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Assessment of Adequacy, Availability and Extent of Utilization of Instructional Materials in the Teaching of Business Studies in Secondary Schools in Anambra State

AFRREV VOL 14 (1), S/NO 57, JANUARY, 2020

African Research Review: An International

Multidisciplinary Journal, Ethiopia

AFRREV Vol. 14 (1), Serial No 57, January, 2020: 52-60

ISSN 1994-9057 (Print) ISSN 2070-0083 (Online)

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/afrrev.v14i1.5

Assessment of Adequacy, Availability and Extent of Utilization of

Instructional Materials in the Teaching of Business Studies in

Secondary Schools in Anambra State

1Obidile, Jacinta Ifeoma & Obi, Oluchi Chinazor

Department of Technology and Vocational Education

Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka

Anambra State, Nigeria

1E-mail- ij.obidile@unizik.edu.ng

Phone: +2348038724558

Abstract

The need to improve the teaching and learning of Business Studies in secondary schools

necessitated this study to assess the adequacy, availability and extent of utilization of

instructional materials in the teaching and learning of Business Studies in secondary schools

in Anambra State. Three research questions guided the study. The population of the study

comprised 305 business studies teachers from 257 public secondary schools in Anambra

State. Purposive and Cluster sampling were used to select 85 Secondary schools and 120

Business Studies teachers respectively. Instruments for data collection were standardized

checklist and structure questionnaire. The checklist was used by the researchers to assess the

adequacy of the instructional materials used in the teaching of business studies while the

structured questionnaire was used to determine the availability and extent of utilization of

instructional materials in the teaching of business studies. The questionnaire was validated by

five experts with a reliability coefficient of 0.86. Data collected were analysed using

Frequency, Percentage, Mean and Standard Deviation. Findings from the study revealed that

instructional materials required in the teaching of Business Studies in secondary schools were

not adequately provided. Also, that most of the instructional materials were available but not

adequate and they were lowly utilized. Based on the findings of the study, it was

recommended among others that government and philanthropists should support public

secondary schools and made available, adequate number of the instructional materials needed

for effective teaching and learning of business studies.

Key Words – assessment; adequacy; availability; utilization; instructional materials; business

studies

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Introduction

The use of instructional materials is indispensable in the teaching and learning process. They

are essential tools which enhance the assimilation, comprehension, application and retention

of concepts in any subject. Instructional materials are used to make teaching and learning

more meaningful and comprehensible to learners. Tamakloe, Amedale and Atta (2005)

defined instructional materials as those resources used to facilitate teaching and learning.

Bashir (2018) asserted that instructional resources are people, events, places or materials that

are used to enhance learning, usually by simplifying a difficult situation or making

uninteresting learning attractive. In the same vein Oladejo, Ojebisi and Isola (2011) described

instructional resources as human or non-human materials which a teacher uses to pass

information to learners in the classroom. According to Ubolum and Ogwunte (2017),

instructional materials are simply resources used for effective implementation of any

educational programme. In this study, instructional materials are seen as tools or equipment

used to enhance learning, understanding and acquisition of skills. What qualifies resources to

be tagged as instructional or educational is when they are used for communication and

dissemination of information in the teaching and learning environment (Nwafor&Eze, 2014).

The demand for instructional materials’ utilization in the teaching and learning of business

studies is very important as it could enhance students’ academic achievement, retention and

application of skills.

Business studies are offered at the junior and senior secondary levels where pre-vocational

and vocational subjects are offered respectively. At the junior level, students offer business

studies as an integrated subject, while at the senior secondary level, subjects such as Book-

keeping/Accounting, Economics, Store Keeping, Commerce, Typewriting/Keyboarding,

Computer Studies, Shorthand, Office Practice and Marketing are offered as Business

Education. According to Obidile and Eze (2018),business studies are subjects designed to

equip the learners with the necessary competencies needed for exposure into the world of

business. The authors maintained that the subject exposes the students to business practices so

that they could respond positively to economic realities. It equips the students with the

administrative and managerial competencies needed to adapt to the economic situations. If the

objectives of business studies are to be maximally achieved, the school system should

integrate instructional materials in the teaching and learning of business studies. Factors such

as adequacy, availability and utilization of instructional materials should be properly

addressed. It is expected that students who had offered business studies should be able to

demonstrate to a reasonable degree the skills needed for self-employment. It is worrisome that

some of the graduates of business studies could not demonstrate the required skills needed for

self-employment. This could mean that the teachers’ roles in the classroom might have failed

to equip the learners with the expected skills. This could be probably due to non-use of

instructional materials in the teaching of business studies.

Instructional materials, no matter their nature and composition, constitute important and

relevant components of successful teaching and learning (Awobodu, 2002). This position was

supported by Amuzu (2018) when the author affirmed that the inability of the teacher to

utilize appropriate instructional resources to teach certain concepts would affect the student

negatively in the subject. Utilization of instructional materials in education sector could be

influenced by their availability. However, Odo and Ezeudu (2018) noted that the functionality

of an instructional material is the proper indication of its availability. Although availability of

instructional materials is critical in the teaching and learning, utilization of these resources is

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fundamental in ensuring quality-learning outcomes (Nwafor&Eze, 2014;

Makokha&Wanyonyi, 2015; Achimugu (2017); Dhakal, 2017). This entails that for

instructional materials to serve their purpose in enhancing students’ academic performance,

knowledge retention and application of skills, they should be functional, adequate, available,

easily accessible and properly utilized. Adequacy specifies the required number an

instructional material should be for teaching and learning to effectively take place.

Ubulom and Ogwunte (2017) noted that whenever instructional materials are utilized, they

generate greater students’ interest in the learning process. This means that teaching could be

less interesting without the use of instructional materials. According to Bongotons and

Onyenwe (2010) the use of instructional materials gives the learner opportunity to touch,

smell or taste objects in the teaching and learning process. Apart from their ability to enhance

learning, instructional materials could help teachers widen their scope of knowledge and

experience. Instructional materials required in the teaching of business studies according to

FRN (2013) include manual typewriter, computer, swivel typing chairs, drop desk/typist desk,

instructor’s table, instructor’s chair, stapling machine, stapling remover, perforator, stop

watch, wall clock, demonstration stand, English dictionary, Shorthand dictionary, filing

cabinet, filing trays, adding machine, listing machine, tape recorder, headphones, punching

machine, photocopier and any other latest office equipment in the market. Other instructional

materials listed by other scholars include pictures, filmstrips, globes, maps, transparencies,

charts, bulletin boards newspapers and magazines, tape recorder, radio, sound broadcasting,

language laboratory and gramophone, films, television, computers, videotapes and sound

strips (Amuzu, 2018).

Usman (2016) revealed that the Nigerian secondary school teachers operate from a deficient

environment where instructional materials are lacking. In the same vein, Muhammed (2017)

noted that the provision of instructional materials for teaching and learning in secondary

schools has received little attention. Furthermore, Ubulom and ogwunte (2017) revealed that

students are learning business studies without the required resources and facilities and this

might have affected their performance over the years. This study therefore sought to assess

the adequacy, availability and extent of utilization of instructional materials in the teaching of

business studies in secondary schools in Anambra State.

Research Questions

The following research questions guided the study:

1. How adequate are the instructional materials in the teaching of Business Studies in

secondary schools in Anambra State?

2. What instructional materials are available in the teaching of Business Studies in

secondary schools in Anambra State?

3. To what extent do business studies teachers utilize instructional materials in the

teaching of Business Studies in secondary schools in Anambra State?

Method

Survey research design and observation were adopted for the study. The survey research

design was used to ascertain the views and opinions of Business Studies teachers on the

availability and extent of utilization of instructional materials in the teaching of business

studies in secondary schools. Observation technique was used to assess the adequacy of

instructional materials in the teaching of business studies in secondary schools. Anambra

State was the area of the study. This area was chosen because it has relatively high number of

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public secondary schools which were used for the study.The population of the study consisted

of 306 business studies teachers from all the 257 public secondary schools in Anambra

State.Purposive and Cluster sampling were used for the study. Purposive sampling was used

to select 85 schools for the study and cluster sampling was used to select 120 business studies

teachers from the selected schools. Cluster sampling was used because business studies

teachers were found in different schools (boys’, girls’ and mixed schools). From the 85

schools purposively selected, all the business studies teachers in those schools were used.

Instruments for data collection were standardized checklist collected from the Post Primary

School Service Commission (PPSSC, 2019) and Structured Questionnaire titled

“Questionnaire on Availability and Extent of Utilization of Instructional Materials by

Business studies Teachers (QAEUIMBST)”. The checklist was used by the researchers to

assess the adequacy of the instructional materials in the teaching of Business Studies while

the structured questionnaire was used to determine the availability and extent of utilization of

instructional materials in the teaching of business studies. The questionnaire was validated by

five experts, three experts from the Department of Technology and Vocational Education and

two experts from Measurement and Evaluation Unit, all in Nnamdi Azikiwe University

Awka. A reliability coefficient of 0.86 was established using Cronbach Alpa’s method. The

questionnaire was divided into three sections. Section A was designed to provide background

information of the respondents, Section B dealt with the availability of the instructional

materials in the teaching of business studies and Section C dealt with the extent of utilization

of instructional materials by the business studies teachers. The Heads of Business studies

teachers in each school provided the researchers information on where the instructional

materials were kept. The researchers observed the materials and the quantity available in each

school using the checklist. Copies of questionnaire were administered to business studies

teachers to seek their opinion on the availability and extent of utilization of instructional

materials in the teaching of business studies. Out of the one hundred and twenty copies of the

questionnaire distributed, one hundred and two copies were properly filled and used for the

study. The exercise lasted for six weeks. Data collected were analysed using Frequency,

Percentage, Mean and Standard Deviation. For the adequacy of the instructional materials,

any item that was available in each school up to the required number (100%) was considered

adequate, otherwise, it was not considered adequately provided. For the availability of

instructional materials, any item that had frequency and percentage up to 50 and above was

considered to be available and below 50 was not considered to be available. Furthermore,

extent of utilization was rated on a five-point scale of Very Highly Utilized (VHU) >5,

Highly Utilized (HU) >4, Moderately Utilized (MU) >3, Lowly Utilized (LU) >2 and Very

Lowly Utilized (VLU) >1.

Findings

Research Question 1: How adequate are the instructional materials in the teaching of

business studies in secondary schools in Anambra State?

Data in Table 1 show that out of 23 items listed as instructional materials recommended for

the teaching of business studies, none was adequately provided in secondary schools with the

frequency and percentage scores ranging from 46-74 and 54.12-87.06 respectively.

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Table 1: Frequency and Percentage Scores on Adequacy of Instruction Materials in the

Teaching of Business studies in Secondary Schools

N= 85

S/N Instructional Materials Adequate

Frequency %

1. Manual typewriter

23.53

2. Computer

41.18

3. Swivel typing chairs

15.29

4. Drop desk/typist desk

21.18

5. Instructor’s table

27.06

6. Instructor’s chair

29.41

7. Stapling machine

49.41

8. Stapling remover

15.29

9. Perforator

45.88

10. Stop watch

37.65

11. Wall clock

41.18

12. Demonstration stand

35.29

13. English dictionary

37.65

14. Shorthand dictionary

28.24

15. Filing Cabinet

29.41

16. Filing trays

16.47

17. Adding machine

12.94

18. Listing machine

15.29

19. Tape recorder

27.06

20. Headphones

23.53

21. Punching machine

32.94

22. Photocopier

41.18

23. Any other latest office 12

14.11

equipment in the market

(like laminating machine,

scanner)

Not Adequate

Frequency %

76.47

58.82

84.71

78.82

72.94

70.59

50.59

84.71

54.12

62.35

58.82

64.71

62.35

71.76

70.59

83.53

87.06

84.71

72.94

76.47

67.06

58.82

85.89

Decision

Inadequate

Research Question 2

What instructional materials are available in the teaching of business studies in secondary

schools in Anambra State?

Data in Table 2 show that most of the instructional materials are available with frequency and

percentage scores ranging from 54-96 and 52.94-94.12 respectively. Items with frequency and

percentage scores ranging from 24-37 and 23.53-36.27 respectively are not available. They

include swivel typing chairs, stapling remover and listing machine.

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Table 2: Respondents’ Frequency and Percentage Scores on Availability of Instructional

Materials in the Teaching of Business Studies in Secondary Schools

N= 102

S/N Instructional

Available

Not Available

Materials

Frequency % Frequency %

1. Manual typewriter

52.94 48

47.06

2. Computer

94.12 6

5.88

3. Swivel typing chairs

27.45 74

72.55

4. Drop desk/typist desk 54

52.94 48

47.06

5. Instructor’s table

76.47 24

23.53

6. Instructor’s chair

87.25 13

12.75

7. Stapling machine

90.20 10

9.80

8. Stapling remover

33.33 68

66.67

9. Perforator

84.31 16

15.69

10. Stop watch

72.55 28

27.45

11. Wall clock

80.39 20

19.61

12. Demonstration stand

56.86 44

43.14

13. English dictionary

84.31 16

15.69

14. Shorthand dictionary 69

67.65 33

32.35

15. Filing Cabinet

80.39 20

19.61

16. Filing trays

71.57 29

28.43

17. Adding machine

56.86 44

43.14

18. Listing machine

23.53 78

76.47

19. Tape recorder

65.69 35

34.31

20. Headphones

74.51 26

25.49

21. Punching machine

60.78 40

39.22

22. Photocopier

85.29 15

14.71

23. Any other latest office 68

66.67 34

33.33

equipment in the market

(like

laminating

machine, scanner)

Decision

Available

Not Available

Available

Not Available

Available

Not Available

Available

Research Question 3

To what extent do business studies teachers utilize instructional materials in the teaching of

business studies in secondary schools in Anambra State?

Data in Table 3 reveal that most of the instructional materials are lowly utilized with mean

and standard deviation ratings ranging from 2.25-2.84 and 1.12-1.26 respectively. Also, two

items are very lowly utilized with mean and standard deviation ratings ranging from 1.13-1.22

and 1.12-1.14 respectively.

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Table 3: Respondents’ Mean Ratings on the Extent of Utilization of Instructional

Materials in the Teaching of Business Studies in Secondary Schools

N=102

S/N Instructional Materials

1. Manual typewriter

Mean SD

2.41 1.20

Remarks

2. Computer

3. Swivel typing chairs

4. Drop desk/typist desk

5. Instructor’s table

6. Instructor’s chair

7. Stapling machine

8. Stapling remover

9. Perforator

10. Stop watch

11. Wall clock

3.48 1.18

2.34 1.22

2.52 1.20

4.15 1.21

4.37 1.26

3.87 1.19

1.13 1.12

3.02 1.23

2.58 1.12

3.75 1.24

VLU

12. Demonstration stand

2.75 1.21

13. English dictionary

2.78

1.16

14. Shorthand dictionary

2.67

1.26

15. Filing Cabinet

3.76

1.22

16. File trays

2.25

1.20

17. Adding machine

3.31

1.21

18. Listing machine

1.22

1.14

19. Tape recorder

2.48

1.26

20. Headphones

2.36

1.12

21. Punching machine

2.42

1.20

22. Photocopier

4.32

1.46

23. Any other latest office equipment 2.84

1.16

in the market (like laminating

machine, scanner)

VLU

Discussion of Findings

Findings of the study revealed that instructional materials were not adequately provided in the

teaching of business studies in secondary schools. The finding supports the findings of Akpan

(2005) which revealed a high level of inadequate supply of instructional materials in schools.

The inadequate provision of instructional materials could be as a result of inadequate

allocation of resources which is usually made to education sector by the nation’s

administrators and this could hinder the acquisition of skills by the students. Inadequacy of

instructional materials could also cause less interaction of students with the instructional

materials since majority of the students might not practice with the material and this might

affect their academic achievement and interest negatively since Ubulom and Ogwunte (2017)

found that the use of instructional materials generates greater students’ interest in the learning

process.

Findings of the study also revealed that most of the instructional materials required in the

teaching of business studies were available except the swivel typing chairs, stapling remover

and listing machine. This is in contrast with the findings of Okoloeze, Akubuilo, Nwahiri and

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Anukwuorji (2017) which found that instructional materials were not available in secondary

schools.

Furthermore, the findings revealed that most of the instructional materials were lowly utilized

in the teaching of business studies. This is in line with the findings of Omeje and Chineke

(2015) which found that instructional materials were not greatly utilized in the teaching and

learning in Nigerian schools. Although low utilization of instructional materials by business

studies teachers could be as a result of not having access to the available instructional

materials. It could also be as a result of inadequate time for the lesson delivery. However,

teachers should often utilize instructional materials to enhance the teaching and learning

process.

Conclusion

The study has shown that most instructional materials required in the teaching of business

studies were not adequately provided, although some of them were available, they were lowly

utilized.

Recommendations

Based on the findings of this study, the following recommendations were made:

1. Government and philanthropists should support public secondary schools and made

available, adequate number of the instructional materials needed for effective

teaching and learning of business studies.

2. School administrators should make the available instructional materials accessible to

both the business studies teachers and their students to enhance skill development.

3. Adequate time should be allocated to the practical teaching of business studies in the

secondary schools to encourage utilization of instructional materials by the business

teachers in order to enhance the required skills for self-employment.

4. Business teachers should make personal effort to equip themselves with the necessary

skills needed for proper utilization of instructional materials as non-utilization could

inhibit the impartation of the necessary skills to students.

5. Improvised materials could be developed by students or teachers for use during

lessons where possible.

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