (2002) opined that since activity based teaching encourages students to work cooperatively in groups or individually to exploit the available resources for learning, the gap between high and low achieving student could be bridged.

Retention with research to technology means that a student has as an ability to recall or recognize the basic technology concepts which have been learned before. Technology involves the academic and practical study of materials, source of energy and natural phenomena with the ultimate intention

of applying these to the service of man to make life more comfortable (Bamiro, Nurudeen&Akuru 2014). It is a major determinant of economy growth in the country.

Basic Technology (encapsulated in technology education) is a compulsory subject in the Nine Year Basic Education programme.   Its purpose is to contribute to the achievement of the national education goals by inculcation of technology literacy, that is, basic understanding of and capability in technology, exposure of students to the world of work to match their talents and interests for wise vocational choice; and inculcation of positive attitudes towards work as a source of human identity, livelihood and power (National Education Research Development Council, NERDC, 2007).

The aim of Basic Technology is to introduce students to technology right at the beginning of their junior secondary school level. The typical junior secondary Basic Technology curriculum consists of various topics, for the purpose of this study the following are captured thus: You and Technology, Safety, Material and Processing, Drawing Practice, Tools and Machines, Applied Electricity and Electronics, Energy and Power, Maintenance and Building.

The quality of basic technology teaching and learning in junior secondary school has a great influence and motivation on the achievements of students at the senior secondary or technical college. The effective teaching and learning of Basic Technology will expose students to the world of work and eventually qualify them to proceed to higher educational level so that they could become middle level manpower who are knowledgeable in the field of technology and who possess the skills and ability to solve societal problems. Basic Technology students are therefore expected to have competencies in technology including the ability to develop functional knowledge of basic technology concepts and principles, observe and explore the technological environment, apply the skills and knowledge gained through the study of Basic Technology to solve day to day problem, develop scientific and technological attitudes such as curiosity and precision, manipulate simple tools for the purpose of demonstrating processes, andimprovise simple equipment or machine from available resources in the immediate environment to solve societal problems (Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN, 2013).

Achieving these competencies therefore means that every student must be taught the basic technology so as to understand and master all the concepts in the Junior Secondary School Curriculum. The junior secondary schoolsend with final external examination, which is normally conducted by National Examination Council (NECO) or State Ministry of Education. Students register for the two external examinations or either as the case may be.

Despite the plan and efforts of the government to improve science and technology education at all levels of education, the achievements of students in basic technology have not been encouraging. The outcomes of internal and external examinations of student in junior secondary schools have revealed

decline in the achievement level in basic technology. This drastic fall in the academic achievement level in Basic Technology in Oyo state between year2010 and 2015 (see Appendix Q, page 182)is traceable to many psychological and environmental factors, which could be governmental, institutional, parental and societal factors (Garba, 2012). These factors could be as a result of government’s poor attitude towards revitalization of basic institutions in Nigeria, parent perception on education, lack of qualified technology teachers, student poor reading habits, and poor societal attitudes in embracing basic technology. Gender and location has been reported among the factors that affect students’ academic achievement and retention. Notwithstanding, FRN (2013) provides for equal education opportunity for all citizens, male and female to study all the subjects.

Gender is a term which describes behaviour and attributes of individuals on the basis of being either a male or female in a given society (Uwameiye&Osunde, 2005). Students’ gender may have effect on academic achievement in basic technology. According to Okeke (2008) there are many challenges posed by gender on academic achievement of students where certain subject and activities are seen as masculine and other as feminine. According to Abubakar and Uboh (2010), gender distinguishes organism on the basis of their reproductive roles as female and male. Studies on gender differences on academic achievement have presented mixed result. The belief that males perform better than the females in technical subjects is being debunked by

recent studies(Abubakar 2010; Eniayeju 2010).The above views indicated that there are needs to re-examine the method of impartingthe concept of basic technology to the students,so thatthe acquired knowledge would assiststudents to solve the day-to-day problemsinreal life situation. Theclassroom teacher is therefore faced with the challenge of teaching to attain effective conceptual change, high academic and skill achievement. Hence the researcher intends to find out the effects of cooperative leaning method (CLM) on academic achievement and retention of students in basic technology in Oyo State.