STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE BY TEACHERS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN AGBANI EDUCATION ZONE, ENUGU STATE

Abstract

The study was aimed at determining the strategies for improving students’ academic performance in agricultural science by teachers in secondary schools in Agbani Zone, Enugu State. The study adopted a survey research design. Five research questions and five hypothesis guided the study to achieve the purpose of the study. The null hypotheses were tested at probability of 0.05 level of significance and appropriate degree of freedom. The population for the study comprised 73 agricultural science teachers and 45 principals in the 45 secondary schools in Agbani Education zone. There was no sampling because the population was manageable. Structured questionnaire was used as instrument for data collection, made up of 47 items. The instrument was validated by three experts and Cronbach Alpha statistics was used to determine the internal consistency of the instrument and a grand coefficient of 0.75 was obtained.  The data collected were analyzed using mean to answer the research questions and t-test to answer the null hypothesis of no significant difference. The finding of the study revealed among others 11 lesson plan preparation related strategies, 10 lesson presentation related strategies, 9 utilization of instructional material related strategies, 8 classroom management related strategies and 9 evaluation of students related strategies that teachers could use for improving the academic performance of students in agricultural science. The null hypotheses tested showed that there was no significant difference between the mean ratings of teachers and principals on all the strategies that teachers could use to improve the students’ academic performance in Agbani Education Zone, Enugu State.  Based on the findings it was recommended that agricultural science teachers should use the identified strategies in teaching students in secondary schools and school administrators should supervise and ensure that agricultural science teachers use the identified strategies to a high extent for improvement in the academic performance of students.