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UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION WINNEBA

COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION KUMASI

DEPARTMENT OF CONSTRUCTION AND WOOD TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION

IMPROVING THE PERFORMANCE OF FORM TWO STUDENTS OF ST

GEORGES SENIOR HIGH TECHNICAL SCHOOL IN BUILDING

CONSTRUCTION

MICHAEL KWOFI BRECHUM

AUGUST, 2014

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UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION, WINNEBA

COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION, KUMASI

FACULTY OF TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL EDUCATION

DEPARTMENT OF CONSTRUCTION AND WOOD TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION

IMPROVING THE PERFORMANCE OF FORM TWO STUDENTS OF ST

GEORGES SENIOR HIGH TECHNICAL SCHOOL IN BUILDING

CONSTRUCTION

AN ACTION RESEARCH SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF

CONSTRUCTION AND WOOD TECHNOLOGY OF UNIVERSITY OF

EDUCATION, WINNEBA IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT

FOR THE AWARD OF BACHALOR OF SCIENCE DEGREE IN TECHNOLOGY

EDUCATION

BY

MICHAEL KWOFI BRECHUM

4111270010

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AUGUST, 2014

DECLARATION

STUDENTS DECLARATION

I hereby declare that this work is my own research to be presented for a degree in this university

and that no portion of it has been reserved for any other certificates in the university or

elsewhere.

NAME OF STUDENT: MICHAEL KWOFI BRECHUM

SIGNATURE: ……………………………… DATE: …………………………..

SUPERVISORS DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the preparation and supervision of this action research was supervised in

accordance with laid down guidelines on supervision of action research by the University of

Education, Winneba.

NAME OF SUPERVISOR: MR. STEPHEN J. MITCHUAL

SIGNATURE: ……………………………… DATE: ……………………….

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DEDICATION

My dedication goes to the Almighty God, my newly born baby Daniella K. Brechum

and finally to all my friends for their encouragement and assistance given to me

throughout the period of this project work.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

My profound gratitude goes to the Almighty God for seeing me through this programme

successfully and to come out with this project work.

I am very much grateful to my supervisor, Mr. Stephen J. Mitchual for his corrections,

encouragement and dedicated time given me in supervising my project work.

I also express my sincere appreciation to my dear wife Irene Eleme A. Buorokuu for

her moral support given to me throughout the period of this research work. I will also

not forget all my friends and love ones of University of Education, Winneba, Kumasi

Campus for their numerous contributions towards this project.

May God shower His abundant blessings upon all that are concerned in Jesus name.

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ABSTRACT

This research was conducted at St Georges Senior High Technical School at Kuntenase

in the Bosomtwe District of Ashanti Region in line with poor performance of second

year technical students in Building Construction. Having identified the problem, the

researcher decided to research into the root courses, its effects on the individual

students, the school, the community in which the school is situated and the country as

a whole.

The main objective of the research was to design effective intervention to

improve the student’s performance. The research therefore covered five different

chapters. The first chapter provided the general overview of the introduction that

constituted the background to the research, the statement of problem, the objectives of

the study as well as the purpose and significance of the research. Chapter two was set

up to provide adequate and up to date information on present status relevant to the

proposed topic, soliciting the views of others through literature searching, observations

and so on. Chapter three discuss the various methods and techniques employed to

select the targeted population for the research, the research designed and instruments

used to gather and analyze the research findings. Chapter four discussed the results

of data collected and its findings. Chapter five also covered the conclusions, the

recommendations/suggestions laid down for further study. The research work has

indeed left a legacy which could be followed at any level of education and in any

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subject to create, capture and sustain the interest of students to learn harder, thereby

improving their performance not in only Building Construction but in all other subjects.

TABLE OF CONTENT

TABLE OF CONTENT PAGE

TITLE PAGE ………………………………………………… i

DECLARATION …………………………………………….. ii

DEDICATION ……………………………………………….. iii

ACKNOWLEDGE …………………………………………… iv

ABSTRACT ……………………………………………………. v

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the study ……………………………….. 1

1.2 Statement of the problem................................................. 2

1.3 Objective of the study……………................................... 3

1.4 Purpose of the study ……………………………………. 3

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1.5

1.6 Significance of the study ………………………………. 3

1.7 Research questions ……………………………………... 4

1.8 Delimitation of the study ………………………………... 4

1.9 Limitation of the study …………………………………... 4

1.10 Organization of the study ………………………………… 5

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction …………………………………………………. 7

2.2 Meaning of Building Construction …………………………... 8

2.3 Rationale for teaching and learning Pre Technical Skills at first Cycle

institutions………………………………………………………. 8

2.4 Factors leading to the poor performance of students in Pre Technical Skills and way

forward ………………………………………………………..... 9

2.5 Methods and Techniques Employed in teaching skills ………... 13

CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction …………………………………………………….. 19

3.2 Research Design ………………………………………………… 19

3.3 Population and sample size ……………………………………… 20

3.4 Instrumentation and data collection …………………………….. 20

3.5 Data collection Techniques ……………………………………… 21

3.6 Intervention Design ……………………………………………… 21

3.7 Implementation of Intervention …………………………………. 22

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CHAPTER FOUR: DATA ANALYSIS

4.1 Introduction ……………………………………………………… 27

4.2 Comparison of First and Second Term’s Examination Results for form two Technical

students ………………………………………………………. 27

4.3 Results from Questionnaire given to form two technical students …. 30

4.4 Observations made by the Researcher …………………… 35

4.5 Analysis of Interview with the Permanent Building Construction Teacher …… 36

4.6 Analysis of Interview with the Headmistress ………………….…. 37

CHAPTER FIVE

5.1 Introduction ………………………………………………………… 39

5.2 General Over view of the study ……………………………………. 39

5.3 Summary of Findings ………………………………………………. 40

5.4 Implication for Practice ………………………………………… 40

5.5 Recommendations/Suggestions ……………………………….... 41

APPENDIX I …………………………………………………………… 43

APPENDIX II …………………………………………………………... 45

APPENDIX III …………………………………………………………. 47

LIST OF TABLES ……………………………………………………… 48

REFERENCE ……………………………………………………… 49

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the study

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To many scholars, education is considered as the key to the development of every nation.

According to Taba (1962), education should lead learners to the development of a democratic

way of life, civic responsibility and economic self – sufficiency. In this direction, education is

meant to develop the entire well – being of the individual learners in order to be able to fit well

into his/her society. For instance, it aims at enabling the youth to play a more effective role in

the development of the nation by imparting to them the necessary skills and knowledge and

inculcating the right attitudes in them.

According to Adentwi K. Impram (2005), “Successful accomplishment of educational

task often depends on a clear conception of the purpose or end that the group or individual has

in view”. The task of education is therefore to change the behaviour of learners in desirable

ways, with the aim of adding to the stock of knowledge they possess, equipping them with

needed skills and developing in them a sense of positive values and attitudes.

It is against this background that the Government of Ghana, right from pre –colonial, colonial

and post – colonial era to present day has established the various education committees with

the aim of improving upon the education of the citizens to ensure total growth and development

of the country. As part of these objectives of the New Educational Reforms introduced in 1987

to provide structures for schools in every community of the country gave the greatest

opportunity to the people of Kuntenase, a small town located in Bosomtwe District of Ashanti

to embrace the idea. St Georges Senior High Technical School was established in order to

embrace the idea of improving upon the Technical knowledge the students had acquired from

basic school level so as to develop their manipulative skills and creativity to curb the

unemployment situation in the country as this is one important priority of the New Education

Reform programme. Although the New Educational system was set up to develop the learners

manipulative skills and creativity at the basic level and continue to improve upon them at the

Second Cycle Institution in order to become self – employed, this had not been so with the

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second year technical students of St Georges Senior High Technical School with particular

reference to Building Construction. Through the systematic careful study made by researcher

into this poor performance, it was realized that the problem is not the same as the other

Technical Institutions but centered on St George’s Senior High Technical School, with

particular reference to Building Construction. It is in that direction that the researcher decided

to find out why the second year technical students of St George’s Senior High Technical School

have such low level of performance in Building Construction compared to their performance

in other subjects and design intervention to improve upon their performance in the subject.

1.2 Statement of the problem

The researcher seeks to find out why the performance of the second year technical students of

St George’s Senior High Technical School in Building Construction was so low. The parents

and the entire community members of Kuntenase where St George’s Senior High Technical

School is located do not endorse the performance of their wards in Building Construction, this

situation has called for discouraging students to take the study of the subject very serious and

even pursue it for further studies. The results from these observations and interviews made by

the researcher indicated that the claim of poor performance of the second year technical

students was actually true. About 60% of the students did not show any interest in studying the

subject and therefore did other things while lessons were in progress. Due to the numerous

sketches involve, about 70% of the students claimed the subject was too difficult , also it was

clearly find out that about 80% of the students do copying work during class tests, class

exercises, homeworks, etc. Again, most of the students were inactive in class and therefore did

not pay attention which made them asked irrelevant questions.

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Finally, 70% of the students have conceived the notion that the subject was mainly

designed to train masons. These findings from the observations and interviews helped the

researcher to identify the root causes of the abysmal performance of the students in the subject.

1.3 Objectives of the study

The objectives of this study is crucial in the life of every technical student offering Building

Construction, because it is aimed at;

1. Identifying the root causes of the poor performance of student in Building Construction.

2. Designing interventions that would improve their performance in the subject.

1.4 Purpose of the Study

The main purpose of this study is to improve the performance of the second year technical

students of St Georges Senior High Technical School. This purpose is intended to be achieved

by investigating into the causes of the poor performance of students and based upon the

information gathered, designed interventions that would enhance their performance.

1.5 Significance of the study

It is very important to understand the study into the topic in the sense that its consequences and

benefits has direct impact on the individual learners, teachers, heads of technical departments,

policy makers and implementers and the nation as a whole. The research findings would

serve as a guide for learners, parents, teachers and other educational stakeholders to reconsider

their conceived attitudes towards the teaching and learning of Building Construction at the

second cycle institutions. The findings of the study will further help parents and learners to

make well informed career choices. Again, it will enable the government of the day to invest

in Technical Education right from basic level to tertiary level for making Technology a

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priority for tackling the numerous and untapped resources for enhancement and improvement

in socio – economic activities in the country.

1.6 Research Questions

The inability of most students in Senior high Technical School level to perform properly in

Building Construction has prompted me to do this research work. This has made it possible to ask

the following questions:

How will appropriate use of teaching and learning materials help to motivate students to

become very active in lessons?

How will the use of motivation arouse students’ interest and help them take active part in

teaching and learning?

How will the career guidance workshops help improve students’ performance?

What methods of teaching will best help to improve the students’ performance?

In what ways will the organization of remedial teaching for weak students help improve their

performance?

1.7 Delimitation of the study

The study is delimited to improving the performance of students in Building Construction in

the Senior High Technical Schools. It is therefore not possible to generalize the results of this

study to the teaching and learning of other subjects.

1.8 Limitation of the study.

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The result of this study is that the intervention was limited to only St George’s Senior High

Technical School, even though other students in other Senior High Technical Schools might

be facing the same poor performance in the Building Construction. The small size of the sample

and the fact that the sample representativeness could not be ascertained also limit the

generalization of the study.

1.9 Organization of the study.

This research work attempts to provide hands-on activity that can aid Technical teachers as

well as any other stake holders, deliver with ease the teaching and learning of Building

Construction in the second cycle level of education in Ghana. The study is therefore organized

into five chapters.

The first chapter is devoted to the background of the study and the statement of the

problem. Other areas such as research questions, the purpose of the study and the significant

of the study are included. Also included here are, the organization of the study, limitations and

delimitations.

The second chapter addresses review of related literature which involves the systematic

identification, location and analysis of documents containing information related to the

research problem that has been written by scholars, educators and experts in the field of study.

It also points out research strategies and the specific procedures and measuring instruments.

The third chapter focuses on the methodology of the study. Areas covered here include

the research design, the identification of the population, the sample and the sampling

procedure, instrumentation and data collection.

The fourth chapter talked on data analysis and discussion of the findings. The chapter

also presents the results of the qualitative analysis of the data collected for the study.

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The last chapter is the summary of the study. The areas covered include the summary

of findings based on the analysis of the data collected, the conclusion drawn from the findings

and recommendations made. Finally, suggestions which focus on the improvement in the

performance of students in Building Construction at the second cycle schools.

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CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction

Undertaking research without consulting other books, magazines, newspapers and journals in

which the topic has been dealt with makes the work more difficult. To overcome these

difficulties, this chapter seeks to look into detail, other views about the problem, its

impacts on the individuals and the nation as a whole and ways forward to address it, i.e.

Interventions. It also talks about the meaning of Building Construction, the rationale for

teaching and learning Building Construction in second cycle institutions, factors leading

to poor performance of students in Building Construction and various methods and

techniques employed in teaching Building Construction to improve performance of

students. In fact, the development of every course, for instance, Technical and

Vocational Education at higher level depends mostly on its solid foundation in the basic

or lower level of education, therefore much attention should be given to every course at

the lower level. Technical and Vocational Education was once considered the tool for

sustainable growth and development of the country. But of late the plight of this type

of education has seriously reduced and is being considered as reserved for school

dropouts and unintelligent people. The government, stakeholders and other opinion

leaders, in this context, will agree with the writer of this research that Ghana cannot

boast of any industrial growth, until the provision and acquisition of employable skills

are enhanced to build the manpower development and to reduce the rate of

unemployment in the country. It is against this background that the current government

based upon the Anamuah Mensah Committee (2002-2006) on New Education Reform

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that is the Junior High School and Senior High School to replace the last reform which

started in September, 1987. According to a report in Daily Graphic made by Papa

Owusu – Ankomah, 2007, “the new reform is said to put right failures of the latest

reform by improving related subjects such as Science and Technology to in turn

strengthen Technical and Vocational Skills and for that matter Technical and

Vocational Education in the country.

2.2 Meaning of Building Construction

Building construction is a subject designed to train school children to acquire

knowledge and skills to handle construction tools safely, avoid waste of materials and

solve problems involving construction through planning, designing, making and

evaluating. Building Construction as a subject was introduced into the curriculum of

Junior High School in 1987 as it has been fused in Pre – Technical Skills. With this,

pupils are provided with basic ideas and concepts that will be a foundation or a stepping

stone to advance levels of industrial development. At second cycle level, Building

Construction equips students with the knowledge and skills with the full knowledge in

the current technological dispensation to become fully acquainted with occupational

skills in the field of construction.

2.3 Rationale for teaching and learning Building Construction at the Second

Cycle Institutions.

The rationale for teaching and learning Building Construction at the Senior High

Schools could be numerous. The study of the subject assists students to:

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Acquire knowledge that will lead them to further studies to tertiary

institutions.

Acquire skills in construction that will serve as a source of employment in

case they are unable to continue their education after second cycle level.

Take care of and maintain constructional tools.

Acquire skills of solving contemporary problems of Building Construction

through planning, designing, making and evaluating.

It could be seen that the subject was designed to prepare students with skills and

knowledge prior to the world of work in the field of construction for a living and to

solve certain problems in their immediate environment and beyond.

2.4 Factors Leading to Poor Performance of Students in Building Construction

and Way Forward

From the research findings, the following factors were considered as the main factors

leading to the poor performance of students in Building Construction at the Senior High

School level although there were other factors.

Absence of appropriate teaching and learning materials during Building

Construction lessons in the various schools.

Lack of motivation for students in the study of Building Construction.

Inadequate career orientation and guidance for parents and students in

studying the subject.

Laziness of some students especially in the practical lessons.

Lack of proper monitoring and supervision of activities assigned to students

in the part of the teachers.

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Absence of workshop and training materials and equipment to engage the

students in practical activities.

Negative attitudes of parents and students towards the subject.

Effects of teaching and learning materials on teaching and learning

Amoakohene, et al (1998), Teaching and learning materials, are considered as effective

tools for promoting students’ understanding and enhance their performance in a

particular subject. They described teaching and learning materials as items that can be

seen and touched and used to make teaching and learning more understandable and

successful to reinforce learning. Since Building Construction is a subject which

involves variety of skills and activities, the use of teaching and learning materials should

be relevant to the topics and expected to be used to facilitate individualized teaching

and in turn assist both slow and gifted learners. The use of appropriate teaching and

learning materials in lessons, apart from bringing the world into the classroom in very

exciting, informative and authentic ways can also make teaching and learning more

enjoyable rather than the use of the abstracts materials in teaching.

Effect of Motivation on Students Performance.

Annoh (2004), illustrates motivation from psychologist point of view as a term to

describe the forces that move people. “He defined motivation as the forces that energize

and direct behavior. Annoh explained that those learners who know they perform well

in an activity make effort to repeat their performance or to perform more satisfactorily

in subsequent tasks while those who performed poorly make effort to improve upon

their performance in subsequent tasks. Motivation, according to Annoh plays the

following roles in teaching and learning.

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i. It offsets fatigue and boredom, especially when challenging activities are

given to learners.

ii. It also helps to maintain class discipline and interest of students in a lesson.

iii. It enables the teacher to secure the attention and full participation of the

students during lesson.

iv. It once again stimulates learners to learn harder and with enthusiasm.

Some techniques for motivating learners include establishing good teacher – learner

relationship, using reinforcement by rewarding students to increase desirable behavior

and punishing them to decrease or eliminate undesirable behavior, making school work

real, practical and concrete by using suitable and adequate teaching aids, providing

prompt feedback to students after activities. The absence of these in teaching and

learning have great adverse effects on the students’ performances.

Laziness of students.

The word laziness, according to Macmillan English Dictionary means not willing to

work or do anything involves effort. For successful accomplishment of any work or

learning of any subject, much effort must be put in as it is an engine or a tool for

improvement. Spending time relaxing and not involving in any activity that needs effort

could yield poor performance especially when it comes to the study of Building

Construction. Students should therefore demonstrate the spirit of hardworking in the

subject to enable them improve upon their performance.

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Lack of monitoring and supervision of students activities.

In as much as the study of Building Construction involves a lot of practical activities,

there is the need for effective monitoring and supervision. To monitor is to advise or

warn someone undertaking certain activity in a continuous manner and also to

supervise, is to look after, manage and direct activities of an individual a group or an

organization. Archer (2006), defined supervision as those activities, engaged in by one

or more individuals, who have as their main purpose the improvement of a person,

group or programme. It is therefore very important for every teacher to monitor and

supervise his/her students’ activities effectively because teachers’ inability to do this,

will greatly retard the progress and performance of the students in a given set up.

Absence of workshop and training materials

Another key factor leading to low performance of students in Building Construction in

our various Senior High Schools is the absence of workshop and training materials.

Students learn and understand better when they feel, touch and handle materials to

discover things themselves. Archer (2006) said the presence and maintenance of

physical facilities and educational materials is one of the administrative task of the

school heads. In this direct-ion, the school head is responsible for ensuring that the

school plant including workshop and resources for practical activities are in good shape

and that improvements and expansion are made to ensure effective engagement of

students in a practical activities when necessary which will go a long way to improve

upon the performance of students in Building Construction.

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Inadequate career orientation or information and guidance for students.

Inadequate career information and vocational guidance is one of the major causes of

poor performance of students in the subject. Makinde (1987) asserts that guidance is for

individuals who want to understand themselves and their world and to become effective,

more productive and happier beings. It is therefore very vital in any academic setting

to create awareness of world of work in relation to the subject in question through

heredity and environment could play an important role in person’s career. Therefore,

feeding students with adequate information about the future career for studying the

subject could motivate them to study hard which will at the end improve upon their

performance.

Students’ attitude towards the subject

According to Annoh (1991), many people have the perception that office work carries

more prestige or has social recognition than manual work, their respect for those who

do manual work is less. He further stated that most students and even parents saw

Technical and Vocational Skills which Building Construction is part as something

meant for the unfortunate or academically weak students, this notion makes many

parents not willing to send their wards to Technical Institutions. Annoh went further to

say that negative attitudes towards any subject eventually produce or yield poor results.

2.5 Methods and techniques employed in teaching skills

There are numerous strategies that could be employed in teaching and learning skills.

Among these methods include activity method, project method, Demonstration method

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discussion method and other methods such as educational visit or field trips, remedial

tuition, information feedback and so on.

Activity method

According to Amoakohene S.K (1998), activity method helps learners to study best by

doing so for them to remember what they learn very well, learners must see, touch, taste,

smell and hear the things they are learning about and things connected with them.

Farrant J.S (1980), says activity is one of the keynotes of modern education. He said

that teachers use activities because they know that learners learn best by doing and find

interest and enjoyment in activity. Always, the good teacher uses activity as a means to

an end and select with care the activities he uses so that they serve the best process of

learning. Farrant enumerates features that identify a good activity and distinguish it

from a poor one as follows.

It allows the learners ample freedom to express themselves.

A good activity helps learners to gain a firmer grasp of what learnt leading

to a deeper understanding.

A good activity is the one that is within the competence of the age and ability

of the leaner.

It does not attract attention to itself at the expense of what is being learned.

It can sustain the interest of the learners involved for as long as it takes them

to succeed in what they are learning.

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Project Method

Project method is one of the effective approaches in dealing with subjects which involve

practical skills like Building Construction. Fianu (1993) says that the project method

develops the curiosity, initiative, enterprise and imaginative faculties of the learners as

well as spirit of inquiry. To him, the method puts responsibility on the leaner and gives

scope for their initiative and thereby trains them in qualities of leadership. This method

also provides opportunity for team work for which the task assigned to learners should

be within their capabilities. He further explained that in planning the project work, it

should be made to embrace a variety of syllabus items to enable learners appreciate the

relevance of theory to practice.

Demonstration method

Demonstration method is one of the best method for teaching practical and new skills.

Sackey (1994), demonstration is one of the effective means of presenting new skills to

students by means of explanation and questions and answers. Demonstration is carried

out by the teacher while students observe the techniques and procedure showing how a

new skill should be performed. Sackey further explained that an effective demonstration

must be accomplished by clear explanation by the teacher of how the skills are being

demonstrated for better understanding. The teacher’s reasonability is to prepare

adequately in advance in terms of lesson plan with well and clearly stated objectives

and make ready tools, equipment and materials to ensure effective, efficient and

uninterrupted demonstrations.

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Discussion method

With discussion method the teacher first introduces the topic and invites the views of

the students, in this wise the students actively get involved throughout the lesson. Fianu

(1993), says during discussion, both the teacher and the learners bring out their ideas,

knowledge, experiences, attitudes, opinions and insights about the topic under

discussion by exhibiting what they know, what they can do and what they feel about

the topic. The main role of the teacher is to ask students questions based on the

instructional objectives stated and tries to listen and answer questions from the learners

for clearly and better understanding of the topic. The method therefore encourages

active and full participation of the learners in the lesson and thereby making them have

interest in the lesson. Involving students in the lesson and capture their interest strongly

encourages creativity and promote greater understanding and performance on the part

of the learners. In the opinion of Dondieu (1998), though discussion method is effective

and useful techniques in teaching, it needs advanced preparation and proper planning

because it could be time consuming.

Field Trip/Educational visit

The use of field trips in teaching and learning processes is to broaden the scope of

students learning experience and thereby enhancing their understanding and

performance. Akinade (1996), field trip is a technique use to provide career

information. He explained field trips as tours or excursion organized for students to

some industries, institution and other places which could assist students to gain

firsthand information about occupations or specific area of study. Students visit to work

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places, offer them the opportunity to interact with the workers in a very cordial

atmosphere, watching the workers’ attitudes as they move towards work and the kind

of behavior the occupation demands. Field trips are therefore meant to boost student’s

confidence, morale and motivate them to clear off some misconceptions that they might

have perceived earlier on and thus develop their interest in studying the subject to the

highest level of education. Adu Stephen (1996) also refer to field trips, as “educational

visit” which helps to consolidate abstract concept learnt in the classroom or workshop.

He further explained that educational visit as a means of collecting accurate data from

resource person who cannot be brought to the classroom or workshop at the learner’s

own school premises.

Remedial tuition for students

Remedial tuition is an additional teaching giving to learners who are found to be lagging

behind in particular areas in class outside the normal contact periods. It is mostly done

to correct certain identified weakness in such learners with the aim of bridging the gap

between the low and the higher learners who have already understood the concept

taught.

Information Feedback

To the researcher, the use of information feedback is another vital teaching technique

which motivate learners to study hard to improve upon their performance. Giving

feedback to learners particularly in skills and drawing activities motivate them to put in

more effort in the subsequent activities. Feedback is very effective if it is given

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immediately after the activity has been completed. It makes students to become aware

of their progress and stimulates them to put much effort in their studies. It is

accompanied by remarks indicating the success or failure of students, suggesting the

way forward or even asking them to contact the teacher concern for remedial tuition

where necessary. “Immediate reinforcement promotes learning and as a result, enhances

learners performance” as Adentwi (2005) quoted from wheeler (1983). When students

are not motivated to improve, whatever feedback is given becomes meaningless.

However, when feedback is given as corrective measure with all sincerity of purpose,

the students accept it as rewarding.

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CHAPTER THREE

METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction

This chapter looks at the methods employed for collecting data for the study. Although there

are many methods, the researcher used observation, interview and questionnaire to conduct the

investigation into the poor performance of the students Building Construction.

Observation is a way of finding information yourself and it involves the use of all the senses to

find out whatever goes on in and around ones surroundings. Interviewer on the other hand

involves face –to –face meeting between the interviewer and the interviewee for information

seeking. Interview is appropriate and reliable method as it brings quick and factual response.

Questionnaire was chosen as it is less time and less energy consuming, and its distribution and

return cost is relatively low and affordable on the part of the researcher. Questionnaire for

students was to encourage them and develop their spirit of individualism and also enable them

feel free to decide on own choices in life.

3.2 Research Design

The model for this study is action research since it seeks to find solution to students’ inability

to perform properly in Building Construction. Kannae (2004) described action research as a

process by which practitioners attempt to study their problems scientifically in order to guide,

correct and evaluate their decision and actions. It involves the application of appropriate

intervention strategies aimed at finding solutions to problem(s) identified in teaching-learning

situation in order to bring about a change. Action research is preferred in this context because

it deals with a small scale intervention which is appropriate to one classroom situation in which

the researcher carried out the study. As a teacher in the field, one aspect of the design involved

a series of interviews conducted on some randomly selected students who did not do well in

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the subject in the classroom. The students were interviewed on their level of understanding of

the manipulative materials used to present practical lessons in Building Construction.

3.3 Population and Sample Size

The research study attempts to examine the performance of second year technical students of

St George’s Senior High Technical in Building Construction. The population covers all the

student in technical two, permanent Building Construction Teacher and the Headmistress of

the school. The total number of technical two students is ten. The total population on the whole

is twelve. The second year technical class was chosen by the researcher because their

performance in the subject as compared to that of third year technical class was generally low.

3.4 Instrumentation and Data Collection

The instruments used for collecting the data are as follows:

Observation: The researcher critically and closely observed the attitudes of students to

find out whether they have interest in the subject or not. He did that by observing the

way the students behave when lessons were in progress, the way they asked and

answered questions in class, their attitudes towards class tests, class exercises,

assignments, quizzes and practical activities. The performance of students in first term

examination also gave the researcher a fair assessment of the students in the subject.

Questionnaire: Questionnaire were distributed to the students to complete with the

purpose of developing their interest in the subject. (Appendix I) is the sample of the

questionnaire.

Interview: The permanent Building Construction teacher from the school was granted

an interview just to find out the problems he encountered over the years with the

students he handled in the subject. The interview assisted the researcher to employ

[30]

strategies at his disposal to reduce the situation to a minimum level, if not completely

eradicated. (Appendix II) was the interview conducted. The Headmistress of the school

was also granted an interview to assist the researcher to have fair assessment on how to

improve the performance of the students in Building Construction (see appendix III)

3.5 Data Collection Techniques

The researcher used tables and charts to analyze the data collected. Each question under the

questionnaire for students was critically analyzed and the number of respondents with

particular responses was quantified into percentages and degrees. In this regard, the responses

with the highest percentage or degree was considered as the general and acceptable opinion to

that effect. Taking these opinions and responses into consideration, statements about findings

were therefore made.

3.6 Intervention Design

The researcher, in an attempt to address the problem of poor performance thus to enhance the

performance of second year technical students of St George’s Senior High Technical School

employed the following interventions;

The use of appropriate teaching and learning materials and techniques

Motivation

Career information and guidance

Proper monitoring and supervision of students’ work

Giving enough exercises and quizzes to students

Organization of field trips

Giving immediate feedback to students

Organization of remedial tuition for deserving students.

[31]

3.8 Implementation of Intervention

The researcher employed and implemented the following interventions in an attempt to address

the problem of poor performance of the students in the Building Construction.

The use of appropriate teaching and learning materials and techniques.

The researcher employed variety of teaching and learning materials such as charts, relia,

models and pictures in all lessons. For example, when students were taken through the

staircase, a model of staircase was provided and through that, the attention and interest of

students were captured and sustained throughout the lesson. The researcher also employed

variety of teaching techniques, notably; the activity–based methods such as demonstration and

project methods when dealing with practical lessons.

Typical example of implementing the demonstration method in delivering a lesson was

when students were taken through the manufacturing processes of Sandcrete blocks. The

researcher demonstrated to the students, the batching of cement and sand using gauge box and

spade, spreading of sand on the hard flat platform and spread cement on it, mixing them to

become a uniform colour before adding water to get workable mortar, filling of mould box

with the mortar, compacting and evening the top of the mould box to get the Sandcrete block

were followed. Two students were allowed to practice the activity while the other students

looked on. Actually, that promoted the understanding of students better in the topic as clear

explanation and questioning techniques were used during the demonstration exercise.

The researcher also employed discussion method to ensure full participation of the students

in the various lesson by introducing the topics and guided the students to discuss while giving

them explanations for clarification of key points.

[32]

Motivation

The researcher used motivation to keep the students busy in studying the subject all the time.

Students who performed best in class tests, class exercises, end of term examination and

quizzes were given note books, pens and mathematical instruments. Again, attractive charts

and models were used in all kinds of lessons to capture and sustain students’ interest throughout

the lessons. The philosophy of the researcher is to teach the students how “to fish but not how

to eat fish” which means that the researcher is to guide, motivate and direct the course of his

students to discover new facts to manipulate any resources available to them to enhance their

performance. Assisting students to discover new facts on their own was the aim of the

researcher but not to spoon – feed them. The researcher as far as possible secured the attention

of the students, encouraged group and individual participation, developing and maintaining

interest of students, creating free, fair but a firm interaction gap between himself and the

students. All the motivational skills employed assisted students to study the subject all the time.

Career information and guidance

Career information and guidance is a very vital tool in any educational setting to create

awareness of a given subject. In this regard, a Building Construction Teacher of St George’s

Senior High Technical School was invited as a resource person to give the students some career

information and guidance through verbal communication. He elaborated the various

opportunities in studying the subject, he pointed out that, Building Construction when seriously

studied at second cycle institutions could help the students get admission into tertiary

institutions more easily as a few students attend technical schools at the second cycle level in

spite of the aim of the Government to improve Technical Education for the enhancement of

socio – economic development in the country. Students could also become engineers in

Building Technology, Teachers, Contractors, Architects, Artisans, Designers of all kinds,

Masons and so on. He made it clear to the students that carefully taking into consideration the

numerous opportunities in studying the subject, it is not true that the subject was designed for

unfortunate students who could not make it to the next stage of education but designed for

[33]

potential students on the grounds of academic. Indeed, looking at the students’ behavior and

attitudes towards the subject, they became more active, determined and highly spirited in

learning the subject after the career information and guidance exercise.

Proper monitoring and supervision of students’ work

The researcher has instituted a proper and an effective monitoring and supervision mechanism

with the intention of having fair assessment of the students’ progress. The researcher made sure

that the students did the right thing at the right time. He made students to understand that

hardworking and determination in the study of the subject is their success in the examination.

Students were also advised that, copying work and all kinds of examination malpractices would

never help them in anyway and they were given tight supervision and monitoring in all kind of

activities assigned to them as measures to discard the habit of malpractices from them.

Giving Enough Exercise and Quizzes to students.

Series of exercises and take – home assignments and quizzes were given to the students in

order to identify their strengths and weaknesses and thus making necessary correction and

thereby enhancing their performance. That was also done to keep the students abreast with the

daily activities and awaken them always to be active. Students’ confidence in writing

examination was built through a series of class exercises and quizzes as fears and shivering in

writing examination was completely eradicated.

Organization of Field Trips

The researcher organized a field trip for students as part of measures to arouse students’ interest

and improving their performance in the subject. The trip was made to Adom Blocks Company

Limited at Tepa. The owner of the company, Mr. Okyere Darko Ampem took the students

[34]

through series of activities. The students were provided with concrete materials to prepare

concrete mixture. They were also allowed to mould Sandcrete blocks using manual operated

block machine. They again used tape measure to take the sizes of blocks and bricks to ascertain

what they had already been taught theoretically in classroom. The students were again had

opportunity to observe the various types of concrete product such as concrete blocks, paving

slabs, coverts and other concrete products. The operational manager, Mr. John Boateng Peprah

took the students round to observe all kinds of activities in the various departments and sections

of the firm. They also had a direct encounter with the labour force and they were taught about

the operational principles of the various constructional machines such as tilted and non –tilted

concrete mixers. Students were allowed to ask all questions that bordered their minds for

clarifications. The students were really overwhelmed, interested and well-motivated by the

work done and how they were being carried out at the various departments and sections of the

company. The students submitted very interesting reports after the trip and indicated the

numerous advantages they had from it. Their high level of achievement in personal – social

development was also noted in the report.

Giving immediate feedback to students

The researcher marked exercises, assignments, quizzes and examination scripts promptly and

discussed the questions with them thoroughly, making all the necessary corrections. Students

were able to assess their performance and tried to improve upon it in daily basis. It enabled

them identify their strengths and weaknesses and based upon that the researcher assisted the

weaker students to improve their study habit.

[35]

Organizations of remedial tuition for deserving students

The researcher organized a series of remedial tuition for deserving students every Saturday

evening to bridge the gap between weaker students and brilliant students. It is the responsibility

of every good teacher to be aware of the progress of his/her students so that he/she will be able

to identify those who are lagging behind in the class. It was in this direction that the researcher

took the trouble upon himself to organize the Saturday evening classes for the weak students.

Saturdays were chosen so that enough time could be given to the students and be free from

interference from the gifted students.

[36]

CHAPTER FOUR

DATA ANALYSIS

4.1 Introduction

This chapter deals with the results of the study conducted for form Two

Technical Students of St George’s Senior High Technical School. The results of

the study were based on the outcome of first and second terms’ examination,

the information obtained from the questionnaire given to students, the

interview for permanent Building Construction Teacher and the Headmistress

of the school, together with the observation made by the researcher within the

period of the research.

4.2 Comparison of First and Second Terms’ Examination Results for form

two Technical Students

The table 1.1 below indicate the average performance of the second year

Technical students for the first and second terms respectively. The results were

analyzed in grades. A (Excellent), B (very good); C (Good); D (Average); E

(Below average and F (Fail).

[37]

Table 1.1 First Term Examination Results

NUMBER OF STUDENTS GRADE PERCENTAGES %

1 B 12.5

2

3

C 25.0

D 37.5

1

1

Total 8

E 12.5

F 12.5

100

Table 1.2 Second Term Examination Results

NUMBER OF STUDENTS GRADE PERCENTAGE %

2 A 25.0

3 B 37.5

3 3 37.5

Total 8 100

[38]

(%)

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

A B C D E F

(Grades)

Fig 1.1 A bar chart showing the first and second term’s examination results

for second year Technical Students.

KEY First term Second term

Examination examination results

When the tables and bar chart above were closely observed and critically

analyzed, it could be seen that none of the students had grade A in the first term

examination results. Only one student had grade B representing 12.5%, two

students had grade C representing 25%, three students had grade D

[39]

representing 37.5%, one student had grade E representing 12.5% and one

student had grade F representing 12.5%. Taking the second term examination

results into consideration, two students had grade A, three students had grade

B and three students had grade C representing 25%, 37.5% and 37.5%

respectively. None of the student had either grade D, E or F in the second term

examination results.

It could then be concluded that, there had been much improvement of

students’ performance in the second term examination results. The main reason

for that significant improvement of students’ performance was the

implementation of the interventions designed at the very beginning of the

second term.

4.3 Results from Questionnaire given to form two technical Students

Table 1.3 Responses from Questionnaire Given to Form Two Technical

Students

Questionnaire item Responses No of

students

Percentage (%)

1 Many people consider

Building Construction as a

subject for people with less

Agreed

Strongly Agreed

Disagreed

1

1

2

12.5

12.5

25.0

[40]

intelligent: do you agree to

that?

strongly disagreed 4 50. 0

2 Have you been given

enough exercises,

homework and regular

quizzes?

Yes

No

7

1

87.5

12.5

3 How often have you been

taken through practical

research

Very often

Not very often

2

6

25.0

75.0

4 Have you ever been encouraged

by your teachers and parents to

study Building Construction?

Yes

No

6

2

75.0

25.0

5 Have you ever embarked on

an industrial visits with your

teacher?

Yes

No

0

8

-

100

6 How often have you been

involved in teaching and

learning of Building

Construction?

Always

Sometimes

8

0

100

-

[41]

From table 1.3 above, one students representing 12.5% out of eight students

and one students agreed and strongly agreed respectively to the fact that,

Building Construction was meant mostly for people who were less intelligent,

two students representing 25% disagreed and four students representing 50%

strongly disagreed. Considering whether students have been given enough

exercises, homework’s and regular quizzes to keep them studying all the time,

seven students representing 87.5% responded positively while only one

students representing 12.5% responded negatively.

Again, from the table, only two students representing 25% affirmed they

have been taken through practical lessons very often while six students

representing 75% declared not very often. As to whether students have been

encouraged to study the subject by both teachers and parents, six students

representing 75% said yes while two students representing 25% said no.

Finally, as to how often students were involved in teaching and learning

of Building Construction, all the eight students representing 100% said they

were always involved in the lessons. Through the responses from the students,

the researcher had more insight into the factors militating against effective

teaching and learning of Building Construction and the way forward.

[42]

Table 1.4 Responses from questionnaire for students

Questionnaire item Responses No of students and

Percentage

Reasons for

choice of answer

1. Do you consider Building

Construction as a difficult

subject?

Yes 2 (25%) i. it involves a lot

of sketches

ii. it involves a lot

of physical

activities

No 6(75%) i. it provides

many job

opportunities for

people

ii. it is easier to

study as it is not

required much

written

[43]

2.

Would you like to pursue

Building Construction to

the tertiary level?

Yes

No

6 (75%)

2 (25%)

i. we want to

become

architects in

future.

ii. We want to

be self-

employed

iii. we want to

become wood

work

technologist

From the table above, two students representing 25% Considered Building

Construction as a difficult subject as it involves a lot of sketches and physical

activities. The remaining six students representing 75% who said the subject

was not difficult, they were of the view that it could provide them with many

job opportunities and it is easier to study as it does require more written than

sketches. As to whether students would like to pursue the subject to tertiary

level, six students representing 75% responded affirmatively. Their reason for

[44]

the choice of answer were based on the fact that they want to become architects

in the near future and be self – employed as they believed in entrepreneurship.

The remaining two representing 25% were of the view that they want to become

woodwork technologists.

4.4 Observations made by the Researcher

The researcher established indirect observation mechanism to obtain

information on both the permanent teacher and the first year students to find

out what will happen when they also get to the second year. It was realized that

the students were provided with all the necessary information without

allowing them to find things for themselves. They were spoon –fed as the

teacher always copy the notes from the textbooks onto the chalkboard for

students to copy after which he explained it to them and gave them some work

to do. Sometimes he could give them about three or four different exercises at

a time with different dates to ascertain his output of work. That was not the best

method of teaching Building Construction according to the researcher’s opinion

since that could only encourage hasty work and also help students to develop

the habit of copying.

[45]

4.5 Analysis of Interview with the Permanent Building Construction Teacher

The structured interview conducted for the permanent Building Construction Teacher revealed

that he was very much aware of the poor performance of the students. He then attributed the

dismal performance of his class to lack of interest in the subject right from the day they were

introduced to the subject.

The researcher asked him during the interview to explain why the problem has been

existing for such a long time. According to him, he tried to make use of various teaching and

learning techniques such as the demonstration and discussion methods, but he made some

reservations that lack of basic tools and equipment, materials, and more importantly, absence

of workshop in the school were the major problems of practical activities which form the basis

of the subject. To him students could learn better when they are engaged in practical activities

as far as Building Construction is concerned but the absence of materials and facilities to

ensure practical activities have damped the interest of students in studying the subject. As to

whether he has ever embarked on any educational visits or field trips with the students, the

teacher responded categorically no. He however cited lack of funds as the main hindrance. In

the case of giving immediate feedback to students, he responded affirmatively and said he did

that to enable him identify and attended to those who needed remedial tuition. According to

him, he usually attended to deserving students during the remedial classes’ period while

assigned more challenging task to the gifted students. After the interview, the researcher

deduced and concluded that the permanent Building Construction teacher was largely

depended upon the effort of the government and for that matter Ghana Education Service in

solving the problem instead of planning and finding out from some pragmatic solutions to the

problem himself.

[46]

4.6 Analysis of Interview with the Headmistress

The researcher had an interview with the Headmistress of the school in an attempt to address

the problem of poor performance of second year technical students in Building Construction.

Concerning the preparations she has made so far about the construction of workshop for the

school to enable practical activities to take place, she claimed indeed that she had made a lot

of appeals to the appropriate offices and quarters to come to their aid, but to no avail. According

to her, it was the responsibility of the government in collaboration with the School management

Committee (SMC) and the Parents Teachers Association (P.T.A) to put up and furnish the

workshop but not for the school to do that. She said due to that the SMC /PTA of the school

had raised some funds towards that project but it has left with the government to fulfill his part.

She said information reaching them at that particular moment indicated that plans were far

ahead in erecting the workshop soon. Concerning funds for the preparation of teaching and

learning materials and for purchasing basic stools and equipment for teaching Building

Construction, she explained that the only source of income for the school was the “Government

Grant” which was inadequate to purchase the tools and equipment, but she said there was no

problem with the funds to prepare teaching and learning materials if requested for. The

researcher, during the interview asked the Headmistress whether she was aware of the poor

performance of second year technical students. She responded that she had closely monitored

them right from the first day school was reopen and had become aware of the problem. She

said that measures have been put in place to arrest the situation. She stated some of the

measures to curb the situation as motivation of students at the end of every term, organization

of career orientation and guidance for the students, institution of proper monitoring and

supervision of the students, talking to parents to have closely observations for their children’s

performance in the subject and encouraging them to study hard all the time. In a whole, through

[47]

the findings from the various observations and interviews conducted, the researcher deduced

the following results as the root causes of the poor performance of students in the subject.

Absence of workshop and training materials and equipment to engage the students in

the practical activities.

Absence of appropriate teaching and learning materials during Building Construction

lessons.

Inadequate career orientation and guidance for parents and students in studying the

subject.

Laziness of some students especially in the practical lessons.

Lack of proper monitoring and supervision of the activities assigned to students.

Lack of motivation for students in the study of Building Construction

Negative attitudes of students towards teaching and learning of the subject.

[48]

CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATION/SUGGESTIONS

5.1 Introduction

This chapter consists of the summary of the research findings, conclusion as well as

recommendations and suggestions for further research works.

5.2 General Over view of the Study

The research conducted has indeed been fruitful since it was able to reveal certain causes of

the problem, its effect on individual students, the society and the nation as a whole, as well as

the measures adopted for curbing or improving the situation. A critical analysis of the abysmal

performance of the students clearly indicated that no single or a particular group of individual

should carry the blame. The Government, the Ghana Education Service, the community in

which the school is located, parents, the Headmistress of the school, the subject teachers as

well as the students themselves should share the blame. In the first place, it was noted that the

Government, the Educational Body (GES) and the community in which the school is located

did not make any effort in providing certain basic necessities that could have boosted students’

morale and thus attracted them to take the subject very serious. Their inability to provide

quality and well equipped infrastructure and workshop furnished with sufficient tools and

equipment as well as materials to enhance teaching and learning of the subject was the first

and major setback of the students’ poor performance.

In addition, some of the teaching and learning strategies used by the permanent teacher

was not helping the students to understand the lesson better, for instance route teaching and

learning as well as lecture method. There was no proper monitoring and supervision measures

in place to check students’ progress and discipline. Students were not guided properly in most

of the activities taking place in both classroom and the site.

[49]

However, upon careful observation of those factors, the researcher with his interventions

designed has been able to elevate the students to a certain height which needs constant checking

for sustaining the interest of the students and capture their attention in the subject.

5.3 Summary of Findings

In conclusion, it was the researcher’s reservation that the study has not being in vain. The

intervention designed and their implementation have really proven positive outcome. The

perception of some students and parents that the subject was too difficult and it was meant for

dropouts and less intelligent people have now been reduced to the barest minimum. Again, the

subject has now been made simpler for students who were unable to make freehand sketches

of simple structures. The students frequently asked for quizzes which were the main indications

of their interest being sustained in the subject. Though there were some hindrances here and

there in the course of the research work, the general overview has proven it to be a very

successful one indeed. Thus motivation, the use of adequate and appropriate teaching and

learning techniques as well as materials, proper monitoring and supervision of students’

activities and progress in learning the subject are very keen factors and way forward to enhance

the performance of the second year technical students of St George’s Senior High Technical

School.

5.4 Implication for Practice

Teachers who are not used to using concrete materials during teaching of Building Construction

should try as much as possible to employ the use of the appropriate concrete teaching and

learning materials as part of their instructional materials in their planning and delivering of

lessons. This is because students turn not to relate what they have learnt to the environment but

rather think in abstract.

[50]

5.5 Recommendations/Suggestions The researcher came out with the following suggestions for further research on ways of

improving performance of students in Building Construction which will in turn help build the

nation as a whole.

i. The government in collaboration with the SMC/PTA should try to put up well and

furnished workshop for the school to promote and enhance the practical activities.

ii. Heads and subject teachers should work hand –in –hand to create enabling

teaching and learning environment and develop the habit of giving students

positive reinforcement when it is due, in order to motivate and sustain their

interest in the subject.

iii. Teachers handling the subject should make very good use of instructional

techniques and materials to make teaching and learning of the subject more real

and interesting.

iv. Regular training workshops should be organized for teachers handling the subject

to make them abreast with current development in terms of technological

advancement as techniques and studies in Building Construction keep on changing

as a result of technological development.

v. Some portion of the syllabus of Building Construction for Senior High School are

not clearly explained, amendments should therefore be made to make teachers

work with more ease and faster.

vi. Funds should be made available from the coffers of government for future

researchers to extend their population sample in order to obtain more reliable data

to help find lasting and permanent solutions to such a problem since the problem

of poor performance in Building Construction at St George’s Senior High

Technical School could be the same in other Technical Schools.

[51]

vii. Teachers handling the subject should as much as possible give enough practical

exercises to the students all the time to reduce their attitudes of laziness.

viii. Heads and teachers should closely monitor the progress of the students and provide

them with adequate information about the opportunities available when they study

the subject very serious.

[52]

APPENDIX 1

QUESTIONNAIRES ITEMS FOR SECOND YEAR TECHNICAL

STUDENTS AT ST GEORGE’S SENIOR HIGH TECHNICAL SCHOOL

The items are in two folds. You are to tick the correct answer in the brackets

provided and provide short answers to items where applicable

1. Do you think there is the need to maintain Building Construction on the

school time table?

Yes ( ) No ( )

2 a. Do you consider Building Construction as a difficult subject?

Yes ( ) No ( )

b. State any two reasons for the choice of your answer.

i. ……………………………………………………………………….

ii. ……………………………………………………………………..

3a. Would you like to pursue Building Construction to the tertiary level?

Yes ( ) no ( )

b. State any two reasons for the choice of your answer.

i. ……………………………………………………………………….

ii. ……………………………………………………………………..

[53]

4. There has been a perception that Building Construction is meant for

people who are less intelligent; do you agree to that?

Agreed ( ) strongly agreed ( )

Disagreed ( ) strongly disagreed ( )

5. How often have you been involving in teaching and learning of Building

Construction lessons?

Always ( ) Sometimes ( )

6. Have you ever been encouraged by your teachers or parents to study

Building Construction?

Yes ( ) No ( )

7. Have you been giving enough exercises, take – home assignments and

regular quizzes?

Yes ( ) No ( )

8. How often have you been taking through practical lessons?

Often ( ) very often ( ) Not very often ( )

9. Have you been taking through sketches when you were in form one?

Yes ( ) No ( )

10. Have you ever embarked on an industrial visit with your teacher?

Yes ( ) No ( )

[54]

APPENDIX II

AN INTERVIEW GUIDE FOR THE PERMANENT BUILDING

CONSTRUCTION TEACHER AT ST GEORGE’S SENIOR HIGH

TECHNICAL SCHOOL

1. What are the students’ attitudes towards teaching and learning of

Building Construction?

……………………………………………………………………………………….…

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

2. Are you aware of students’ low performance in the subject?

……….………………………………………………………………………………….

3. What methods do you normally use in delivering your lessons?

………………………………………………………………………………………….

4. Have you been making use of appropriate teaching and learning

materials in all your lesson?

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

5. Have you ever embarked on an industrial visits or field trips with

the students?

…………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………….

[55]

6. Have you been organizing any remedial teaching for the weaker

students?

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

7. What are some of the reason for giving immediate feedback to

students?

…………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………

8. Why some of the students do not show any interest in studying the

subject?

…………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………

9. What effort have you made towards the provision of workshops

and training materials for the student?

…………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………….

10. What are the attitudes of other teachers towards the subject

…………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………….

[56]

APPENDIX III

AN INTERVIEW GUIDE FOR THE HEADMISTRESS OF ST GEORGE’S

SENIOR HIGH TECHNICAL SCHOOL

1. Please, are you aware of the low performance of second year

technical students?

………………………………………………………………………………………….

2. Could you please give some of the measures put in place to curb the

situation?

…………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………

3. What preparation have you made so far towards the construction of

workshop for the school?

…………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………....

4. What is the main source of funds for running the school?

…………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

[57]

5. Do you have enough funds for preparing teaching and learning

materials and for purchasing basic Building Construction tools?

…………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………….

6. What measures are you putting in place to develop the students’

interest in the study of the subject?

..........................................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................................

[58]

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1.1 First Term Examination Results

Table 1.2 Second Term Examination Results

Table 1.3 Responses from Questionnaire Given to Form two Technical Students

Table 1.4 Responses from Questionnaire for students

[59]

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