AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE IMPACT OF TWO TEACHING STYLE ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN HOME ECONOMICS

Background of the study: Any level of education's main goal in teaching is to effect fundamental change in the student (Tebabal & Kahssay, 2021). Teachers should use the most effective teaching techniques that best meet particular goals and level exit outcomes in order to enhance the transfer of information. In contrast to student-centered approaches, many teaching professionals used teacher-centered techniques in the conventional era to convey information to students. Questions about the impact of instructional strategies on student learning have, up to this point, continually sparked a great deal of interest in the subject area of educational research (Hightower et al., 2021).

Additionally, studies into teaching and learning always look into how much various teaching strategies may help students learn more. Surprisingly, the majority of kids consistently do poorly academically, and this is directly related to the use of inadequate teaching strategies by instructors to impart information to pupils (Adunola, 2021). According to extensive studies on the efficacy of teaching strategies, student accomplishments often reflect the quality of the teacher's instruction. Ayeni (2020) claims that teaching is a process that entails bringing about positive changes in students in order to reach certain goals. Adunola (2021) says that instructors need to be familiar with a variety of teaching techniques that take into account the degree of complexity of the topics to be addressed in order for the teaching approach to be successful.

Numerous researchers have looked for strategies to improve students' proficiency in home economics since there has been a persistently low level of accomplishment in this subject. They have consequently examined a variety of variables and conducted some empirical research on how these variables affect students' academic achievement.

The impact of two teaching approaches on secondary school students' performance in home economics is a factor taken into account in the current research. The discussion and demonstration approaches are the ones under consideration. These two approaches promote collaborative learning between the home economics instructor and students. According to Johnson and Johnson (2017), co-operative learning experiences encourage pupils to accomplish more academically. Although the majority of studies have emphasized how crucial it is for students to participate in class and communicate with one another, there may be other contributing variables that are less well-known, and a teacher's teaching style is undoubtedly one of them.

According to Jonassen (2016), pedagogy is a distinct method of teaching that a teacher might use. Thus, the act of teaching, or the "teaching technique," is widely understood to relate to instructional tactics or instructional style. Cooking, nutrition, housekeeping, personal finance, personal wellbeing, and consumer concerns are all topics covered in home economics, often known as family and consumer sciences. It used to be mostly limited to cooking and household. Numerous educational levels and locations across the globe provide home economics courses. These classes were historically designed to professionalize housekeeping, provide women intellectual satisfaction, highlight the importance of "women's labor" in society, and prepare them for conventional gender roles.

One of the disciplines in the Technology Education Key Learning Area at the secondary school level is home economics. It includes significant study topics for family, house, clothes, and food that relate to the six knowledge contexts suggested in the Technology Education Key Learning Area Curriculum Guide (Primary 1 – Secondary 3). Information and communication technology, materials and structures, manufacturing, strategies and management, systems and control, and technology and living are the six knowledge contexts.

According to Walker (2019), the discussion technique gives students an opportunity to respond while the instructor, who already knows the solution, gives them time to consider the topic. According to Wirschner (2016), the discussion technique is a teaching strategy that incorporates testing-like questions. To gather data on what pupils have learned and what needs to be taught, a teacher may pose a series of questions. Another use of inquiry is in testing. To determine if a student has retained the subject, a teacher quizzes the student on what was previously taught.

Mayer (2019) asserts that demonstrations are carried out to provide a chance to master new exploratory and visual learning activities from a fresh angle. In a scientific lesson, an instructor could conduct experiments to illustrate concepts. When a truth has to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, demonstration may be employed, such as by providing proof or logic. For secondary school pupils, there has been an uneven pace of improvement in home economics in terms of internal exams during the previous several years. Academic achievement may be evaluated on several levels and for a variety of reasons.

For instance, to assess students' mastery of course material and to offer marks for students and parents, classroom instructors administer formative and summative assessments. Depending on the teaching approach used, the relative success of secondary school pupils might have both an internal and outward influence. Given the above, it is necessary to investigate the effects of home economics teaching strategies on junior high school students' academic performance in the Enugu Education Zone.