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Students Perception Of Practical Agricultural Science In Senior Secondary Schools In Ilorin West L.g.a. Kwara State
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In regard to gender, gender difference in students is often implicated in their attitude towards the learning of science subject like agricultural science and other profession. Though some findings have found differences between boy and girls in cognitive achievement in science subject (Aremu. 1999 and Granewell, 2000) whereas other investigations found no such differences (Ezewui, 1981, Adesoji 1999) female student tends to exhibit a dislike for science subjects like Agricultural science that usually involve strenuous practical that require physical exertion which is usually associated with fatigue and sometimes physical injuries.
Nwosu (1998) observed that the girls fail to participate in science subject due to their negative attitude on anything called science practical. They count agricultural science has been more tedious and energy chopping than any other vocational subject thereby regarding farm practical as male ventures. Shiyan and Inyang-Abia (2011) revealed that the male students’ attitude towards the Agricultural Science subject was significantly higher than that of the females. Falaye and Ayoola (2006) reported that practical component entails physical labour and strenuous farming gardening activities, girls being weaker than boys usually prefer practical activities that are less tasking on physical energy and tend to dislike subject like agricultural science practical component. On a contrary Animasahun (2005) argued that both boys and girls can perform brilliantly in learning generally if they are exposed to the same learning opportunities.
Hindrances to Teaching and Learning of Practical Agricultural Science in Secondary Schools
Agriculture in general is faced with many hindrance and Challenges. Due to its great and enormous importance the hindrance needs to be looked into Agricultural Science involves a lot of practical activities. Therefore, lack of funds to acquire the needed teaching and learning resources for practical work impede the effective teaching and learning of the subject. According to Awuku et al. (1991), lack of textbooks, poor management, and poor funding are among the factors that impede the teaching and learning of Agricultural Science. Similarly, Ssekamwa (2009) posits that lack of funds and inadequate funds to run practical education have reduced the effectiveness of undertaking practical education in subjects like agriculture. Thus, leading to theoretical instruction of Agricultural Science in many schools. According to Government of Ghana (2003), schools have inadequate funds to provide all the necessary materials for practical work. Some also have no school farm.
This situation had reduced teaching of practical subjects like Agriculture changing it into a theoretical exercise. UNESCO (1999) observed that lack of financial resources hindered the expansion of facilities which led to specific problems in vocational subjects like Agricultural Science. In some cases the courses apparently are largely limited to theoretical classroom presentation because of lack of farmland. Those that have farmland also mostly experience shortage of simple farm tools, irrigation equipment and consumables such as fertilizers.
All these require a lot of funds, without which it is not possible to build sound attitudes to farming since the practical aspect cannot be provided. according to Itodo (2004), most schools faced a lot of challenges when it comes to practical work in Agricultural Science. Most of these challenges are in connection with lack of funds. Wootoyitidde (2010) posits that Agriculture as a practical subject requires facilities like land, equipment and a well-equipped laboratory. These facilities demand a lot of funds which many schools are not able to afford, hence making it difficult for such schools to undertake the needed practical work in Agriculture. It is essential for students to learn and practice skills in a good quality school farm. However, in most cases this is not possible because the schools do not have good quality farms due to inadequate funds (Erongu, 1995) A recent study conducted by Darko, et al. (2015) revealed among others that frequent use of lecture method in teaching, inadequate teaching and learning materials and their availability, and difficulty in planning field trips were the challenges to effective teaching and learning of Agricultural Science in the Senior High Schools. According to Orodho (2014), some students are of the perception that Agricultural Science has no future prospects for them. Others also believe that Agricultural Science is not as important as Mathematics and English Language which they view as core subjects needed to get employment or admission into tertiary institution.
Lack of specialized man power: One of the major hindrance pointed out by the united Nation university publication (2005), stated that in developing countries around the world the major hindrance they faced in practical agriculture is lack of specialized man power, this statement goes along way in concurring with Ayodeji (2001) statement that for the practice subject the major constraints remains lack of specialized man power to handle them in most schools he also pointed out that most agricultural science teachers in secondary schools are not real graduate of agricultural education, and so would not know the boundaries and integrity of their job, constituting to a hindrance to a sustainable practical agriculture Cooney (1990) opined that student do not understand agricultural science if it’s taught by an ineffective teacher, Izumi and Evess (2002) buttressed this by saying that teacher’s quality is the most among other critical factor like quality curriculum, funding, small class size and learning situation.
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ABSRACT - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]ABSTRACTThe study investigate students perception of practical agricultural science in senior secondary in Ilorin west LGA, Kwara StateThe population for this study is made up of all Agricultural science students. The instrument used for this study was research design questionnaire and responses were elicited for the research, random sampling method was used to sample students offering agricultural science from each of the four schools involved in the study. Four research question and hypotheses ... Continue reading---
QUESTIONNAIRE - [ Total Page(s): 2 ]UNIVERSITY OF ILORIN INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE EDUCATION QUESTIONNAIRE Students perception of practical agricultural science in senior secondary school in Ilorin west L.G.A kwara state.Dear respondent, This questionnaire is designed to help the researcher to have insight into secondary school students perception of practical agricultural science.The researcher will be highly delighted if you can tick (√) the correct information applicable to you, so as to enable him a ... Continue reading---
TABLE OF CONTENTS - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]TABLE OF CONTENTSTitle Page Certification DedicationAcknowledgements Abstract Table of Contents CHAPTER ONEINTRODUCTIONBackground to the problem Statements of Problem Purpose of the Study Research Questions Research Hypotheses Scope of the Study Clarification of Major Terms and Variables Significance of the Study CHAPTER TWOLITERATURE REVIEWConcept of Agricultural Education Objectives and Contents of Agricultural Science Curriculum Empirical studies on stu ... Continue reading---
CHAPTER ONE - [ Total Page(s): 3 ]Statements of ProblemThe role of Agriculture to a nation cannot be underestimate ranging from availability of crops and animals in market to food security among other. Agricultural science is a practical oriented subject, the approach to teaching of agricultural science in most secondary school is taught theoretically and has failed to make an impression on the society (Sekamu,2009). FRN (2009) pointed out that Nigeria schools should teach practical skills, knowledge and value which will help sc ... Continue reading---
CHAPTER THREE - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGYThis chapter explained the procedure employed in carrying out the study. The methodology was discussed under the following subheadings:. Research Design Population of the Study, Sampling and Sampling Techniques Research Instrument, Validation of Instrument, Procedure for Data Collection and Data Analysis Techniques Research Design The research design used for this work is survey research. It is used in investigating the perception of secondary students towards ... Continue reading---
CHAPTER FOUR - [ Total Page(s): 7 ]Research Question 3Does gender perception of practical agricultural science influence their choice of agricultural science as a career.From Table 3 ,35( 85%) of male and33( 82.5%) of female student agreed that their perception of practical agricultural science make them to aspire to read agricultural science and related courses in higher institution while 5(15%) and 7(17%) of male and female respectively disagreed with the statement, which is a indication that the way the student view agricult ... Continue reading---
CHAPTER FIVE - [ Total Page(s): 2 ]Conclusion Based on the findings of the study, the following are the major conclusion 1 Students in the study area have a positive perception towards practical agricultural science and that there was no significant difference between the perception of students toward practical agricultural science. ,2 Student positive perception towards practical agricultural science influence there aspiration to study agricultural science or it related field as a career after their secondary school education. ... Continue reading---
REFRENCES - [ Total Page(s): 2 ]Taylor, C. (2009). A good school for every child: How to improve our schools. Oxon: Routledge.Itodo, S. A. 2004. Practical Agriculture. Ibadan, Abbey CityPrinting Press.Ikoji,. C. N and Agwubike, C. C. (2006) problem facing new agricultural science teachers in Delta State. European Journal of Science Research. 18 (2): 229-237. Ikoji, C. N and Agwubike, C. C. (2007). Perception of head agricultural science teacher regarding problem and challenges of vocational agriculture delivery in secondary ... Continue reading---
