CHAPTERONE

INTRODUCTION

Backgroundof the Study    

             Government has different definitions andmeanings. It means different thing to different people in different situations.Some people may see it as a process, some may see it as an institution andothers may see it as a subject. Government as a process implies the complexnetworking of system for purposes of rule making, rule implementation and ruleadjudication (Obianyo, 2002). This in a simple parlance means the actual Stateadministration. In this definition, people see Government from the point ofwhat the body of people in administration can do for the ruled. Government asan institution connotes a series of accepted and regular procedures for theadministration of the people in a State (Oriaku, 2000). Government as aninstitution is the most common perception of the term Government, in the sensethat it falls within the common man’s daily usage of the term to describe thoseapparatuses or institutions of the State responsible for governance (Obianyo,2002). Ezegbe (2006:113) defining Government as an institution states that itis “the body of persons who are engaged in the business of law making, lawadministration and law adjudication”. Government as an institution refers tomachinery for State administration.

 Government as an academic field of study can be referred to as a subject of study. That is Government as a reading course in the secondary schools’ curriculum, colleges of education and universities. It is the study of agencies, political institutions and dynamics of the State (Anyaele, 1994). According to Obianyo (2002:166), government as a subject,

Emphasizes the study of the principles governing the organization of the State, and implementation within and across States. It also studies the behaviour of individuals, groups and organization in society, especially as regards their relationship to the State power; factors that generate conflicts within and between them and how these conflicts are resolved. This specialized field also involves the generation of concepts, formulation of theories and methods of understanding, explaining and predicting political phenomena.

            Governmentconveys different pictures depending on the context of use, the intention ofthe user; and the character of the socio-economic formation in which it isemployed or it is supposed to describe. Nevertheless, Government as an academicfield of study is the concern of this study.

            Throughoutthe era of colonialism in Nigeriagovernment as a subject was never taught in Nigerian schools. However it wasprecisely introduced in 1970 (NPE,1977) and as well approved by west AfricanExamination Council (WAEC) as one of the subjects in secondary schoolcurricula. Government has a pride of place among the community of subjectsthough there seems to be a deliberate attempt by the colonial masters todelegate it to the background with the intention of blinding the peoplepolitically. It is pertinent to note that for any political system to succeedthe people within the polity must be politically enlightened. In line with theabove assertion, Kwame Nkruma in one of his works Africa Must Unite did notonly call for the debunking of ravaging colonial educational structure butsuggest in its stead a sound political education for the people. Followingthis, Nkrumah made Government a compulsory school subject in Ghana during his regime. Governmentas an academic field of study is planned to help students understand the stateand the process of government. The importance of Government as a subject ofstudy cannot be overemphasized.  Itsobjectives among others are to enable students to:

1. Understandthe concepts, principle, institutions and process of government;
2. Recognisetheir role as informed citizens and their contributions towards the       achievement of national development;
3. Becomeactive participants in democratic process of the nation and their localgovernment and;
4. Appreciatethe role of Nigeriaas a member of the international community
5. Appreciatethe challenges and dynamics of past and present government in Nigeria.
6. Recognisethe role of ICT in e-government and in fostering the process of government inthe world. (NigeriaEducational Research and Development Council, 2007).

            Theimportance of Government ranges from studying Government for its own sake toits practical application in day to day problem of individuals and society. Thestudy of Government prepares the students to take active part in the governmentof the country as administrative officers, personnel officers, know theirrights, duties and obligations as citizens; equips those interested in politicsto be professional politicians; to understand the type of system of governmentadopted in their country and inculcates the spirit of nationalism andpatriotism in the students (citizens) among others (Anyaele, 1994).Regrettably, despite these lofty objectives and importance of Government tonational development, there is low performance of students in government atsenior secondary schools (WAEC Chief Examiner’s report, 2010, 2011, 2012 &2013). According to these WAEC chief examiners reports these poor performanceyof students’ in Government may be as result of lack of knowledge of subjectmatter, poor communication skill and poor knowledge of current affairs on thepart of students among others. The 2007 WAEC Chief examiner’s report attributesthe student’s low achievement to the teaching method adopted by the teachers. Fromthe personal observation of the researcher teachers in Nsukka education  zone still predominantly use the conventionalteaching method.    

            Teachingmethod in Greek language “Metahodos” means a way- Method is therefore derived from ‘metahodos’ (Esu &Inyang-Abia, 2004) and it means the right way for our purpose. From this,teaching method can be said to be a chosen systematized and ordered correct waythrough which the ‘act of teaching’ is performed in order to achieve the setobjectives of instruction (Mezieobi,Fubara & Mezieobi, 2008). Variousteaching methods are used by teachers in teaching of government aimed atbringing about meaningful learning and the realisation of Governmentobjectives. . This includes lecture method, demonstration method, discoverymethod, project method, inquiry method, simulation method among others.

            Thereis no particular teaching method that is said to be the best at all times. Agood teacher uses different method to teach different unit of the curriculum,bearing in mind the nature of the units. Government is made up of differentunits, therefore there is need to use different method that appeal to the unitsto teach for a better achievement in Government. NERDC (2007) recommended theuse of interactive and participatory approach in teaching Government to makelearning active.

            Neverthelessamong the various methods that may be used to teach Government, the mostcommonly used is the lecture method. The lecture method employed in teachinggovernment though with its own good side has some flaws, which might be one ofthe causes of the poor achievement and retention in government. According toAwotua-Efebo (2001), the lecture method is mainly teacher-centred with thestudents’ being consistently passive and content are thought as absoluteknowledge. The traditional method of teaching failed in the recognition of theuniqueness of inquiry based nature of government and the learner’sindividuality. Student learning remains largely based upon extracting knowledgefrom texts and notes, or methods based around the metaphor of acquisition(Sfard, 1998). This style of teaching rarely gives students the opportunity toapply their newfound knowledge to actual situations, resulting in a serioustime lag between students learning and applying new knowledge (Raymond,2010).  That is why Adenirin (1993)observed that teachers struggle to teach against the nature of children.Furthermore it does not facilitate the development of reasoning skills andprocess in the students. These among other reasons had not enhanced learning instudents and thus had led to poor achievement and retention of students ingovernment. The traditional pedagogical techniques of assigned readings,lectures, tests, and papers often fail to replicate the “real world.” As aresult, some have turned to innovative methods like Inquiry method, discussionmethod, project method, simulation etc, to help achieve their courseobjectives. A shift towards a more student-centred approach has been takingplace. The student’s role has shifted and now the student is leading the way,taking up the majority of the discussions and arguments while the teacher hasbecome the moderator in the discussion. Simulation method which is one of theinnovative methods has recorded success in other subjects and countries. Despitethe success of the simulation method in other subjects, the adoption of thistype of teaching method has been quite slow in Nigerian education system socialscience subjects and particularly in Government in senior secondary schools.

            Howeverthe teacher adopts method in teaching led to student’s high retention andachievement (Miriogu, 2012; Udeji, 2007; Udousoro 2002). The issues relating toachievement and retention as it concerns instructional strategies or methodused in teaching need more clarification (Miriogu, 2012; Udeji, 2007; Udousoro 2002).Therefore, there is need to investigate more learner centred, activity orientedmethod or innovative method like simulation and its effects on achievement andretention. An ancient Chinese proverb says: I hear and I forget, I see andremember I do and I understand, clearly indicating that the idea of activelearning producing understanding is not a new concept. “One must learn by doingthe thing, for though you think you know it—you have no certainty until youtry.”

            Simulationtherefore is an innovative teaching method which is Learner centredactivity-oriented teaching strategy. The word simulation comes from Latin word‘similis’ meaning ‘like’ that is to act like, to resemble, to pretend to be, . Additionally, the formatof simulations ranges from computerized games to elaborate, role-playingscenarios (Moore,2009). While not all simulations involve role playing, for the purposes of thisstudy role-playing simulation will be used. Role-play simulation referto active learning techniques in which students try to “become anotherindividual and, by assuming the role, to gain a better understanding of theperson, as well as the actions and motivations that prompt certainbehaviours…[and] explore their [own] feelings” (Moore, 2009; 209).“Simulationsgive students the chance to apply theory, develop critical skills, and providea welcome relief from the everyday tasks of reading and preparing for classes”(Kanner, 2007). An additional benefit of simulations is the introduction of anaspect of realism into the students’ experience.Simulation is an educational tool where students learn through the applicationof theory and decision-making to a simulated real-world business scenario. Theuse of simulation techniques where students are allowed to project themselvesinto new classroom roles helps to improve classroom dialogue, activeparticipation and transfer of learning (Watson, 1986).  This study therefore tries to find out theeffect of simulation on students achievement and retention in some Governmentconcepts at senior secondary school in Nsukka education zone.

             Academic achievement according to Jacobs(2008) depicts students’ performance on a measurement such as performance test,skill test, analytical thinking test etc. It is therefore, not out of place todescribe academic achievement as gain in knowledge of students as a result oftaking part in a learning activity or programme. Academic achievement is aresult oriented construct that encapsulates the extent of performance in adesired task (Rix, 2010).  Ogunsaju(2004), states that the academic standard in all Nigerian institutions hasfallen considerably below societal expectations. The learning of Government insecondary schools has not fared well in view of the end product resulting inthe lack of understanding and consequently poor achievement and totalnonchalance in the discharge of civic duties and responsibilities which thesubject has as its cornerstone objective (Ugwu, 2013). Most students graduate fromschool without being able to exhibit the expected behaviour. Unfortunatelyevidence from literature showed that most teachers in Nigerian secondary schoolpredominately use the conventional teaching method in teaching due to poorknowledge and none exposure to other learner centred method leading to poorachievement and retention (Anderson & Freedman, 2002; Omoniyi, 2006).Teaching in Nigeriastill follows the traditional pattern even when the traditional method isneither promoting students’ interest nor achievement in the subject ( Iji,2002). The whole process of education centres around two key concepts ‘teachingand learning’. Therefore, any loophole in the process of teaching is bound toaffect learning and consequently students’ achievement and retention.

            Retentionaccording to Hornby (2001) is the ability to remember things. Iji (2010),states that retention is the continued capacity to behave in particular waythat has been learned. Iji (2010) asserts that retention is measured incollaboration with achievement. Retention according to Chauhan (1998) is adirect correlate of positive transfer. Gagne (1970) noted that the type ofmaterial included in the teaching programme, structured in a carefully formedsequence is quite resistant to forgetting. This implies that any instructionalmodel which is effective in enhancing achievement can as well be effective inenhancing retention. Although much of literature suggests that simulationmethod helps students’ to achieve and retain better there is no consensus amongresearchers as regards the effect on gender

            Genderaccording to Ekeh (2000) implies the character of being male or female, man orwomen, boy or girl. Offorma (2004) viewed gender as a learned sociallyconstructed condition ascribed to male and female. Gender differences inachievement have been examined for some time resulting in a substantial body ofliterature (Jack and Johannes, 2001).  Asobserved by Ogunkola (1997), girls tend to perform better than boys in readingand verbal skills, while the reverse is the case in manipulative and physicalproductive tasks. Fabunmi (2004) in a study discovered that gender compositionhas a significant relationship with students’ academic performance and thatgender composition has a significant influence on secondary school students’academic performance. While some other researchers have it that gender has noinfluence in students’ academic achievement and retention (Iloputaife, 2001&Eze, 2001). In other words there is no consensus among researchers as regardsthe influence of gender on students’ academic achievement and retention. Henceadditionally this study sorts to investigate the relevance and possibleinfluence of gender on students’ achievement and retention in Government atsenior secondary school in Nsukka education zone.

            Howeverwhile much of the literature reviewed showed that simulation has been studiedin other fields of study and area (Bonwell, 1996; Fink, 2003; Poling &Hupp, 2009),there is dearth of empirical evidence to support this assertion inGovernment at senior secondary schools in Nsukka education zone.  This study therefore seeks to find out theeffect of simulation method on students’ achievement and retention inGovernment at senior secondary school level in Nsukka education zone.