African Journal of Educational Management

The Influence of Robotics-Enhanced Instructional Strategy on Senior Secondary School Students’ Achievement in Physics in Abeokuta South Metropolis

Azeez Abayomi Edun — 2024-06-01

This study investigated the influence of educational robotics as an instructional strategy on the academic achievement of secondary school students in physics within Abeokuta South Metropolis, Nigeria. Despite the recognized importance of physics education to technological advancement, students’ performance in physics examinations had been consistently poor. The study adopted a quasi-experimental design and purposive sampling technique, a Physics Achievement Test (PAT) was administered as a pretest and posttest to 120 Senior Secondary School 2 students from two different schools (60 from each school) with treatment groups exposed to robotics-enhanced instruction using the mBot. Data analysis employed mean, standard deviations, and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) to test the null hypotheses. The findings revealed that students taught with mBot performed better than those without it. Gender differences in academic achievement were not significant. The study underscored the effectiveness of educational robots in enhancing physics education and called for its integration into the curriculum, teacher training, and the promotion of gender equality in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education. Implementing these recommendations could contribute to improved academic outcomes and foster technological advancement in Nigeria.

EXPLORING SCHOOL LEADERSHIP

Joel B. Babalola — 2024-06-01

The article “Exploring School Leadership: Global Perspectives and Local Insights from Sub-Saharan Africa” provides a comprehensive examination of the current state of school leadership in Sub-Saharan Africa, with a particular focus on Nigeria. The study is grounded in the context of global trends in school leadership and the unique challenges faced by school leaders in Sub-Saharan Africa. The problem statement revolves around the need for effective school leadership in the region, which is often hindered by barriers such as limited professional development opportunities and high rates of teacher attrition. The research questions focus on the patterns in the selection and appointment of school leaders, strategies for attracting talent to school leadership, conditions of employment for school leaders, support structures for effective school leadership, and policies for recruiting qualified principals. The methodology of the study involved a thorough review of existing literature and an analysis of primary and secondary data. The results revealed common patterns in the selection and appointment of school leaders, the importance of visibility and accessibility of professional development opportunities, the need for supportive employment conditions, the role of support structures in enhancing school leadership, and the effectiveness of current policies and strategies for recruiting principals. The findings indicated that while there are structures in place for the selection and appointment of school leaders, there are significant gaps in the provision of professional development opportunities and supportive employment conditions. Furthermore, the study found that support structures for school leaders are often lacking or inadequate. The policy implications of these findings suggest the need for leadership training programmes,increased visibility and accessibility of professional development opportunities, improved employment conditions, investment in comprehensive support structures, and revision of policies to ensure a more rigorous screening and selection process for principals. The study concluded that addressing these issues could significantly enhance the effectiveness of school leadership in Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in Nigeria.

Secondary Education and E-Learning Programme during Pandemic: Challenges and Way Forward In Nigeria

Adedoyin Adeola Bolanle — 2024-06-01

Over the years, education is being acquired in the traditional way but the innovation of information and communication technology, which is widely employed in the education sector at all levels in most developed countries had made it possible for developed countries to bridge the gap that would have occurred during the pandemic period. The outbreak of Corona virus (COVID 19) pandemic has resulted into total closure of all institutions of learning all over the world, and this has led to great set back in educational sector especially secondary education in Nigeria. In order to keep students busy during lockdown and also to prevent further deterioration in the system, E-learning programme was introduced in the education system. There are several challenges observed during the pandemic such as financial constraint, epileptic power supply that hindered the achievement of qualitative education through this programme. Government should provide adequate funding among others and government intervention in the E-learning process are possible solutions and recommendations suggested in this paper. This paper therefore discusses the challenges of E-learning during Coronavirus pandemic and proffers possible solutions and recommendations.

Effects of Role-Play and Guided-Inquiry Strategies on the Performance Of Upper Basic Social Studies Students

Anifat Abiodun Afolabi — 2024-06-01

This paper examined the effects of Guided Inquiry and Role-play strategies on the performance of upper basic students in Social Studies in Oyo State, Nigeria. The manifestation of social ills among the youths and the fluctuation in the performance of students in Social Studies at the secondary schools necessitated the need to find out about the effectiveness of these two strategies. As a quasi-experimental study, one hundred and forty-seven (147) in-tact JSS 3 students from three schools formed the sample and forty adopted standardized Basic Education Certificate Examination questions and lesson plan to suit Guided Inquiry and Role-play strategies were used as instrument. The study employed a factorial design of 3x2x3 and data were analyzed using (x), SD and ANCOVA at 0.05 level of significance. The result indicated that there is significance difference in the performance of students that were taught with Guided-Inquiry and Role-play strategies. It was recommended that Guided Inquiry and Role-Play should be used to teach Social Studies as they both yielded better performance than the expository strategy where students were passive in Social Studies lesson at the upper basic schools in Oyo state, Nigeria.

Abandoning Wealth for Scarcity

Timilehin Olayinka Omoniyi — 2024-06-01

This study critically examined the underlying factors driving this migration trend and its socio-economic implications. The study adopted mixed methods research design. Population comprised all youths in Southwestern Nigeria. The multi-stage sampling procedure was adopted. From each of the state simple random sampling was used to select three Local Government Areas (LGAs) each. Purposive sampling technique was used to select 35 participants from each of the LGAs making a total of 315 participants. The participants were purposively selected based on some criteria which are - he/she must have migrated to current location, must be within the age range of 30 and 49 years old; must be willing to participate in the study. In-depth interviews were conducted with key participants (two per LGA). Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. Findings showed that youths have positive orientation towards rural-urban migration and are not aware of potentials in rural areas; the Lack of infrastructure development in rural areas, lack of, support system and healthcare were rated as factors predisposing rural urban migration. It is also discovered that there was persistent decline in the population of the host communities, even the available ones comprise of aged men and women, people are running away from farming. Results show various plausible solutions however, recommended that youths need to explore rural wealth with modern technological approach. There is need for critical investments in rural community for multiple wealth creation and development.

FAMILY INVOLVEMENT AND GIRL CHILD’S ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN IBADAN NORTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Olawunmi Esther Temisanren — 2024-06-01

This study investigated the influence of family involvement on the academic performance of girl children in public secondary schools within the Ibadan North Local Government Area of Oyo State. In recent years, there has been growing recognition of the crucial role that family engagement plays in shaping a child's educational outcomes. However, research specifically focused on the academic performance of girl children within the Nigerian context, particularly in Ibadan North, Oyo State, remains limited. Thus, this research filled this gap by examining the influence of family involvement on the academic achievements of girl children in this region. The research adopted descriptive survey research design. Four research questions were raised. The population of the study consisted of all girl child while two hundred and seventy seven (277) were sampled. A self-designed survey questionnaire titled: “Influence of Family Involvement on the Girl Child’s Academic Performance in Selected Public Secondary Schools Questionnaire (IFIGCAPSPSSQ) with reliability coefficient 0.87 was used for data collection. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics. The study found out that with a weighted mean of 3.13, socio-economic status of the family significantly impacts the academic performance of girl children, weighted mean of 2.81 shows that parenting style influences the academic performance of girl children, weighted mea of 2.73 shows that parental engagement and support initiatives to moderate extent impact the academic performance of girl children. The study concluded that family involvement have significant influence on girl children academic performance. The family members should give more attention to their girl children in order to be vast in their academic ad e to address some challenges being faced.

Security Management Practices For Enhanced Safe School Environments in Public Tertiary Institutions in Rivers State, Nigeria

Franca Ginikachi Adieme — 2024-06-01

This study examined security management practices for enhanced safe school environments in public tertiary institutions in Rivers State, Nigeria. Three research questions and three hypotheses guided the study. Descriptive research design was adopted. The population comprised all the 44 Principal Officers in the 7 public tertiary institutions in Rivers State. Out of these Principal Officers, 27 are males whereas 17 are females. The entire population, which represents 100%, was used as the sample which infers the use of census sampling technique. The instrument for data collection was 18 item self-structured questionnaire entitled: “Security Management Practices for Enhanced Safe School Environments Questionnaire (SMPESSEQ).” internal consistency of the instrument was determined using the Cronbach’s Alpha. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions while the null hypotheses were tested using z-test at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study revealed, among others, that security practices are managed in very low extent. Based on the findings, it was recommended, among others, that School Management should always endeavour to equip the security personnel in best security practices by exposing them to capacity building programmes to improve on their skills and providing them with adequate security infrastructures that will enable them to curb crimes on campuses.