University of Nigeria Research Publications

NWOSU, Ndu Bibian

Aut

hor

PG/M.Ed/96/22575

Title

Training Needs of Teachers in the Use of Concept Map for the Improvement of Instruction in

Agricultural Science

Facu

lty

Education

Dep

artm

ent

Vocational Teacher Education

Dat

e0

August, 1998

Sign

atur

e

TITLE P S E

TRAINING NEEDS OF TECICHERS I N THE USE OF CDNCEPT ,MAP FDR THE 1MPmVE)rlENT OF INSTRmION I N AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE

~ w o s u , Ndu Bibian, a postgraduate s tudent in t h e

Departmmt of Vocational Teacher P1ucation ( ~ g r i c u l t u r e )

and with Registrat ion Number ~~/~.~~/96/22575, has satis-

f a c t o r i l y completed t h e requirement f o r course and research

work fo r t h e degree of Master of Education i n Agricultural

Mucation. The work contained in this projec t is o r ig ina l

and has not been submitted in par t o r f u l l f o r eu~y other

diploma o r degree of t h i s o r any o ther University.

.\-> ov, ..------------- ---em----------

Heed of Departrn Supervissr

APPROVAL PAGE

TKLS PHOJECP HAS BEPl APPROVED FOR THE DEPARTMENT

OF VOCATIONAL TJSACHR? EDUCATION (AGRICT&TURE) ,

L N I V m I T Y OF N I G W U , NSUKKA

External Examiner

c-' - - b C z G % / - - . ---------------

head of

Dean of Faculty

T N s project is dedicated to: The ~ m i l y

of Pt. and Mrs. Ignatius Nwosu whose love

and encowagernent fbr education was an

inspiration t o me.

My husband Mr. Ambrose 0. Okafor for h i s

moral and f inancial support.

~ C W L ~ G E P J I ~ ~

I wish t o express my m q u a n t i f i a b l e g r a t i t u d e t o n,y

s u p e r v i s o r , D r . K . J. ogbaz i f o r h i s s p e c i a l guidance, u n t i r h y

e f f c r t s i n r e ad ing my work a d h i s understar,dinq dur ing t h e

p e r i d of t h e r e s e a r c h p r o j e c t work.

s p e c i a l t hanks go t o Prof . G l a i t a n 5. 0. who quipped n l c wi th

bot!i t h e academic zvld t h e t e c h n i c a l kr~owledge i;hich hisvt. e~lcbleci

rw t o iicccrmpli~h t h i s t a s k . I a m a l s o g r a t e f u l f o r h i s i r l v d u a b l e

cAssi st mce md i n t h e p rov is ion o f m a t e r i a l s used Frr this s tudy.

I a l s o wish t o express my t hznks t o D r . 9. r.:arr\a, Dr. E. Osinern,

u r . S.C.C.A. E z e j i a l l o f t h e Department: of Vocations1 Teacher

Lducat loa , Un ive r s i t y of ~ i q e r i a , Nsukka, for t h ~ i r ime:i .e corr-

c t i L u t i o n s toward t h e p rogress o f my work.

i owe many thanks t o a number of persons who have been

p x ~ i c u l a r l y h e l p f u l t o me. p i - s t among ther-, i s ;.r. c a l n i l : ~ 3.

w k ~ o devoted h i s precious t ime t o guide we t h r o u j n , o t h r r s arc

,.it-. :;denl J o sep t~ , Uri Lawrence, Uf elG? Angela, o ~ l o Moses mci other

frienas hose c o r ~ t r i b u t f o n s i n aie way o r t h e 0 t h ~ S i j W L C J t h ~

: ; : ~ c ~ e t : . of tiris work.

I am cjreatlli indeb ted t o t h e F r i r ~ c i p a l , s t a f f a'ld stucients 6.:

; t ~ r : ~ t . : ~ o n s t r a t i o n kt-,ool; C.S.S. Ltuh, C.L.S. Lueriatcc 2.3.a.

i r ~ t n ~ h s i , e s p e c i d l y t o p;r. U c i ~ t : Anaizu, bbir~rra I y w k , ~ k w u d i l r

i k~:ril~,, k jukwu AJaezr d d t h e i r ccrlleaques. There peogle

con t r ibu ted i n no s m a l l measure t o t h e success of t h i s p ro jec t

work.

My dearest p e e n t s , h ro thers m d s i s t e r s a r e a l s o commended

f o r t h e i r suppart. goes

~ a s t l y , much appreciat ion and love o my most rnderstandlng L!

husbmd far h i s s a c r i f i c e m d patience. To all members of h i s

family , t h e i r cont r ibut ions a r e gatef u l l y acknowledged,

F ina l ly , a l l honour and g lory t o t h e Almlghty ~ o d f o r H i s

mercies, grace and love without whom nothing could have been

achieved .

~ e p t . of Vocation a1 Teacher Education,

Universi ty of ~igC!!ria, N sukka.

Nwosu, Ndu B.

nackgrould o f t h e study

Statement of t h e Problem

purpose of the Study .. Siqnificmce o f t h e study

!iesearch quest ions - . t i yp these s . . . . Assurilptions of t h e Study

Scc~pe of t h e Study .. L i W l LR 'TW

RLVIUd Ot' '?ELATED LIITEXATURE

Concept and UseP of Concept Mapping

P age

. . i

.. ii

.. iii

.. i v

v i i

Concept Mapping an Evaluation 'roc1 . . . . Concept Mapping as an Innovation . . . . Tra in ing h e e d A s s e s s m e n t . . . . . . C t I w 'Teaching Methods hi Agricul t tXe . . Lec tu re k l e t hod s . . . . . . . . d i s c u s s i o n Method . . . . . . . . LJ L c o v e r y Pwthod/Problen~ a o l v i r ~ g . . . . ~ i e l d ' r r i p s . . . . . . . . . . P r u j c c t +~ethod . . . . .. . . R o l e P lay ing .. . . . . . . . . ~ e m o n s t r a t ion Method . . . . . . . . ideed f o r New Teaching Method i r~ ~ q i c u l t u r e

;geed f o r I n s t r u c t i o n a l Improvement . . . . aunmary of ~ e v i e w o f L i t e r a t u r e . . . .

(311Am:LX THRtE

KtTIiODOLCGY .. . . . . Design o f t h e Study .. . . ~ r e a of t h e Stu3y .. . . Populat ion of t h e Study . . S m p l e of t h e Study .. . . &per imcnt a1 Procedure . . ,ii~t.run~~~i~t f o r t h e Stuciy . .

t. agtt

': fll i c i d i o n of t h e Ins t rument . . . . . . 49

. ~ c o r i r ~ g of Ins t rument .. . . . . .. M e t : . ctr of Data & ? a l y s i s .. g g . .

L . 2. L? kLUd

~ u c . st%<.. ls f o r ~ w t h e r Study . . . . REEPEXLES . a . . . . . . . ,cPP &dXX A: Letter: of: U t r o d u c t i o n to Research

Cen t r e s .. . . . . . I L: Tequest for v a l i d a t i o n of riasearch

I n stt-ument 0 . . . . . P i C t 3raft of t he T r a i n i n g wide i'm the

Research Experiment . . . . APPL".XX C: Instrument for c o l l e c t f n y student D a t a :

~ssessrnel~L Tes t .. . . . .

F age

A k P t S D l A t: ~ 1 s t of Schools Used for the Exper in~mtal Study and Nbmes o f Teachers Used i n t h e Study .. . . . . . . . . 10 1

A W D ~ U I A ' Frequency ~ i s t r i b u t i o n of the Fina l Test. scores . . . . . . . . 10 3

AiSFU.:DL U: ~ b i l i t y Test Instrumet~t (pre-test ) . . 13 7

LIST OF TABLES

P age

1. Frequency Distribution a d Percentage Scores of Students Taught by the Teacher with Lcnger period ( 3 weeks) of Training . . . . . . . . . . 5 1

2, Frequency D i s t r i b ~ t b n of Percent age Score of Students Taught by t h e Teacher with Shorter Period ( lweek ) of Training .. . . . . . . . . 5 3

3, Frequency ~ i a t r i b u t i o n of Percentage Score of S t d e n t s Taught by t h e Teacher t h a t Received no Training . . 5 5

4, t-test Distribution of t h e Scores of Students Taught by the Teacher t ha t was Exposed t o Longer Period of Training md t ha t of t h e i r Counterpart Taught by t h e Teacher tha t was Exposed t o Shorter Period of Training. 56

5, t - t es t Distr ibution of t h e perfarmance Scores of %udcnts Taught by Teacher t h a t Received Training in Concept Mapping Principle, ~welopment md Application and those Taught by t h e Teacher th& Received no Training .. 0 58

Abetrac t

The use of concept nap method is one of the most recent developed

method which tend t o have the p o t e n t i a l of improving i n s t r u c t i o n i n

Agr icu l tu ra l Science. The main aim o f t h i s s tudy was t o f i n d out the

t r a i n i n g needs of teachere i n the use of concept asp f o r improvement

o f i n o t r u c t i o n i n & r i c u l t u r a l ecience. The etudy i d e n t i f i e d and

t e s t e d t h e e f f e c t of t r a i n i n g of the teachers on understanding of the

concepts of the concept map, its uses , cons t ruc t ion and app l i ca t ion i n

claseroom teaching. Related l i t e r a t u r e were reviewed. Too hypotheatts

mere fornulated t o guide the study. The sa r~p le of the population

cons i s t ed of th ree a g r i c u l t u r a l t eache r s and aeventy-f ire atudente

o f ag r i cu l tu re randomly .elected from aenior secondary schoola within

Nneri education zone. The r e sea rche r w e d exper imentd design i n

ca r ry ing out the study. The study involved t h r e e groups, two groups

f o r the experiment and one c o n t r o l group. Each group is made of one

Agr icul tura l science t eache r and a c l a e a of twenty-fire etudenta. Two

teachere f o r the experimental group *re t r a i n e d on the use of concept

map, one received t h r e e weeks t r a i n i n g , while the o ther remeired one

week t ra in ing . The t eache r of the c o n t r o l group did not t ~ k e p a r t

i n t h e t r a in ing . A t t h e end of t h e t r a in ing , the th ree teachers were

g i v e n the same topic from the ~ l g r i c u l t u r a l Science SS I1 ayl labus t o

d e l i v e r i n s t r u c t i o n tb t h e i r .students. Trained teachers were expected

t o teach with the concept map method while the untrained teacher used

o t h e r method o t h e r than concept map. The scores of the s tudents of each

x i i

r e s p e c t i v e teachere were c o l l e c t e d marked, scored and analysed.

T- tes t e t a t i e t i c was u6ed t o temt the hypotheses a t 0.05 l e v e l of

a i g n i f i c m c e . It was found t h a t t he dura t ion of t r a i n i n g i n the

uee of concept mag p r i n c i p l e s , d e ~ e l o p m ~ n t and app l i ca t ion has a

s i g n i f i c a n t e f f e c t on t h e t eache r ' s i n s t ruc t ion . The e f f e c t was

i n d i c a t e d on the performance o f mtudents taught by the teacher exposed

t o longer pe r iod of t r a i n i n g and t h e exposed t o s h o r t e r pe r iod of t ra in ing .

The e tuden t s taught by the f o n m r performed b e t t e r than t h e i r counterpar t s

t augh t by t h e l a t e r , t h e one expomd t o s h o r t e r per iod of t ra in ing .

x i i i

of concept map in planning ins t ruc t ion by t h e teefhers.

The term cctlcept mapping i s act of using concept map in

del ivery ins t ruc t ion- ~ c c o r d i n g t o O l d t a n cnd M i (1997)

concept map is a systematized diagram l ink ing t h e key wards

Fn a uni t course and or programhe- x c o r d i n g t o them, it serves

as a guide f o r t h e teacher during teaching as a l o g i c a l sequence

of experience at h i s disposal during t h e ins t ruct ion. During

t h e Ins t ruct ion, t h e use of ccncept map can help t h e teacher t o

detect what he has not taught m d t o amend h i s teaching s t r a t e g i e s

easily. his as w e l l w i l l enable t h e s tudents to follow e a s i l y

what are being taught, The use o f concept map helps teachers t o

plan ins t ruct ion espec ia l ly i n breaking down c o w s e contents ,

thereby creates roan for t h e t e s h e r t o select t h e o b j e c t i v e of

t h e course wit,

The case could be made t h a t many ou t s tmding agr icu l tu ra l

science t eachers want t o become involved in providing standard

multiple choice questions, for evaluating and t e s t i n g s t u l e n t s

i n the cogl i t ive , a f fec t ive and psychomotor domains, Some

wmt t o become involved in c ~ i c u l u m a d i n s t r u c t i o n a l planning.

However, insuf f i c ien t teacher ' s knowledge abok t h e use of

concept maps and t h e i r l imited exposure may have l imited t h e i r

3

a b i l i t y t o a t t a in t o t h e i r desire and t o improve t h e i r teaching

o r instruction. It was fomd out by Olaitan (1997) t ha t with

proper lnform&ion and t ra in ing on t h e we of concept map,

teachers w i l l perform bet ter i n impacting knowledge and i n

teaching with confidence each subject matter. By so doing,

they w i l l be a helping hand in solving one of the problems of

agricult w a1 science cum iculum implement a t ion,

The discrepancy b e t w e e n t h e theoret ical a p p r o ~ h of t h e

agricultural science tecrhers and t h e other raethodologies created

the most di f f icu l ty in t h e process of reconceptualising the subject

matter. The steps of curriculum p l m i n g do not adequtely guide

the teacher into t h e deeper issu@s of subject mrrtter. Completing

such processes as t h e creation of a ra t ionale md writing goals

and objective. become mechanical, lacking I n substance end impede

the teachers a b i l i t i e s t o impart t h e necessary knowledge t o t h e

students. When teachers wrote goals and objectives, they used

t h e t r ad i t i ona l materials and processes content base despite a

des i re t o change students into a more functional needs,

m g the primary objectives of agricultural science as

s ta ted in National Policy of Education (F.G.N. 1981) is i ts a i m

at preparing students f o r examinations. Olaltan (1982) a lso

CHAPTER ONE

m'rRoDUcrION

Background of t h e Study

I n recent years, vocation a1 agr icu l tu re t eachers have

voiced a concern over how t o organize a d maintain qua l i ty

teaching with limited resources, while serving a wide range of

s tudents with l imi ted t i m e ulder broad agr iaul tura l curriculum.

The most obscr vable 1 bit at i o i l of t h e agr icu l tu ra l science

cut-riculum as was appraised by O l a i t ~ (1996) was t h a t t h e

o b j t t d i v e s are t o o broad, tending t o cover both academic and

vocational aims.

Owing t h e past few years, t h e r e has h e n increased a t tent ion

t o t h e qua l i ty , s tandards, end outcomes of t h e educational system

i n Nigeria as recommended by t h e Federal Government in t h e Secor~d

and Third National Developmest P l m s In Education (1970 - 74) and (1975 - 80) respectively. Curriculum p l e n n e s are attempting

t o improve t h e qua l i ty of education by employing md adding more

schemes t o ef is t ing mes. To plan is only a s t e p but t h e primary

a i m i s t o ircplement it. St ate end Federal Education curriculum

p l m n e r s require assurance of e f f e c t i v e implemrnt at ion of

curriculum, To s a t i s f y t h i s requirement md t o a s s i s t teachers

i n teaching ef fec t ively (Olaitan and Ui , 1997) suggested t h e use

pointed out tha t one of t h e p r o s a m e objecfives of post-

p r i m a r y schools i n Nigeria i s t o prepare those who are t o go

i n to higher ins t i tu t ion. According t o Jegede ( 1982) , what

a s i c u l t u r a l science education w i l l be fo r my ch i ld f o r myone

year is most dependent on what. tha t ch i ld ' s teacher believes,

knows and does not know md does not do.

In other words, t h e teacher i s t h e enabler, t he inspiration,

and t he constraints. H e continued t o say tha t i f a t e e h e r of

agricultural science should be t h e enabler, he should be the

master of h i s o r her subject area including t h e subject content.

~e i s t o inspire i f he should know how b@.f t o i m p e t t t h e

acquired knowledge and t h e best way t o evaluate his ef for t , i f

he should not be a constraint t o ch i ld ' s academic growth.

Training needs according t o Kaufman (1972) edst when there

i s a condition in which actual status i s less than t h e ta rge t

s ta tus . On t h e other hand, a need ex i s i s i f t h e absence ar

deficiency i n t he area of interes t is harmful. Comparing

teacher 's a b i l i t y in t h e adoption of concept mapping and other

t e s n i n q methods in t h e delivery of i n s t n ~ c t i o n , discrepancies

and deficiencies are often discovered.

It i s against t h i s background t h 8 t h e researcher consida-td

it imperative t o embark on t h i s study. This w i l l improve

teachirig s k i l l of teachers while impart ing knowledge end s k i l l

to s tuoen t s in t h e i r development process in a q i c u l t u r e ,

Statement of t h e Problem

Experiences of t h e researcher and numtxous l i t e r a t u r e s

revealed t h a t t h e r e are d i f f e r e n t types o f methods a v a i l a b l e fo r

teaching which have been adopted by t eache r s i n t h e i r c l a s s roan

teaching, These inc lude d iscuss ion , l ec tu r ing , demanstration,

br ah-storming , group d iscuss ion snd r e c e n t l y discovery methods. These

are recommended i n t h e National Pol icy on E;Xiucation (F,G,N,, 1981) ,

for teaching sc ience s u b j e c t s i n c l r d i n g agr icu l ture .

M a n y r e sea rch works on improved methods h w e been c a r r i e d

out which inc lude O l a i t a n ' s concept mapping ( 1982) , t h r e e dimensional

approach - ask them, t e l l them and f i g w e it out with them, approech

b y 01 d t a n ( 1983) , Solving technique, i n v e d g a t i o n , s k i l l approach,

i i e ld t r i p , p t c t o r i a l presenta t ion (Noibi and Lawal , 1991). These

methods of teaching were found t o be s a t i s f d c t a r y in improving

ins t ruc t ion . AS opined by l t i e le (1994) concept mapping appears

t o bt m e of the most s a t i s f a c t o r y and less complex among t h e s e

met hods,

The problem of t h i s teeching method (concept mapping) being

an Innovation is t h a t , it still l a c k s t h e publ ic awareness among

6

the agr icu l tu re teachers. O l a l t an ( 1982) , h'ovdc ( 1978) , a d

Okibekol a ( 1991) made mention of t h i s concept mapping but

were s i l e n t on t h e c r i t e r i a , guideline end technique of i t s

use. AS en innovation, teachers o f agrkultural science do nbt

seem t o possess adequate knowledge about t h e use of concept

map.

wcording to Olaitan ( 1996) , agr icul tura l science objectives

are very broad t e n d h g t o cover both academic end vocational

aims. his normally leads t o poor qual i ty teaching and tends

t o reduce st d e n t s * comprehension and vlderst anding of subject

mdter. with t h e use of concept mapping, t h e broad object ives

can ea s i l y be linked together i n a concept map which is less

complex and more sa t is factcry . Hence t h i s study aim on find-

i n g t h e c r i t e r i a , guideline and techniques I n t h e application

of concept mapping fcvinstruction i n agr icul ture at t h e

secondary school level.

needs of teachers in t h e use of concept map for t h e improvement

of i n e t ruct ton in agr icul tura l science.

7

Spec i f i ca l ly , t h e object ives are:

1. To f ind out t h e performance of s tudcnts taught by t h e

teacher expooed t o longer period ( 3 w e d c s ) of t r a i n i n g

i n concept mapping pr inciples , development end application,

2 . To find out t h e performance of s tudents taught by the

teacher exposed t o shor te r period (one week) of t r a i n i n g

i n concept mapping p r inc ip les , development md applicat ion,

i. TO find out t h e performance of &Went8 taught by t h e

teacher who received no t r a i n i n g in concept mapping

pr inciples , development and applic* ion,

4. To compare the performance of & u d m t s taught by t h e teacher

who received longer period ( 3 weeks) of t r a i n i n g in concept

mapping p r inc ip les , development snd applicat ion with t h e

perfcdmcnce of t h e i r covl terpar ts taught by t h e teacher

who received shor te r period (one we&) of t ra in ing.

5. To compare t h e pafonnance of s tudents taught by t h e

teacher who received t r a i n i n g In concept mapping pr inciples ,

development and applicat ion with t h e perf acmance of t h e i r

counterparts taught by the teacher who received no t r a i n i n g

i n cmcept mapping.

Signif icance of t h e Study

The findings of t h e tNs strdy w i l l be benef ic ia l t o

agr icu l tu ra l science teachers , s tudents, curriculum planners

and w a l u a t o r s and t o t h e future researchers,

To agr icul tura l science teachers, t h i s study may lead

t o t h e developnent of t r a i n i n g manual on t h e use of concept

I I I L ~ S . The teaching mmual w i l l be a guide f o r teachers for

e f fec t ive teaching u b b g concept mapping method- The study w i l l

a l so help the t e a c h e s t o w e t up with t h e i r deficiences in t h e

use of concept map, mderstanding o f its pr inciples , i t s

development as w e l l as i t s applicat ion in del ivery ins t ruct ion.

with adequate c r i t e r i a and guideline i n t h e use o f this method,

teachers car) e a s i l y make a l o g i c a l p l m of t h e i r teeching which

w i l l help f a c i l i t a t e learning,

I f t h e f inding of t h i s &udy w i l l go a long way in solving

teachers1 .def ic iencies i n t h e use o f concept mapping, autorna&cally

the ot,.,, c t i v e s of in t roduAng t h e method has been m e t .

This w i l l make teaching of a g r i c u l t t r e less complex and at t h e

blame t l m e erlhrnce s tudents * comprehension and underst anding.

The curriculum planner end evaluators can 8s w e l l benefi t

f r o m t h i s study, The finding w i l l be a guide t o them during

plannlrrg md log ica l sequencing of curriculum content following

a s t ipu la ted guidel ine which t h e study w i l l eventual ly reveal.

Th i s w i l l help t o narrow t h e brod objec t ives inherent in

agr icul tur a1 sc ience cmriculum.

The f ind h g w i l l as well be applied t o o ther areas of

science teaching.

Research w e s t i o n s

W h a t is t h e perfctmance of s tudents taught by t h e teecher

exposed t o longer period of t r a i n i n g ( 3 weeks) i n concept

mapping p r inc ip les , development and application?

What i s t h e performance of s tudents taught by t h e teacher

exposed t o s h o r t e r period (one week) of t r a i n i n g in concept

mapping p r inc ip les , development and applicat ion?

What i s t h e performance of s t u d m t s taught by t h e teacher

who received not t r a i n i n g i n concept mapping p r inc ip les ,

development and appl ica t ion3

How i s t h e pe r fa rmace of s tudents taught by t h e teacher

who received longer period ( 3 weeks) of t r a i n i n g i n concept

mapping principles, development and applicat ion compared

with t h e performance of students taught by t h e teacher who

received shor ter pesiod (one week) of t r a i n i n g )

5. How is the performace of students taught by the teecher

who received t ra in ing in concept mapping principles,

development and applicat ion compared with t he perf annance

of t h e i r comterpc t t taught by t h e teacher who received

no t r d n i n g i n concept mapping, pr inciples , development

and application,

Hypot heoes

1. There i a no s ignif icant difference in the man score of

s t d e n t s taught by t h e teacher t h a t received longer period

( 3 weeks) of t ra in ing and those students taught by the

teacher t h a t received shorter period (one week) of t ra in ing

i n t he concept mapping principles, development a d app l i c t i on .

2. There i s no s ip l i f i c an t diffetence in t h e mesn score of

students taught by t he teacher who received t ra in ing in

concept mapping principles, development md application

and those taught by the teacher who received no t ra ining

in concept mapping principles, development cnd application.

Assmpt ions of t h e Studx

This study is based on t h e following assunptions:

1. Concept map as a method of delivery instruction is an

innovation.

2. The agriculkural science teachers have been using concept

m a p as one o f the methods o f instruction.

3. Teachers uaed in t h e

agricultural science

Scope of the stud^

In carrying out t h i s

teaching metlwd was given

o n l y agricultural science

cultural sc ience students

study are qualif ied and experienced

teachers.

study only t h e concept map as a

consider d im. The at udy considers C

teachem in hambra State and agri-

o f senior secondary.

CHAPTUZ TW

REVIEW OF REZCSPED LIITmCLTmE

L i t e r a t u r e was reviewed based on t h e f o l l o w h g headhgs:

Concept and uses of concept mapping.

Concept mapping as an b ~ o v a t i o n .

Training need assessment.

Other teaching raetllods in agr icu l tu ra l science.

Need fo r new teaching method.

Need for i n s t r u c t i o n a1 improvement.

Sunrnary of liter t u r e review.

Concept and U s e s o f Concept Mapping

The term concept map is a d w i c e for representing t h e key

conceptual structure of a c o w e e of study. =cording t o

Ola i t an, W i l l i a m and Agusiobo ( 1977) , concept map presents

clearly t o t h e t eacher t h e realehionships amarg key concepts

t o be learned in t h e course. The concepts are organized i n a

general super-ordinate t o s u b o r d i n a t e order, t h a t is in

keeping with t h e l o g i c a l s t r u c t u r e of t h e course content. This

is t o say t h a t l a rge concepts a r e followed by smaller concepts.

Concept mapping is a metacognitive ins t ruc t iona l s t r a t egy

developed from AU~Ubel's subsumpt ion theory by Novek and h i s

associdces in 1972. wcording t o Novak (1990) cmcep t mapping

12

d e p i c t s hierarchy md r e l a t i u n s h i p among concepts. This begins

from t h e most general, most inc lus ive at t h e t o p and proceeds

downwards t o less general s p e c i f i c examples. Concept mapping

r e l a t e s d i r e c t l y t o such t h e o r e t i c a l p r i n c i p l e s as p r i o r

knowledge, sdmunpt ion , progressive, cogn i t ive Widging a d

i n t e g r a t i v e r e c o n c i l i a t i o n (Wmderse, 1996:927). Hence accard-

inq t o ~ u s b e l as reported by Okonkwo ( 1997) concept mapping can

be tdtP.. t o a c l a s s of meaningful l e a r n i n g events in which a

learner corlsciously and d e l i b e r a t e l y l i n k s new knowledge with

r e l evan t concept already known.

O l a i t m (1997% 35) defined ccncqk map as a systematized

diagram l ink ing t h e w o r d s i n a un i t course, and a programmes.

p!ovak and Godwin (1994) made an a s s e r t i o n t h a t concept maps

are intended t o r e p r e s e n t meaningful r e l a t i o n s h i p s between con-

cepts i n t h e form of propositions. kcccrdlng t o them, proposi t ions

are two or more concept l a b e l s l inked by words i n a semantic uni t .

They dedined a concept map as a ~ h e m a t i c device f o r r ep resen t ing

a set of concept meanings embedded in a framework of prepositions.

Cmcept maps work, t hey sa id make clear t o both s tuden t s and

t e a c h e r s the small number o f key i d e a s they must focus on fo r

any s p e c i f i c l ea rn ing task. A map can also provide a kind of

v i s u a l road map showing some of t h e pathways w e t ake t o connect

m e a n i n q s of concepts in propositions. It a l so provides a

achematic sumnary of what has been learned art t h e end of t h e

learning t a s k s ( ~ o v a k and G o d w i n , 1984: '15).

schwab ( 1973) sa id t h t cancept maps play a r o l e in

teaching, learning curriculum 'end governance, For t h e teacher

he said, concept map:) can be used t o determine pathways for

organizing meanings and fo r negotiarting meanings with stuclents'

misconception. For t h e learner , they help t o make evident t h e

key concepts o r proposit ions t o be learned, and a l s o suggest

l inkages between t h e new knowledgk and what he ar she already

knows. I n curriculum planning and organization, concept maps

are useful f a r separaklng s i g n i f i c a n t fabm t r i v i a l informzkion

and f o r choosing examples, with respect t o governmce, concept

maps help s t r d e n t s rndeestand t h e i r role as learners , they a l s o

c l a r i f y t h e teacher ' s r o l e and create a learning atmosphere

of mutual respect.

Concept mapping can f o s t e r co-operation between student

and teacher in a b a t t l e i n which t h e "monstertt t o be conquered

i s meaninglessness of information and vic tory as shered meaning.

(Novak and Godwin 1984 r 23).

Olaltan et a1 ( 1977~8 ) shared t h e same idea when they

sa id t h a t t h e concept map can be w e d by t h e teacher aS a guide

i n selecting course objectives, may be cognitions, cognitive

s k i l l s , psychomotor s k i l l s and affective r ~ k i l l s w h k h the teacher wants

t h e pupils t o possess aa a resul t of the course. They are

a l so of t h e opinion tha t t he cctlcept map can be used as M

ins t ruct ional focus. The teacher can develop his inst ru=t ionsl

leasons t o correspond w i t h each concept. It is based on this

t h d o l a i t an end A l l ( 1997; 368) opined th& use of concept

- map may be of great coneiderdcion during c lus te r ing of intended

learning outcomeo (IU3s) t o conceptualize t h e properties of t h e

1~'s. &cording t o them a te tcher w i l l make sure t h a t

some concepts are reluted i n one or t h e other such areas of

re la t ionsh ip i n c l d e log ica l pfg.f@qubit@. The idea of using

the concept mapping w i l l be t o group t h e concepts or propositions

which t h e s t w k n t s must learn and mderstand befare later content

can be mderstood. Okonkwo (1997) a lso commented on t h e use of

ccncept mapping as a instruct ional s t ra tegy when she said tha t

concept maps enable t h e teecher and s t rden ts t o focus on certain

key wards o r ideas t ha t are meaningful t o t h e learning tasks.

According t o zekeris i n U i (1980). students are very much

capable o i recognizing the comon elements i n s i tuat ions as

a precondition on concept development.

Novak and Godwin ( l984:82 had earlier mentioned t h e

importance of concept mapping as m i n s t r u c t i o n a l s t r a tegy

when they said i n t h e i r book learning how to lea rn that concept

maps can help u6 t o organize the whole set of concept proposit fonal

re l&ionsh ips w e wish t o pres'mt, CaocPpt maps, they said, because

of t h e i r conciseness a d v i sua l imagery, can be much more helpful

t han o u t l i n e s f o r planning an e n t i r e course (o r major segment of

inb t ruc t ion) . According t o them a look at t h e concept map f o r

a whole courme of s t d y and see pa t t e rns emd re la t ionsh ips of

i d e a s Mistily. This is not so easy with course ou t l ines i f

it can be done at. dl, I n other wccds concept mapping providee

a v i sua l image o f t h e "big p k t l r e f l as w e l l as of t h e concept

r e ld t ionsh ips in s m a l l i ns t ruc t iona l 8-t. I f such can be

placed on l a r g e p iece of cardboard and perhaps drawn with

coloured felt pens, a "concept r o d mapn can be of imedid;e and

l a s t l n g value t o s tudents as imagery,

Concept mapping as a bersis f o r planning t h e curriculum:

o l a i t an and Al i ( 1997t 187) said t h a t concept map format i s a

new developme~t i n curriculum making. They emphasized its

importance in writing curriculum saying t h a t it shows t h e

curriculun w r i t e r s , t h e relatedness of concepts and top ics in

17

a course. According t o them t h e use of concept maps makes

t h e developmat of curriculum content easier by t h e curriculum

planners, help them t o breakdown a course content i n t o smaller

units. This w i l l a id t h e teacher I n making a log ica l p l m of

h i s teaching md a l s o help t h e .pupils see t h e re la t ionsh ip

between t h e =its end sub-unit thereby enhancing pupil compr-

hension. Yovak and Godwin (1984r78) s t reased t h e use of concept

map by t h e curriculum plmnere t o achieve meeningful l inkages

between more general, inc lus ive concepts a d more specific con-

cepts such they said w i l l represent t h e horizontal lines auross

t h e curriculum conceptual hierarchy.

Concept Mapping rar Evaluation Tool

Once s tudents l ea rn how t o prepare concepts maps, t h e h

maps can be used as powerful evaluation t o o l s (Novak and G D d w i n ,

19848 23). Blocm ( 1956) in h i s Taxonomy o f Educational object ive ,

outlined s i x " levelsw of object ives i n edtxation. It is easy t o

wri te object ive. quest ions t h a t test whether m nut what Bloom

called l eve l I ob jec t ives - rate recall of s p e c i f i c information - have been met.. But it i s exceedingly d i f f i c u l t t o design a

test t o determine whether new knowledge has been malyeed,

synthesized and evaluated by s tudents opinedtNovak and Godwin

1984). They suggested thzk concept mapping makes such

evaluation poss ib le because it requires s tuden t s t o perform on

all s i x HleveM in one composite e f fo r t . Easley ( 1974) i n his

research work at t h e University of I l l i n o i s convfnced us t h a t

t h e use of concept mapping i n assess ing changes i n cogni t ive

s t r u c t u r e s p r w e d encouraging.

Ola i tan et al (1977) also emphasized t h e use of concept

mapping f o r evaluat ion purpose. They said thaL tests can be

designed t o focus on t h e concepts i n t h e concept map. I n t h e k

bodc making of curriculum Olaitan and A l i ( W ' I t 9.87) stated

t h a t one major advantage o f t h e concept map is t h a t it can be

used f o r evaluat ion of t h e whole wit or cowsee The teacher

can detect l apses i n h i s teaching and o the r aspects of t h e course

or uni t l i k e l y t o be af fec ted by t h e s e lapses. Adjubtment i s

vecy easy, they said, since t h e concept map h w given t h e

teacher t h e d i r e c t i o n of weakness,

From on-going discussion it is very clear t h a t concept nlapp

ing teaching s t r a t e g i e s plays an important r o l e both t o t h e

teacher and t o t h e l ea rne r , rlore especia l ly in building cogni-

t i v e structure of a c h i l d s c a r d i n g t o Ausubel i n Everwign

( 1983 r 183) , Cognit ife structure should be mder stood as t h e

quanti ty c l a r i t y and organizat ion of t h e l e m n e r s present

knowledge, which c o n s i s t s o f t h e facts, concepts, proposi t ions,

t h e o r i e s and raw percept ional d a t a t h e l ea rne r h a ava i lab le

t o h i m at any poin t i n time. From t h e Ausubel opinion teachers

should l e a r n h o w t o use s t r a t e g i e s t h a t w i l l bu i ld concept t h a t

are more st a b l e which in turn. w i l l be comparatively st able in

t h e cogn i t ive s t r u c t u r e of t h e l ea rne r , According t o Awodeji

(1983~12), t h e l e a r n e r i s not always capable of tracinq for

himself s u i t a b l e concepts t o which t h e learn ing materials can

b e related. In t h i s case t h e use o f concept mapping s t r a t e g i e s

by t h e t eache r w i l l go a long way in solv ing s x h problem, This

i s based on t h e premise t h a t new concepts do no t exist in

i s o l a t i o n but depends upon o the r s far meaning, Novak (1990)

said t h a t t h e concept maps drawn by s tudents , s e r v e a s c l u e s CLS

new concepts are being b u i l t i n t o t h e i r cogn i t ive framework,

Concept Mapping as An Innovation

In almost all areas o f human endeavour, t h e r e i s need f o r

change. The h i s t o r y of man's ex i s t ence on e a r t h is a s t o r y of

h i s endeavour t o improve on h i s former st atus and processes of

doing th ings . I n all educat ional d i s c i p l i n e t h e s t o r y is t h e

same, i nc lx i ing a g r i c u l t u r a l t each ing hence it i s sa id t h a t

nothing i s cons i s t en t except change, Innovation i n t h e

education methodology impl ies innovation in t h e var ious

aspects of ln s t rue t ioned learning.

Innovation began r i g h t from t h e minute homo sapiens

appeared. An Innovation is m idea, p r a c t i c e or ob jec t perceived

as new by an indiv idual (Hcpume, 1997). I f t h e idea seems new

t o t h e Individual , it is an Innovation. The newness aspect o f

an innovation may be expressed i n knowledge, i n a t t i t u d e at

reyarding a dec is ion t o use it. (Rogers and Shoenakeri, 1971).

Mkpa ( 1989) desc r ibe innovation as t h e int rotiuct ion of a novel

f actm perceived as new by a g i v m school and community

supported by a d r i v i n g force, and implemented as a p r a c t i c a l

advance t h a t deviekes from es t ab l i shed or t r a d i t i o n a l forms.

Unruh and Alexander (1974124) i d e n t i f i e d innovation as not

only consonant with t h e broad and f u n d a m t a l purposes of

contemporary edue&ionr it is a l s o d i r e c t & towards unique

l o c d needs which have been assessed In a systematic unprejudiced

manner. They a l s o proposed t h a t Innovation must provide a basis

f o r dec is ions i n making choices a m g a l t e rna t ives . It should

be concerned with valuat ion f o r s e t t i n g p r i o r i t i e s aid allocat-

i n g resources which should have u t i l i t y f o r f ind ing a l t e r n a t i v e

ways t o reach t h e broad goals of education and not merely

introduced t o s a t i s f y t h e i d l e c u r i o s i t y about m a c t i v i t y of

s i t u a t i o n . T h i s is t o say t h a t t h e r e m u s t b e need f o r innovation.

The innovat ive progranne o r s t r a t e g y must be described o r

defined c l e a r l y not only in terms of t h e ob jec t ives of t h e

programme but i n terms of s t a f f qua l i f i ca t ion and t r a i n i n g ,

st d e n t s s e l e c t i o n and p r s i n n o v a t i o n performance &c. Acccrding

t o Mkpa, t h e innovat ive p r o g r m e m u s t be u t i l i z e d as a method

of using evidence t o improve learn ing and teaching t o aid i n

c l a r i f y i n g o b j e c t i v e s m d rev i s ing process.

Innovat ion proceeds along defined s t e p s as s t i P u l a t e d by

Mkpa (1987; 522). Those steps include:

I. The i d e n t i f i c a t i o n of t h e need f o r a change.

2. k t e rmLna t ion of one o r more new practices l i k e l y t o meet

t h e i d e n t i f i e d need.

3. Lvaluation of t h e chosen innovation i n a t r y ou t s i t u d i o n .

4. Activat ion of t h e f inding of t h e t r y out by r e j e c t i n g o r

adopting t h e innovat ion or modifying and t r y i n g it again

and f i n a l l y .

5. St imula t ion of t h e continuat ion of t h i s process of

innovat i on and change.

other more comprehensive sequences may be followed. ~ u t

t h e ultimate purpose i s t o guarantee t h a t any innovation is

introdwed as a r e s u l t of thorough aalysis of t h e exis t ing

s i tuat ion and proper planning of t h e met f r u i t f u l sequence

of operation. It i s important t o understand according t o

Mkpume ( 19971 10) innovations are not adopted by people on the

basis of i n t r i n s i c value of t h e innovations b& ra ther on t he

basis of t h e adopter's perception of t h e changes they personally

w i l l be require4 t o make. Change agent ha83 t o develop and

introduce this innovation i n t o the uses. The introduction w i l l

involve promoting awareness and interest i n t he innovation,

adjusting i n t e rna l organizational procedures and arrt%IgenEmt,

locating and arranging appropriate resources, providing t r a in ing

course, s e t t i n g up monitoring f e e d b s k procedures t o assess t h e

r e l e v a c e end effectiveness of t h e innovation (Bishop, 1986).

Sehrahm (1973t128) mentioned t h a t in execution of any lnnov-

ation careful plmning ts necessary. Accarding t o him, for

effect ive planning and execution of an innovation, t he implemen-

t i o n phase should be taken seriously and regarded as a d i s t i nc t

process from the ea r l i e r t r i a l phase. Implernent&ion e n t a i l s

new arid dis t inc t ive issues md problems that call for new and

d i s t i n c t i v e approaches. It should be noted t h a t init ial

acceptance of an innovation, even enthusiasm is not enough t o

en sure imp1 ement at ion.

AS P r a t t in G. Bishop (1986) s a i d , innovation is a process,

a continuous and complex negot ia t ion between people involved in

es tab l i sh ing new ideas md p rac t i ces . :!wt innovations require

considerable change i n t h e usual pa t t e rn of teacher beheviour.

To break away from old modes o f behaviour and begin t o act in an

e n t i r e l y d i f f e r e n t way as f a r b from easy and takes t imes, t h e r e

fort?, in t roduct ion of a new i d e a needs a gradual sequence yW"R",:fGY fF vU&W

creut ion of awareness and t r a in ing . \ 'LZC * Q ' ,

Planning is necessary i n innovation ju& l i k e President

Nyerere ( 1969) colned the phrase "to plan i s t o choose'(. I n

essence, planning is an exercise i n forecasting f o r e f f e c t i v e

elanent s which must be considered at each s t ages o f my innovation.

Those elements concern who does What, with what, t o whom, where,

when, in what manner, and why and with what e f f ec t . S w h

elemeuits must be considered i n developing any innovation - s o

t h a t an innovation may a f f e c t learn ing a c t i v i t i e s and o t h e r

in s t ruc t iona l techniques and s t r a t e g i e s and other methods of

evaluet ing t h e school curriculum.

Training Need Assessment

Training as def ined by Fl ippo ( 1985) is t h e act of increas ing

t h e knowledge end e k i l l s of an employee in doing a p a r t i c u l a r job.

van-Dersal (1968) considers it as t h e process of teaching, inform-

ing md educating people s o t h u t t h q become w e l l qua l i f i ed t o

do t h e i r work and t o perform in a pos i t ion o f greater d i f f i c u l t y

and r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s . Novit (1979) opined t h a t t r a i n i n g implies

a d i s s a t i s f a c t i o n o f t h e s t a t u s quo. H e s a i d t h a t t h e r e mtlt

be a def ic iency e i t h e r present ac foreseen t o make training

necessary. W i l liam ( 1985) emphasized t h a t t r a i n i n g cannot be

s a t i s f a c t o r y unless t h e r e i s need assessment.

Need Assessment eccording to Torstern end Nerville (1979) is

s tud ies on information gathering m d m a l y s i s process which result

in the i d e n t i f i c a t i o n o f t h e needs o f indiv idual groups, i n s t i t u t i o n ,

C o r n m i t i e s o r soc ie t i e s . In education needs assessment has been

used for iden t i fy ing needs o f atudents f o r i n s t r u c t i o n i n a given

subjects area, i n determing weaknesses in s tudents* a v e r a l l

acdemic achievement, in determining t h e needs o f teachers f o r

additfonal training, in d e t ~ m j n i n g t h e f u t u r e needs of primary,

secondary and t e r t i a r y education system, Tarskern end Nerv i l l e

( 1979) .

~ e n t i o n h g about t r a i n i n g needs, P&el (1983) stated t h a t

a t r a i n i n g need could be said t o arise when t h e r e i s a difference

o r gap between actual performance and t h e desired performmce,

Proctor and Thornton (1961) defined t r a i n i n g needs a s s k i l l s ,

knowledge and a t t i t u d e an individual requires in order t o overcome

problems as well as avoid c rea t ing problem s i tua t ions . There i s

need t o ident i fy t h e t r a i n i n g needs which w i l l f a c i l i t a t e t ra in ing.

The theore t i ca l framework of this study is the re fo re based

on t h e concept of t r a i n i n g needs a s a gap between what t h e

agr icu l tu re science teachers ere and what they ought t o be in t h e

use of concept mapping a s a t echn ica l teaching method.

Technique fo r sssessment clf t r a i n i n g needs include t o

1. iden t i fy t h e resources f o r cond-ing t h e n e d assessment ;

2, determine t h e standards by which t h e needs w i l l be ident i f ied;

3. d e s i ~ l t h e needs assessment procedure;

4, assign p r i o r i t i e s t o need;

5, use t h e r e s u l t t o improve t h e c d & i n g progranme or education

system (Olaitan and A l l , 1997). Quoting Suanez (1992).

Olai tan and Al i (1997) sa id t h a t needs assessment could be

components of several evaluation model which is described o r

designed on t h e bas i s of its purposem md t h e types of needs t h a t

are iden t i f i ed . AS identicated by them, they presented Need

assessment model which they refer t o as cuxiculum a d evaluation

model. ~ h l s is shorn below.

o the r Teaching Methods in Agriculture

~ c G r & h (1960) defined teaching method as ways of teach-

ing , t h e means by which educational experiences occur.

~ e a c h i n g method as a s e t of teacher behaviour t h & are r ecur ren t ,

occur i n a m i f i e d 2nd s y s t e m i c manner. They apply t o a v a r i e t y

of teaching sub jec t s o r mits of mater ia l contents. Methodology

i s very v i t a l i n any teaching s i tu&ion, The method adopted

by t h e teacher may promote ar hinder learning, ~ c c o r d i n g t o

Uga Onwuka (1981:168), it may sharpen mental a c t i v i t i e s which

are t h e b a s i s o f soc ia l powers, tx it may discourage i n i t i a t i v e

and c u r i o s i t y t h u s making se l f - r e l i ance and su rv iva l d i f f i c u l t .

T h i s i s more reason why teachers should adopt m a r e promisinc;

ithod hod ti;& w l l l sharpen mental a c t i v i t i e s of t h e learners .

These are o the r m i v e r s a l l y accepted &hods of teaching

agr i cu l tu ra l sc ience as suggeriked by Harold ~ 0 ~ 1 t h ( 1960) ,

Cnwuka (19811, O l d t a n (1984) etc. such as lecture methods

discussion, problem solving/discovery , f i e l d t r i p s , p r c j e d s ,

r o l e playing, denmnstration etc. These methods have proved

,des i reble buk still have some shortcomings.

L ec t ure M e t hods

A l€cture method is a process whereby t h e t eacher ' s notes

~ i t h o u t pa96ing through t h e minds of e i t h e r , (Alexander,

1956 ; Onwuka ,198 1). Lecture method is comnonly used

alone o r in combination with a t h e r methods fo r teaching scimce

including a g r i c u l t u r e i n Nigerian secondary schools. It usually

i r~volves t a l k i n g t o t h e s t @ e n t s or wri t ing on t h e chalkboard

information on t h e t o p i c being taught.

A cursory look at a l ec tuce class shows t h a t t h e lecturer

( teacher) does most or t h e t a l k i n g while t h e s tudents ( l i s t e n e r s )

are p s s i v e r e c i p i e n t s of infcrmation, Lectures are of l imi ted

ef fec t iveness for teaching science (Al l , 1982). Critical a n a l y s i s

of t h e l e c t u r e method rweds t h e fo l lowlr~g assumptions =cording

t o Alexander (1956). I n l e c t u r e , t h e teecher ' s r o l e i s t o

tell pupi ls what they need t o know.

The pupil l e a r n s by l i s t e n i n g t o t h e teller, reviewing

nateo taken on t h e l e c t u r e , perhaps thinking, but usually

memorizing what is told. Learning t a k e s p lace only when t h e

individual l ea rne r consciously seeks t o s a t i s f y a need t h a t he

bel ieves as impart ant t o him.

Under this c o n d i t j o n , i t is highly m l i k e l y t h a t any

lecture can be s o presented t h a t a l l learners w i l l ac t ive ly

seek t o understand all t h e materials as sa t i s fy ing the*

needs, i t is mders t andab le t h a t most of whB pup i l s hear

through l e c t u r e s is not long remembered perhaps not longer

than final examination.

A lecture method has m a y l i m i t a t i o n s in teaching agricul-

tural sc ience bu t neve r the le s s h a s a p lace In awakening a t t i t u d e

i n s tudents i n providing a e s t h e t i c p l e a s w e i f w e l l handled by

t h e teacher (Mills, 1977). It is always med t o reach l a r g e

number of students m d are economical of t h e t ime of staff.

The lecture method is by far the commonest in use but not very

adequate. ~ e a e h e r s can only use them when it appears t o be

i n e v i t a b l e i n t e l l i n g or expla in ing events or t h i n g s t o s t d e n t s ;

e s p e c i a l l y when he wants t o arouse t h e pupi l s t i n t e r e s t when

r e s o w c e s and time are l imited.

To use this method, suggested Onwuka (1981) t h e teacher

must use i deas and words which are familiar t o t h e pupils .

H e mu& not present his materials, e spec ia l ly , new m e s in a

rush. The t eache r should always r epea t m d emphasize important

points .

Discussion ~ethod

o l a i t a n (1982r63) described d iscuss ion method as t h & which

involves a group of people or a class who g e t s toge ther in

30

order t o exchange ideas, fmztti and opinions o r a l l y abo* a

top ic of mutual concern m d i n t e r e s t . kccording t o him, he

said t h a t t h e teacher acts a s a conference l e a d w and d l r e c t s .

or redirects ideas end i n f a m a t i o n produced by t h e pupi ls in

t h e c lass . ~ c c o r d i n g t o M i l l s ( 1977: 160-161) discussion

method ensures a s t i v e pa r t i c ipa t ion of t h e c l a s s and encourages

i n i t i a t i v e and t h e commendable habit of f inding th ings out f o r

oneself. It motivates s tudents and valuable in changing

a t t i t d e through pa r t i c ipa t ion in group discussion.

some dangers i n t h e methods as opined by Olai tan (1982864)

a r e t h a t t h e r e is a dmger t h a t t h e teacher o r s tudents may

wander from t h e m a i n theme of t h e d i s u s s i o n , It involves

more than question and mswer sess ions in which t h e t e s h e r relies

on t h e questions of t h e s t d e n t o f o r his e%plan&ion.

b i t c w u r v Method/Problm Solvbg

Thlh method i s an attempt t o discover tbe r o u t e t o a goal

in t h e l i g h t of past ewerience and in a manner appropriate t o

t h e present sikualtion. According t o Nexmder (1956), a dis-

covery approach t o learning is highly des i rab le f o r adolescent

learner who are preparing for t h e time when they m u s t increasingly

solve t h e i r own problems with less and less adult direction ar

RESCARCH WORK

The bearer ; ,J~I, B. ~ w o s u is an undergrduate/postgraduate

student o f the u e p e m e n t o f Voctltional Teacher Education of t h e

Universi ty of N i g e r i a , N sukka. ~ e / S h e is c u r r e n t l y undertaking a

research work ont XRAINING NEEDS OF TEACHERS I3 THE USE OF CONCEPT

Plrrrj k'U3 THi; XIQROVEN€&T OF INSTRUCTION I N AGRICULTLRAL SCIENCE.

It would be highly apprec ia ted i f you could supply Mm/her

with t h e information he/she may require from you. )dl informakion

from you will be t r e a t e d c o n f i d e n t i a l l y .

Tharlks for your kind co-operation.

He ad uepa r t m a t of vocat ion a1 Teacher Education

quidance. ~cca rdL?g t o Ola i tan (1982r651, t h e method guide

md s t imula t e t h e l ea rne r i n t o discovering t h e s o l u t i o n s t o

c e r t a i n problems awlsing i n h i s course o f study by himself. 1t

a l s o enables t h e l e a r n e r t o reason and pass judgemelt in order

t o a r r i v e at a reasonable solukion t o his p~?oblm.

Some of t h e sha tcomincpinherent i n t h e discovery approach

o f teaching are:

1. Sanetimes p u p i l s should not be allowed t h e opportuni ty

t o c o l l e c t t h e r e l e v a n t infannation about t h e problem.

2. p r o s t of t en s t u d e n t s are not guided on what t o do

e s p e c i a l l y t o get i deas , concepts p r i n c i p l e s about t h e

topic they are solving.

3. Often a t t imes s tuden t s lack adequate and appropr ia te

mater ia l s , and equipment needed in t h e discovery, when t h e s e

are avai lab le , guide l ines on how t o use them may not be

avai lab le t o them ( A l l , 1988).

Flel .1 Trips

According t o A l i ( 1988228) f ield t r i p method involves t a k i n g

s t d e n t s t o p laces of i n t e r e s t , usua l ly o u t s i d e t h e school

s e t t i n g . According t o O l a i t an ( 191982 186) f i e l d t r i p develops

critical th ink ing end broedens t h e horizons of the pup i l s as

t hey see people work i n d i f f e r e n t activities, obtaining real

intormation and study r e a l s i tua t ions . F ie ld t r i p he continued

help t o make t h e re lzkionship b t w e e n t h e school a d community

program& closer . A l l (1982) indica ted some d m g e r s i n t h e

use of f i e l d t r i p s t h a t makes some science t eachers r e luc tan t

t o use it. (1) It requ i res a . lo t of planning t i m e and energy.

(2) Due t o high c o s t s involve, as w e l l as f e a r of accidents

some teacher:, shy away from using f i e l d t r i p s . (3) It demands

mwh r e s p o n s i b i l i t y hn t h e part o f t h e t e e r h e r t o execute such

t r i p . A l i a l s o cornended t h a t with good planning f i e l d t r i p

car, be useful and rewarding t o t e a t h e r s and students.

O l d t a n (1996) in his book i s s u e m d m a l y s i s i n technica l

education in Niger ia commented thcl; t h e suggested f i e l d t r i p

i n teaching agr i cu l tu re creates a lot o f problems because

curriculum d i d not i n d i c a t e on what period of t h e day t h i s t r i p

can be done, t h e t ime w a s na t Indicated i n t h e syl labus , aid

sources of f inance end o the r t h i n g s t o execute t h e t r i p were

not c l e a r l y indicated too. As a r e s u l t , t h i s creates a big

problem t o teachers who w i l l l i k e t o use f i e l d t r i p approach

and makes t h e use of such method mpract icable .

Projec t Met hod

Projec t mthod approach according t o Al l (1988: 24) Involves

assig-dng a p a r t i c u l a r work t o a stuclent (or group of s tudents)

which he has t o work on end complete at h i s s p a r e time and

r epor t back t o t h e t e a c h e r as and when demanded. I n t h e

p ro jec t method, t h e s t u d e n t s with t h e he lp o f t h e t eache r ,

p l en end e x g u t e In a l o g i c a l sequence every s t e p from t h e

beginning of a t o p i c t o i t s s u k e s s f u l completion. ~ c c r d i n g

t o uns ta t ~ e d (1944) in Uga Onwuka ( 1981) pro jec t is a purposeful

a c t i v i t y o r a meaningful whole o r \nit of experience, t h e purpose

beit14 to embody some i d e a or plan i n external form.

In ceder t o ob ta in maxFmun value from t h e p r o j e c t , t h e

teacher should merely guide and co-ord ina te t h e work MJ, let t h e

pupi l s do t h e rest. Elas and C a s t l e r ( 1970) opined t h a t in

using projec t method, a t o p i c would be chosen according t o t h e

subject s tud ied , such t o p i c would be discussed by t h e t eache r

and s tu5ent s dur ing which t h e e x p e r i m c e is discussed , o b j e c t s

sor ted and l a b e l l e d and groups begin t o work on t h e i r own Interest.

According t o Elas and Cast le , t h e use o f p ro jec t method he lps

s t d e n t s t o develop concepts, t h e b a s i c material f o r t h ink ing ,

reasoning and imaginestion i n t h e most va luable way through real

experience, Uga Onwuka (19878178) said t h a t p r o j e c t method is

a more promising attempt at m i f y i n g var ious sub jec t s , It makes

t h e school work real opined (Umstatted, 19448 161) md makes

school work comes I n t o c l o s e con tac t wi th a c t u a l l i f e and

t h e d iv id ing l i n e s between d i f f e r e n t s u b j e c t s disappear.

Ola l tan (3984867) said t h a t t h e p ro jec t method helps t o

hold interest and motivate t h e s tudy o f t e c h n i c a l f a c t s and

r e l a t e d knowledge I n agricul t l i re . He contlnufxl t o say t h a t it

i s t h e moat suitable for pup i l s who arc not only i n q u i s i t i v e

bdt a l so c r e a t i v e and I n t e r e s t e d in immediate okcome of t h e i r

a c t i v i t i e s ,

AL1 t h e s e good features notwithstanding, p ro jec t work i s

not easy t o organize , it r e q u i r e s t h e t e c h n i c a l and organiza t ional

competence of t h e t eache r f o r its success a d it t a k e s a long

time t o prepare and c a r r y out , ~t requires s p e c i a l supervision

t o hold t h e interest of t h e p u p i l s (Olai tan, 1984: 68).

Role playing i s a spontaneous ac t ing ou t of a s i t u a t i o n

by two o r more people t o show t h e emotional r e a c t i o n s of t h e

people i n t h e r e a l s i t u a t i o n , mample is a g r i c u l t u r a l s tuden t s

can represent farmers, s e l l i n g farm products and where some

s t u d e n t s represent t h e middleman and t h e buyers, Role playing

cciptures s tuden t s ' i n t e r e s t and makes them gain a deeper mder-

s tanding of t h e r e l a t i ansh ips involved i n t h e s i t u a t i o n , It

foskers group co-operation (O ld t an , 1984).

Demonstration Method

Demonstration according t o c ills (1977s 171) means the l i n k

bdwem explanation and pract ice and makes use of man's natural

incl inat ion t o i m i t a t e . Ali (1988~25) defined demonstration

method as an experiment o r ac t i v i t y carr ied out by a teacher o r

a student designated by t h e teacher in f u l l view of t h e students.

Demonstration often combines a verbal explenation with a

pract ical i l lusr t ra t ion of operation being demonstrated. It i s

a means of providing problem-solving learning experience i n t h e

classroan which are more r e a l i s t i c fu r t h e pupils.

O la i tm (1984) described how w e l l a demonstration method

can be used f o r e f f ec t i ve teaching In agricul tura science.

For exang>le, when t h e teacher intends t o t esch the? students

how t o perform a par t icu la r operation such a6 cas t ra t ing a pig.

I n my operation, he fur ther s a i d t h a t t h e teacher must

make sure tha t every pupil can see and hear t he demonstration

c lear ly , carry out the demonstr&ion, careful ly describing each

action so tha t the pupils understand every s tage of t h e operation.

He a lso suggested t h a t i f t h e process is a complicated one, t h e

demonstration should be repeated focusing t h e pupi lsa at tention

AS pointed out by Tyler (1949) t h e already ex i s t ing teeth-

i n g methods seems n o t t o be meeting t h i s need hence nee3 f o r

m o r e in tegra ted and s c i e n t i f i c md concise method.

N eed fo r Ins t ruct ional Improvement

The t e r m improvement Involves evaluating one's ways of

working and searching f a r end t r y i n g out d i f f e r e n t ways.

P l m i n y fo r improvement is a part of teaching method according

t o Alexander (1956~427). No par t of teaching method is mare

critical t o t h e teacharas happiness and ef fec t ivaness than t h a t

of his own planning and improvement efforks.

Tthe t a sk of e s tab l i sh ing educational purposes i s one of t h e

e s s e n t i a l s teps i n curriculum planning which needs t o be attabned.

According t o O l d t a n ( 19972 330) ins t ruc t iona l p l m i n g is t h e

process of deciding whut a c t i v i t i e s both of t h e teacher and t h e

students, i n s t r u c t i o n a l content , medus and other related

a c t i v i t i e s necessary for instruction. Ins t ruc t ion according

t o Mager et a1 ( 1976) means an experience provide f o r t h e

l ea rners with in ten t ion t o k i n g about learning which is

desirable. An i n k r e o r cmnck get about t h e instrUCti0n

without planning t h e course of ins t ruc t ion with adequate

teaching technique md method. It i s In line with t h i s t h d

36

on each important point. Millo (1997) highlighted some dis-

advantages in using demanstration mekhod. =cording t o him, a

aood demonstration requires a great deal of time and t rouble

for proper preparation. There i s d k a y s a danger t h a t a

demonstration w i l l d b p l ay savekal f eatutes simultaneously m d

a person can watch only one th ing a t a the. Some demonstrations

suffer from a t o o rapid sequence of evmts , mo tha t something

new happcne before t h e preceding points ace assimilated.

students most often a r e nat concerned with demonstration ara it

go- on but normally focurt t h e i r &tantion on t h e demcclstrzk6r.

arid put thrdr-in h i8 p l s e and prepares t o W t & e him.

A demonotrator is often in denget o f showing t o o much

going too f a s t and continuing t o o lmg. To a ~ h i w e t h e a i m of

using t he method especial ly with a large class, classes may

be grouped.

Finally, many educators agree t h a t although t h e r e i a a great

d ivers i ty of teaching methods and tcchniquee or s t r a t eg i e s t he re

is no one of them thsd; can be regarded as t h e best for every

teaching s i tuat ion yet a c a r d u l l y designed appropriate teaching

method can make learning e f fec t ive and s ign i f ican t ly improve

academic performance. Uga Onwuka ( 1981) m a l n t alns t ha t ''Teaching

i s a F o c e s s of making it poss ib l e f o r someone t o learn.

It i s mare thcn t h e de l ivery o f a car&ully prepared lec ture .

Teaching c o n s i s t s e s s e n t i a l l y o f s e t t i n g t h e s t a g e (by the

t eache r ) s o t h a t pupi l s can learn.

Need f o r N e w Teaching Method i n h g r i c u l t u r e

A l o t of qua l i ty determinat ion i s going on in o w education

t h a t had served them before t h e system of . adminiotr at ion, t h e

sy l labus and curriculum and t each ing methods, t h e self-contained

classroom, t h e means of teacher t r a i n i n g and recruitment: have

proved no match f o r t h e new s i t u a t i o n . What seemed l i k e business

as usual ac tua l ly become business worse than usual he said.

It was in l i n e with t h i s , t h a t Fafrnwa (1967: 52) a l s o echoed

t h & "you cannot use yes terday ' s t o o l f o r today ' s job and expect

t o be i n business tomorrow.

Cer t a in ly new t o g s have been added and o ld t h i n g s inproved

but t h e r e has been no frndammtal syn thes i s of new and e x i s t i n g

teercldng methods for sc iences e s p e c i a l l y f o r a g r i c u l t u r a l sc ience

teachers . There i s need f o r 16are i n t eg ra t ed systems of teaching

as Fafmwa r i y h t l y said. Rather than dragging on educat ional

system, k i ck ing and screening i n t o t h e twenty- f i r s t century,

40

Ola i t an ( 1997) and Novak and Godwin (1982) reconended t h e

use of concept mapping t o plan ins t ruc t ion t o get a pos i t ive

change i n behsvioural outcome.

One's a t t i t u d e toward improvement of teaching is r e l a t e d

v u y c losely t o oners bas ic philosophy of education. If

education is conceived t o be primari ly a m a t t e r of t r m s m i t t i n g

prescribed information in t h e most pa la tab le doses possible

to children and youth, Alex8nde.r (19568484) then sa id t h a t

improvement should be seen t o be necessary m l y i n terms of

a r r iv ing at proper formulae f o r dispensing i n f m i ~ a t i o n .

Nigerian philosophy of education was based on t h e in tegra t ion

of t h e individual i n t o sound md e f f e c t i v e md equal edulat ional

oppor tuni t ies fo r all c i t i z e n s of t h e nation at t h e primary,

s ~ c o n d a r y and t e r t i a r y l e v e l s both ins ide and outs ide t h e formal

school system (F.G.N., 1981). I n general, teachers and educators

who operate on t h e b a s i s of t h i s philosophy w i l l soon a r r i v e

at t h ~ need for improvement evld feel t h a t fu r the r improvement

i s e s s e n t i a l l y as a matter of keepin5 t h e information up t o

date. Iwre so, education may be in te rp re ted more f u l l y as t h e

more dynamic process of guiding experience of st~tients is in

use,so t h a t they w i l l become more resourceful wid adapt i n

achieving importan? p.rFo;es ~ n c l u d i n g t h e acquis i t ion of

needed knwledge. It is thls continuous quest f o r better

teaching tha t a l o t of innovation more especially In agricul-

tural sci tnce seems m o r e important.

Improvemellt of t h e teacher himself i s both a means and

and end i n t h e irnprovement of. instruction, The present agri-

cu l tu r a l education programme emphasizes f m c t i o n a l i t y , practi-

c a b i l i t y and relevance t o individual and soc i e t a l need (Olaitan,

1996), Okacie (1976) m e e d t h a t teacher effectiveness is

res ted on h i s knowledge of how t o organize and present content

meaningful and use of ins t ruct ional mzkerials t o enhence

understanding, Agricultural science has something t o do with

manipulative s k i l l s and therefore cer ta in guidelines are

expected t o be follawed by t h e teacher.

prospective teachers t ake t o improve in some ways in t h e i r

work due t o some fvldamental and basic pr inciples regarding

improvement , Most s ign i f ican t mes accardlng t o Alexander

(1956r495) are am follows:

1. As. a r e s u l t of var iables In teechlng, especially t h e

humm variables, t h e r e i a no absolute standard of

performmce where once achieved cannot be improved,

2, Since t h e interpersonal re la t ionship of teacher md pupils

are most critical i n d e t e r t h i n g t h e qual i ty of t h e

educational process. The teacher should seek f o r optimum

r e l a t i o n s with each successive Individual m d group

taught.

3. l ~ u e t o fee l ings people have for each o the r , t h e teacher

should develop means of appraising t h e fee l ings ,pupi ls have

for him end those he has toward them and changing N s

behaviour i n d i rec t ion and des i rab le as f a r as he f inds

it possible t o chmge.

4. The i n e v i t a b l i l i t y of change i n education should be mder-

stood and accepted m d teachers the re fo re should regard

t h e i r p rac t i ces of any given t i m e a s simply t h e ones then

wed m d keep an open and enquiring outlook for new and

be t t e r act ices.

5. Since improvement i s always r e l a t i v e t o some appraisal of

present performance in terms of sane concept of des i rab le

peformance, it i a necearary both t o formul&e with

frequmt review, concepts of deoirable perfocrnance and t o

appra ise at frequent i n t e r v a l s one's progress towards

such performance.

6. Improvement as a process of learning t h e e f o r e should

involve both teacher md strrdants.

A l l t h e se pr inciples are t h e t r a i n ing ba s i s for improvement

i n ins t ruc t ion , all t h e attempts t o develop teaching method l i k e

concept mapping aimed at improvement i n ins t ruc t ion fo r des i rab le

learning outcomes. Some of these improvements by t h e teacher

can be achieved through classroom experimentat ion.

(Corey 9 1953).

Teachers should mdertake improvemenP: as m esswl t i a l

phase of gwd teaching method. Teachers should have an obligation

t o work f o r better teaching throughout t h e i r professional career.

Summary of ~ e v i e w of L i t e r a tu r e

The p r inc ip le of concept mapping is r e l a t i v e l y a new teaching

method in aqriculture. A few literature avai lable indic&es

tha t it i s a systematized diagram l ink ing t h e key word in a

m i t course and o r programne.

AS an innovation i t s success depends on a c l e a r l y defined

s t ra tegy not only i n t e r m s of object ives of t h e programne, but

also in terms of s t a f f , qua l i f i ca t ion , t r a i n ing , evaluation of

the chosen innovation on a t r y out s i t ua t i on md planning.

The l i t e rchure a l so reveals t h a t t h e r e are other teaching

methods inc l rding project method which helps s tudents t o develop

concepts, and serve as basic material f o r thinking, reasoning

and imagination i n t h e most valuable way through r e d experience.

It holds students' interest and motivate t h e s tudy o f t echn ica l

facts. A l l t h e sme, projec t a~ethod is n o t easy t o organize.

Demonstration m e t hod which means t h e l i n k between expl an l i o n

end p r a c t i c e and makes use of men's n a t u r a l i n c l i n a t i o n t o

imitate and ye t t h e r e is always danger t h a t a demonstration w i l l

d i sp lay seve ra l feature. simultaneously while a person can watch

only one t h i n g at a time etc.

The concept o f t r a i n i n g m d need assessment were also

reviewed i n which t r a i n i n g implies a d i s s a t i s f a c t i o n o f s t a t u s

quo and cannot be s a t i s f a c t a r i l y met vlless t h e e i s need

as sesem@nt . Myraid of docunents reviewed i n d i c a t e s t h a t d e s p i t e a r rays

of teaching methods, none could be acclaimed t h e best i n terms

of e f f e c t i v e lesson de l ive ry and learn ing is concerned. hey

therefore , suggested an evaluat ion o f va r ious methods i n order

t o enhance improvwmnt since improvement i s always r e l a t i v e

t o some appraisal of present perfaraamce i n terms o f some concept

of des i r ab le performance. It i s a l s o necessary to appraise at

frequent i n t e r v a l s one's progress toward s w h performance.

The numerous s t u d i e s and o p i n i a ~ s indica ted in t h e

l i t e r a t u r e reviewed appeared t o have addressed t h e t h e o r e t i c a l

concepts of concept maps. Probably, l i t t l e o r no emphasis on

t h e p r a c t i c a l app l i ca t ion o f t h e cmcept map i n t h e de l ive ry

of t h e lesson has been observed. This l a p s e i s however one of

t h e motivat ions b@hind t h i s study, "Training needs of

t e a c h e r s ir-I t h e use o f concept m a p f o r i n s t r u c t i o n a l improve-

ment,!! which seek t o b r idge t h e gap between what t h e t e a c h e r s

have and what they ought tohave i n t h e use o f concept mapping - a teaching method.

CHAPTIB THREE

This chapter focuses on differ& procedures &opted i n

t h i s study. It describes research design, a rea of t h e study,

population, sample, experiment dl procedure, instrunent f o r t h e

da te col lec t ion, scor ing o f t h e instrmnt and method of da ta

Design of t h e s tudy

This s t d y was carrid o u t using @xperiment;al design. The

type of t r u e experiment eil design adopted was pre-test , post-

test con t ro l group deaign. It should be noted t h a t t h e pre-

t e s t was only used by t h e researcher t o gather information about

the knowledge of sampled s t u d m t s on t h e concept mapping as a

teaching technique. f o m d t o have psssssed pice

knowledge on the concept map was dropp&=

Area of t h e Study

The s t u j y covered Nnewi Education zone o f Ananbra State.

It i s made up of 47 secondary schools. The schools used for t h e

expziment were randanly selected.

Population of t h e Studx

The population comprised all t h e agricultural science teachers

and a l l SS 11 agr icu l tu ra l science s t r d r n t s ln senior secondary

46

school in ~ n e w i &mation zone.

sample of t h e Studx

The samples fo r t h e study were rmdomly selected as

f 01 lows;

Three schools fran 47 secondary schools in Nnewi E;du=ation

zone.

me teach= from each of t he three secondary schools

giving a total of three subjects.

Twenty-five students from each of t h e t h ree secondary

schools, giving a t o t a l of seventy-five students for t h e

experimental and control group,

txperimen: al Procedure

The researcher prepared a lesson on cmcept mapping which

was taught t o dif ferent agriculture teachers. The lesson

1 asted for th ree weeks f o r a t e x h e r and one week f a another

teacher. he two teachers const i tute experimental group.

The control group teacher did not take part in t h e t ra in ing

on concept mapping.

The content of t h e leason fo r t h e traLning C O K ~ C ~ ~ t h e

meaning and principles of concept mapping ( i t a uses and types),

It a l so covered development of concept maps using a t yp i ca l

agr icu l tu ra l science top ic , as w e l l a s concept mapping applicahbon

in t h e c l a~s roam inetruction,

The two groups of teechers ( t r a i ned and untrained teachers)

w e r e given t h e sane t op i c "Role of Government in Development o f

Agriculture and Animal Nutri t ion f r o m t h e SS 11 ~ g r i c u l t u c a l

Science syllabus, t o develop leason note and teach some group of

altudentr, The trained teachers w e r e expected t o teach t h e

selected s t t den t s on those topica uaing concept mapping method,

while t h e witreined teachers (control group teachers) suppose t o

teach t h e same t op i c s t o another se lected students using any

teaching technique of her/his choice. Ins t ruct ion of t h e students

lasted tor two weeks, and ut t h e end, s t u l en t s w e r e given a test

t o write. The teat prepared w a s based on t h e t o p i c of t h e

lesson.

In&r-t fo r t h e Study

The instrument was made up o f s t r uc tu r a l evaluation questions

designed by the researcher, baaed on t h e lesson t op i c s used t o

ina t ruc t t he students. The structured questions contained 40

mult iple choiced question items. The i n s t r m e n t w a s m€?zmt t o

test t h e effect of t r a in ing teachers on t h e concept mapping

pr inc ip leq , development end applicat ion through t h e perfarmance

of t h e various s tuden t s t h a t were taught by t h e teachers t r a i n e d

on t h e cmcep t map and t h e teacher not t r a i n e d on it.

Validation of t h e Instrument

The lesson note t h a t was used by t h e researcher i n

ins t ruc t ing t h e traines including t h e questions f o r evaluat ing

t h e students at t h e end of experiment w e r e va l ida ted by t h e

researcher 's supervisor and o the r three experts in t h e Department

of Vocational Teacher Education and Elducation, Department of

Uni verrl i ty of Nigeria, Nsukka,

The lesson no tes prepared by t h e t r a i n e d and untrained

teacher6 in i n s t r u c t i n g t h e s tudents were val ida ted by t h e

researcher,

Scoring of Instrumall:

tvaluatiot. question i tms f o r t h e s tuden t sq test a t t h e

end of t h e experiment weight lO0 per cen t marks as follows:

Forty i t e m multiple choice question scoring 2% points each

giving a t o t a l of 100 marks,

P l e t hod of flat a An e l y s i s

Percent age and mean scores were used i n w alysing t h e da ta

which helps t o answer t h e research quest ions.

t-test statistics was used t o t e s t t h e two hypotheses of

t h e study using t h e farmular below.

Nwanna, 1985.

t r tote&

H - nem scare of students trained teacher 1

(2 ) ( 3 weeke trdning).

M2 Mean score of students of tr&@c¶ t e s h e r

( ii) ( 1 we& tr aining) for hypot hesin ( '1) and f o r t h e

scores of students of m t r d n e d t e s h e f for hypothenis 2.

N1 r N u m b e r of students used in t h e studyefor t h e trained terchsr(1).

N~ 0 Numba? of mtudmts used I n t h e study f o r t h e tralned

teacher I1 for hypothesis one and far those of students

of untrained teacher f o r hypothesie! two.

I Standard deviation score o f students of t ra ined =1

teasher (1).

S: = Standard devid ion score of students of t ra in& teacher I1

far hypothesis one a d far t h e scores o f & d e n t s of

untrained teacher fo r hypothesis two.

It wan t e s t ed mder 0.05 level of significance of t-test level.

his chapter dea l s with t h e presentat ion and analys is

of data col lec ted for t h e study. The da ta were ~ l a l y s e d ,

presented and discussed according t o t h e research questions

a d t h e hypotheses fo r t h e study.

Research Questioli 1

What is the performance of s tudents taught by t h e teacher

exposed t o longer period of t r a i n i n g ( 3 weeks) i n concept

mapping p r inc ip les , developme k t and applicat ion?

T a b l e 1

Frtquerxy Dis t r ibut ion md Percent age Scores of Students Taught by t h e Teacher with Longer Period of ~rainlnq

Scores m .. F'r equency Score X I

F Frequencv fx

N frequency

The informution contained .in Table 1 r e v e a l s t h e frequency

d i s t r i b u t i o n end t h e percentage scores of s t u d e n t s taught by t h e

teacher exposed t o longer period o f t r a i n i n g ( 3 weeks) in concept

mapping p r inc ip l e s , development and appl ica t ion , From t h e t a b l e ,

twelve s tudents out of twenty-five s tuden t s scored 50% and above,

e ight s tudents scored between 40 - 48% while s i x s t u d e n t s scored

b e l m 40% with t h e lowest s co re of 30%. The d i s t r i b u t i o n shows A

t ha t / good rimer of s t u d e n t s mders tood t h e s u b j e c t matter and - were able t o pass t h e test. The mean score of t h e t o t a l s tudents

was found t o be 48.76.

3esearch ~ u e s t i o n 2

What i s t h e performance o f s tuden t s t augh t by t h e t e a r h e r

exposed t o shor t e r period ( m e wek) of t r a i n i n g i n concept

mapping p r inc ip l e s , development and app l i ca t ion?

Table 2

J?IYmUenCY Distribution of the Percentacle Scores of Students TmsM by the Teacher with t h e Short- Period of T r a l n i n q

Scores Frequency ( X I

The result of Table 2 shews t h e frequency d i s t r i b u t i o n

end t h e percentage scores of s tudents taught by t h e teacher

exposed t o shorter period ( 1 week) of training in concept

mapping p r i n c i p l e s , development and application. From t h e

d i s t r i b u t i o n table, seven students scored 50% and above

n ine s t u d e n t s scored between 40 - 4846, md seven s tudents

scared 40% and below with t h e lowest score o f 18%. The

mean of t h e t o t a l scores of the s tudents was ca lcula ted

t o be 43.32.

Research quest ion 3

What is t h e performance of s tudsnts taught by t h e teacher

who rece ived no training i n concept mapping p r inc ip les , develop-

ment wd applicat ion?

w i . i l e seventeal s t u l e n t s scored belw 40%. The m a n score

was idund t o be 36-32. I n f e r r i n g from this mean, t h e general

performance of t h e stuclenlss, can be said t o be poor when

compared with t h e performance of s tudents taught by t h e teacher

t r a i n e in t h e use o f concept mapping.

Research cuestion 4

How i s t h e performance o f s tudents taught by t h e teacher

who received longer period (3 weeks) of t r a i n i n g i n concept

mapping pr inc ip les , development and applicat ion compared with

the performance of s tudents taught by t h e teacher who received

shorter period (one week) of training.

T a b l e 4

t-test Distr ib&ion o f t h e Scares of Students Taught by t h e T e a c h e r Exposed t o Longer Period of raining ( 3 weeks) and t h a t of t h e i r C o u - k e r ~ a r t Tauaht bv t h e Teacher Exaosed t o Shorter T r a i n i n g Period (1 week)

P1 . Mean of t h e perf ormace score o f t h e s tudents taught by t h e teacher t h a t was exposed t o longer period of t r a i n i n g ( 3 weeks).

t. tab .

16.84

P X 1

d f Cal. t.

2-25

S1 R2

48

Remark

Signif icant

=2

48.76 11.91 43.32 12.5d0.05

T a b l e 3

FrPauency Uistribution and the Percentaqe Scores of students 1 aught by the Teacher who Seceived no ~ r a i n h q

Score X

Frequency F

score x Frequency ( f x)

Table 3 revea l s t h e perfarmmce scores of students taught

by the teacher who received no training i n concept mapping

pr inc ip les , development and application. From t h e students '

performance, it was observed that only three students scored

L&wem 5596 - 68%, f i v e students scored between 40 - 45%

Kean of t h e performance score o f t h e s t u d e n t s taught by t h e t eache r exposed t o s h o d e r per iod (1 week) of t r a in ing .

= Standard dev ia t ion o f Mean (X ). 1

I Standard devia t ion of X2.

Confidence leve l . .

I degree of freedom.

The information i n Table 4 shows t h e meari, sco res of t h e

two groups of s t u d e n t s t a u u h t by t h e t eache r t h a t was exposed

t o longer period of t r a i n i n g and t h o s e taught by t h e t eache r

t h a t was exposed t o s h o r t e r per iod of t r a i n i n g in concept

mappirig. r h e i r mean sco re are 48.76 and 43.32 respec t ive ly .

t'rm t h e mean s c o r e s of t h e s e two groups of s tuden t s , it was

evident t h a t s t u d e n t s t augh t by t h e t eache r exposed t o longer

period of t r a i n i n g petformcd better than t h e i r counterpar t s

tauc,ht by t h e t e a c h e r exposed t o s h o r t e r per iod o f t r a in ing .

t i y p o t h ~ e i s 1

There i s no s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e i n t h e mean sco re of

s tuden t s taught by t h e t e s h e r exposed t o longer per iod ( 3 weeks)

of t r a i n i n g and those s tuden t s taught by t h e t eache r t h a t received

s h o r t e r per iod ( 1 week) r ~ f t r a i n i n g in concept mapping p r i n c i p l e s ,

development end appl icat ion.

The d a t a contained in t h e Tabla 4 i nd ica t ed t h a t t h e r e

i~ a sicjnif icant d i f f e r e n c e in t h e mean score o f s tuden t s

taught by t h e t eache r who was exposed t o three weeks t r a i n i n g

and those taught by t h e t eache r who received only one week

t r a i n i n g i n t h e cor~cept map p r inc ip l e s , development and

appl ica t ion , (p 40.05 , df = 48, tabt 1.684, Cal. t 2.25).

rherefore , t h e n u l l hypothesis is r e j ec t ed ,

'iesearch Quest ion 5

IioW i s t h e performance o f s tudents taught by t h e t eache r

who received t r a i n i n g in ccncept mapping p r i n c i p l e , development

and appl ica t ion compared with t h e performmce of t h e i r counter-

par t taught by t h e t eache r who received no t r a i n i n g i n t h e

ccncc-pt rnmapylirlg technique,

t-t es t DistriLutiori of t h e E rrformance Score of s t u d e n t s Tauaht i.iy t h e Tebcher t h & Received ~ r b i n i n a i n t h e Corlcept Mapplnq Pr inc ip le D ~ e l o v m e n t a d Awwlic&ion and t h o s e Tauaht by t h e reacher without any raining

- M e * o f perfcrmance scares of s t u l e n t s taught by t h e teacher t h a t received t r a i n k ~ g i n t h e ccncept mapping.

Mean of perf ccmgnce score of s tuden t s taught by t h e teacher t h a t d id not rece ive m y t r a i n i n g in t h e concept mapping.

I Standard deviat ion of 1.

I Standard deviat ion of 3.

I Confidence level ,

= Degree of freedom,

Table 5 above shows t h e mean scores of s tuden t s tau* by

t h e teacher t h a t received t r a i n i n g in t h e concept mapping and

t h e mean score of t h e i r c o m t e r p a r t taught by t h e teacher who

received no training. T h e i r mean scores a r e 48.76 and 36-32

respectively. The d i f ference in t h e mean score of 48.76 a d

36.32 shows t h a t s tudents o f t h e teacher exposed t o t r a i n i n g i n

concept mapping performed b e t t e r When compared with t h e perfor-

mance of t h e i r comte rpa r t taught by t h e teacher without m y

t r a i n i n g i n t h e concept mapping p r inc ip le , development and

applicat ion.

Hypothesis 2

There i s no s ign i f i can t d i f ference i n t h e mean score of

s t u d m t s taught by t h e teacher who received t r a i n i n g i n t h e

concept mapping pr inc ip les , development and applicat ion and

those taught by t h e teacher who recelved no t r a i n i n g i n concept

60

mapping p r inc ip les , development and application.

The result o f t h e t - d i s t r i b u t i o n i n Table 5, r w e a l s t h a t

t h e d i f fe rence in t h e mem =ores of t h e s tudents taught by

t h e t eacher trained i n concept mapping end t h a t o f t h e s tudents

taught by t h e t eacher without any t r a i n i n g i s s t a t i s t i c a l l y

s i q ~ i f i c a n t at 0.05 l e v e l of probabi l i ty and df of 48; with

calculated t of 13.63 and t a b l e t of 1.684. Therefore, t h e n u l l

hypothesis is rejected.

Major Findings

A t t h e end of t h i s experimental study, t h e following find-

ings were made;

1. The result showed t h a t t h e s tudents t h a t w e r e taught by t h e

t eacher t h a t was e m s e d t o longer period ( 3 weeks) of

t r a i n h g performed better than those t h a t w e r e taught by

t h e t eacher t h u t w a s exposed t o shorter period (1 week)

of t r a in ing .

2, The r e s u l t e l s o revealed t h a t t h e s tudents taught by t h e

teacher t h & was t r a ined in t h e cancept mapping, p r inc ip les

develpgment and applicat ion perfarmed better than t h e

o tudcnts t augh t by t h e teacher theL received no t r a i n i n g

In concept mapping.

3. The t-test malys is revedled that t h e r e is a s i g n i f l c a n b

61

d i f f e r e n c e in t h e mean score o f students t augh t by t h e

t eache r who received longer period o f t r a l n i n g i n concept

mapping, when cornpared with t h e mean score of t h e i r

counterpar t t aught by t h e t eache r exposed t o s h o r t e r per iod

o f t r a i n i n g i n concept mapping technique.

4. T h e test of s ign i f i cance a l s o ind ica t ed a significant

d i f f e r e n c e i n t he mean score of s t u l e n t s t augh t by t h e

t eache r t h u t was exposed t o t r a i n i n g i n concept mapping

p r i n c i p l e s , development and cons t ruc t ion and t h e mean

score o f t h o s e t augh t by t h e t eache r t h a t was not exposed

t o any t r a i n i n g in concept mapping.

5. It was generally observed observed t h a t training on concept

mapping and t h e dura t ion of t r a i n i n g of t e a c h e r s has an

e 1 i t c t i n the st d e n t d performance i n underst ancling of t h e

>11Sject miktec, i f t r x h e r s should i n s t r u c t w i th t h e method.

isc cuss ion

The d i scuss ion on t h e f ind ings of t h e s tudy arc presented

as follows!

From t h e f ind ings , it was observed t h a t t r a i n i n g In t h e

concept mapping p r inc ip l e s , development and t h e app l i ca t ion

a r e o f great importance f o r an e f f e c t i v e use of concept map

as a teaching technique. I n other words, agr icu l tu ra l science

teachers requ i re some period of t r a i n i n g far them t o make use

of concept map fo r ins t ruc t iona l improvement. The f inding of

t h e s t d y revealed t h d t h e teacher who was given adequate and

proper t r a in ing i n t h e concept . a d keo of concept map as w e l l

as i n t h e guideline t o its development was able t o use it i n t he

delivery of i n s t rw t ion . The teacher was able t o produce student

with better performmce then t h e students of t h e teacher who wds

given a skele ta l t r a i n ing i n t h e method. The teacher t h a t

received a shorter period o f training was ab le t o use t h e concept

map method but not as e f f ec t i ve as t h e teacher who recelved longer

period of t r a i n ing needed t o master t h e new method (concept map)

i s of great importance.

T h i s f inding is therefore, consis tent with Mkpa (1987) obser-

vation t h a t for any innovation t o achieve i t s o b j e d i v e , t he r e

must be prarnotion of awareness, guideline end planned programme

def ining i ts principle. Concept mapping being an innovation i n

t h e school system f o r i n s t r u ~ t i o n a l improvement requires a c l ea r l y

defined programme and guldeline in t e r m s of i t s objectives and

u t i l i z a t i on .

~ c c o r d i n g t o Mkpune ( '1997) people only adopt innovations

based on t h e i r pesception about t h e new idea. AS a r e s u l t t h e r e

is need f u promution of awareness and interest in t h e

innov at ion adjust i r ~ y i n t e r n a l o rgan iza t iona l p r i n c i p l e s , provid-

i n g t r a i n i n g courses and at t h e same t i m e a s se s s t h e r e l e v m c e

and e f f ec t iveness o f t h e irinovation.

Schrahm ( 1973) pointed out c l e a r l y t h a t no innovat ion can

be duly executed un le s s it is c a r e f u l l y plinned. Careful

planning i n t h i s con tex t impl ies development: of guiding mmual

o r well organized programme t h a t w i l l h e lp usher people i n t o

t h e new i d e a and as w e l l he lp t o develop r i g h t percept ion and

c r e a t e memingful impression in t h e mind o f t h e users ,

The importance of t r a l n i n g t e a c h e r s was observed i n t h e

per formaxe of t h e s t u d e n t s who were t augh t by t h e t eache r t h a t

received t h r e e weeks t r a i n i n g per iod i n t h e use o f concept

mapping as a teaching s t ra tegy . T h i s t e a c h e r might have acquired

enough knowledge in t h e new method ( c m c e p t mapping) f o r i n s t ruc -

t i o n a l improvement. Unlike t h e t e a c h e r who was given only a

w e e k t r a i n i n g which was no t enough f o r t h e t r a i n e r t o exhaust

t h e t o p i c p Within such a sho r t per iod of t r a i n i n g , awareness

was crea ted and i n t e r e s t aroused but t h e du ra t ion was t o o

~ h o r t for t h e teechef t o cnderstand t h e inherent. p r i n c i p l e s

guiding t h e cons t ruc t ion and appl ica t ion of concept m a p method

i n t h e classroom t e sch ing , t h a t might be one of t h e reasons

3 - ~ ~ i bus s t u d e n t s performed below expectat ions. It is i n liile

with t h i s theb Mkpa (1987) s d d t h a t i nno t ive s t r a t e g y must

be def Fnal c l e a r l y not only i r r t e r m s of i t s o b j e c t i v e but i n

t ems of s t a f f q u a l i f i c a t i o n s and t r a i n i n g , and student: s e l ec t i on .

He also pointed out that s u c h ' a chosen innovat ion must be evaluated

on a t r y out s i t u a t i o n and planning.

The f Indings also ind ica t ed t h a t t h e app l i ca t i on of t r a i n i n g

h a s solved a d i s s , k i s f a c t i o n i n t h e u se of concept map as a teach-

Fng technique t h e r e f o r e t r a i n i n g is a c t u a l l y an o r y a l i z e d e f i ~ r t

s p e c i f i c a1 l y designed t o h e l p an i nd iv idua l develop inc reas ing

c d p a b i l i t i e a . Concept map method was developed fef back i n "972

(.:ovak, 1990). b e s p i t e t h e importance of concept mapping i n

specifyLr~g o b j e c t i v e s of a lesson t o p i c ( O l d t a n et a l , 1977);

i n dep i c t i ng hierarchy ant1 r e l a t i o n s h i p among concepts , (Novak,

1390) ; 111 f o s t e r i n g co-operation between s tuden t and teacher

(r,ovak anc Godwin, 1984) , i ts use i s still h l e f f e c t i v e i n all

r.ic,t.rian schoolb at all l e v e l s of education. Th i s i n d i c a t e s

d e f i c i a l c y e i t h e r present o r foreseen t o make t r a i n i n g i n su=h

met b~od inev i t ab l e .

m o t h e r f i nd ing o i t h e study ind i ca t ed t h a t t h e mean score

of s t u d e n t s t augh t wi th a concept m a p t echnique d i f f e r s

s i c jn i f i c sn t ly from t h e mean sccxes of s tuden t s taught without

it which are 48.76 and 36.32 respec t ive ly . T h i s shows that

s t d e n t s t h a t were taught wi th t h e concept map metW performed

better t han tholse ones t h a t were taught without concept map.

Ola i tan ( 1997) asserted t h a t c c ~ e p t map serves as a guide f o r

the t eacher dur ing teaching as a l o g i c a l sequence of experience

at h i s d i sposa l during t h e ins t r l lc t ion . wi th t h e concept map,

h e added t h a t t h e t eache r can e a s i l y de tec t what he has not

taught and can e a s i l y amend h i s teaching strategy, It can

t h e r e f o r e be argued t h a t concept map play impor tmt r o l e during

teaching; i n bu i ld ing cogn i t ive s t r u c t u r e o f a c h i l d , (Ausbel in

Everwign, 1983).

The finding proved concept mapping s t r a t e g y a s t rong and

promisiny technique f o r i n s t r u c t i o n a l improvement i n a g r i c u l t u r a l

t.citmse. Such a promising technique i s needed mostly i n agricul-

tural science whict. tend t o cover wide r ange of objec t ives . Su=h

a method w i l l he lp t e a c h e r s t o organize and i n t e g r a t e elements

i n a curriculum into s impler form.

s m a r y

iht? quest f o r more and adequate t e a c h i n g method and

t echn ique i n a g r i c u l t u r e h a s been a s e r i o u s concern t o a y r i c u l t a r a l

~ . 8 ? ! 4 L , , t . j r t , and r e s ea r che r s . The gene ra l concern h a s b e e r 1

t h a t ui r ~ i ~ r r o w k r g the brotrd o l j t . c t1ves i n ayricult ural s c i e n c e

sy 1 l a b w arid t o enab l e t e a c h e r s o f agriculture t o a r r ange agr i -

c u l t u r a l les30ns i n t o p r e c i s e ulits.

yos st o f t e n , t h e concern of t h e t e a c h e r s ha s been t h a t of

t h i n k i n g o f ways of conveying t h e i r message t o t h e p u p i l s i n

t h e most' sirnplc, convincing and p r a c t i c a l way. However, t e a c h e r s

st 1 Ll cline; t o verbal symbolism as t h e o n l y way t o impa r t i ng

knowledqe i n a g r i c u l t u r e . They r e l y h e a v i l y on words and i g n o r e

t h e powerful e f f e c t of s i g h t on mderstanding and r e c a l l i n g o f

learned f a c t s .

How bes t t o impart t h e knowledge of a g r i c u l t u r e t o s t u d e n t s

for better comprehension i s a r e c e n t and p e s t e r i n g i s s u e t h a t

h t h e r s a g r i c u l t u r a l educators. E f f o r t s on add re s s ing t h i s l e d

t o t h e i n t r o d u c t i o n o f a number of methods of t e ach ing ay r i cu l -

t u r a l scit_r,ce i n s choo l s such as d i s cus s ion , lecture, r o l *

p l dy i n g , de~nc~nstr at i o n met hods and t h e most r e c e n t concept

mapping. Concept mapping, as a teaching method has been proved

by marly authors as a more comprehensive method, t r y i n g t o depic t

sunary concepts i n t h e u n i t lesson, &

Despite t h e import a c e of concept mapping and i t s poten-

tiality i n improving i n s t r u c t i o n , it s t i l l l a c k s awarmess among

the t e a c h e r s of a g r i c u l t u r e both a t t h e primary, secondary and

t e r t i a r y school l e v e l s , Teachers possess l i t t l e or no knowledge

of i ts p r i n c l p l c s , development and appl ica t ion i r ~ de l ive ry of

in s t ruc t ion , The major purpose of t h i s s tudy was t h a t o f f ind ing

ou t t h t t r a i n i n g needs of t e a c h e r s i n t h e use o f concept maps

for i n s t r u c t i o n a l improvement. S p e c i f i c a l l y , it aimed at:

1. Finding ou t t h e performance of s tuden t s taught by t h e

t eache r exposed t o l a g e r period ( 3 weeks) of t r a i n i n g

i n concept mappin s pr inc ip l e s , development and appl ica t ion .

2 . Finding out t h e performance o f s tuden t s t augh t by t h e

teacher who was exposed t o s h o r t e r period (one week) of

t r a i n i n g i n concept mapping p r inc ip l e s , development and

application.

3. Finding out t h e performance of students t aught by the

t eache r who received no training i n concept mapping

p r i n c i p l e s , development and appl ica t ion ,

4. To compare t h e performance o f s t u d e n t s taught by t h e

t eeche r who received longer period ( 3 weeks) of t r a i n i n g

I n concept mapping p r i n c i p l e s , development and app l i ca t ion

d t b t h e performmce of t h e i r coun te rpa r t s t augh t by t h e

t e a c h e r who received s h o r t e r per iod (one week) of t r a i n i n g .

5. T o compare t h e perfcrmmce of s t u d e n t s taught by teacher

who received t r a i n i n g i n concept mapping p r i n c i p l e s ,

development and appl ica t ion with t h e performance of t h e i r

coun te rpa r t s t augh t by t h e t eache r who received no t r a i n -

i ng i n concept mapping.

Related l i t e r a t u r e s w e r e reviewed bglsed on t h e purposes of

t h e study. hxperimental. d t s i q method was adopteu in ca r ry ing

ou t t h e study. The procedure involved s e l e c t i o n of schools and

s u b j e c t s ( s tuden t s and 3 teachers) which formed part of t h e

expc r l m e r ~ t a 1 group and c c n t r o l group. Three t e a c h e r s were used

as t r dinee s u b j e c t s f o r t h e study, one was exposed t o three we &s

of t t a in inq i n t h e p r i n c i p l e s , development: and app l i ca t ion of

coric c p t map method. One t e t s h e r was exposed t o only one week

t r d i n i n g on t h e sane subject. One teacher was not t r a ined a t

all. ~t t h e end of the t r a i n i n g per iod , t h e t h r e e teachers

were a s s i g n 4 t h e same t o p i c s from the SSII sy l l abus which t h e y

prepared and t augh t t o t h e s tuden t s f o r t w o (2) weeks. At t h e

e ~ i d of the period, the students were examined.

The di f ference i n t h e performance scores of t h e t h r e e

groups of students were fomd out and malysed us ing means

and t - t e s t s t a t i s t i c a l tools . The following major findings were

made%

1. Students who were taught by t h e teacher t h a t was exposed

t o longer period ( 3 weeks) of t r a i n ing performed better than

those stcwlents t h a t were taught by t h e teacher tha t was

exposed t o shor te r perlod (1 week) of t ra in ing.

2. Che s tudents taught by t h e teacher exposed t o t r a in ing in

concept mapping pr inc ip le , development and application

performed better compared t o those of t h e i r counterparts

taught by t h e t escher that received no t r a i n ing i n t h e

corxept mapping technique,

3. x t was generally observed t h a t t r a i n ing and t h e duration

of t r a in ing of teachers i n t h e concept map is of great

impcrtance far t e s h e r s t o use t h e method ef fec t ive ly in

classroom ins t ruct ion,

Conclusion - From t h e f indings of t he stwly t h e following conclusions

a re made:

1, The use of concept map method appears t o have been

e f f e c t i v e i n i n c r e a s i n g t h e s tuden t s ' underst anding o f

t h e subject matter,

2 . Teachers require a f a i r l y long period of t r a i n i n g f o r them

t o master t h e use o f concept map as a teaching method.

3. Teachers t r a i n e d i n t h e 'use o f t h e concept maps were able

t o mders tend its p r i n c i p l e s , and concepts , a b l e t o develop

concept m a p and t o apply it in t h e classroom.

4. The effect o f t h e method on t h e s t u d e n t s 1 performance proved

t h a t concept map method h a s t h e p o t e n t i a l o f improving

i n s t r u c t i o n , making teaching e a s i e r and encouraging quick

comprehension on the s i d e o f t h e s tudents .

'\!rnSW ~ F ? J ? Impl ica t ions o f t h e Study 'mq * ! $ \ ,

Findings of t h e s t a y have a far-reaching impl ica t ions f o r

va r ious group& - a g r i c u l t u r a l science t e a c h e r s , curr iculum

p lanne r s as sell as t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l s tudents ,

The result of t h i s experimental s tudy provided p o s i t i v e

feed-bzrk concerning t h e need f o r proper o r i e n t a t i o n and promotion

of awareness f o r m y innovation. The result ind ica ted that t h e

s t k e n t s t augh t by t h e t eache r who was given proper t r a i n i n g on

t h e use of concept map performed s i g n i f i c a n t l y b e t t e r than t h o s e

t a u g h t by the t e a c h e r t h a t received a skeletal t r a i n i n g on t h e

use of concept map. his i n p l i e s t h a t t e a c h e r s need t o be

exposed t o t h e rudiments ( c m c e p t s , and uses) of concept mapp-

ing , i ts cons t ruc t ion, p r i n c i p l e s and o the r s t a g e s involve i n

masterirlj o f any new i d e a o r innovation. The t r a i n i n g has

actually provided t h e t eache r s t h e necessary c r i t e r i a and

guide l ine on t h e use o f t h e n w method (concept map). T h i s

resulc has impl i ca t ions f o r choosing s t e p s i n in t roduct ion of

ally innuvation. Perhaps information arid knowledge i n t h e

applicekion and cons t ruc t ion of concept map wouldn*t have been

acquired by t h e t e a c h e r i f they w e r e no t t r a ined . ~ i t h t h e

t r d r ~ l n y , t e a c h e r s * m d e r s t anding of t h e concept mapping was

f a i l i t a t e d hence meeting t h e targe t of in t roducin y t h e method

for i n s t r u c t i o n a l improvement. It a l s o impl ies t h a t a g r i c u l t u r a l

sc lmce e d t r at i on curr iculum planners end r e sea rche r s can deduce

av trlues f o r br inging . new methods t o t h e grassroot .

k c a u s e s i g n i f icarit d i f f e r e n c e s were obtained on t h e mean

scores of s t u d e n t s t augh t with concept map method (48-76) and

those taught without concept mnp mett~od (36-32) ; t h e f ind ing

of t h i s s tudy do provide some evidence t h a t t h e concept; map

method of i n s t r u c t ion produces b e t t e r s tuden t s performance

than anl. o the r metlid used t o i n s t r u c t t h e counterpar t s t d e n t s .

It implie& that concept map method has a p o t e n t i a l f o r improving

teaching. It can f o s t e r understanding and enhance s tuden t s '

motivation u i l i k e in lecture method where t h e t eache r does

t h e most of t h e t a l k i n g whi le t h e s t u d e n t s are pass ive

r e c i p i e n t s of information.

The f a c t t h a t s t u d e t ~ t s were ab le t o perform b e t t e r when

t augh t wi th t h e concept map impl ies that t h e method hold

potent ~ a l s f cr so lv ing t h e major problems mcounte ted by agr icu l -

t &a1 sc i ence t eache r s i n organizing t h e broad a g r i c u l t u r a l

object ives I n t o a more narrow un i t s . Such dep ic t t h e a c t u a l

fwk t io r r of t h e concept m a p m&hod i n br inging o u t t h e key idea

studenCs wd t e a c h e r s need t o focus on f o r m y s p ~ i i i c l e a r n i n g

t d s k , which any o t h e r t e a c h h g method has i d l e d t o achieve.

With t h i s r o l e , concept map determines pathways for t h e t e ache r

1~ orc jmiz iny mear~ings and for nego t i a t i ng meanings w i t k r b tuden t s l

mist once* ion. ro khe s tudents , it makes evident t h e key concepts

o r p ropos i t i ons t o b e learned and also suggest l inkages on

w h a t t hey have known. Although t h e use of demonstration method

has tr1e.l t o p lay t h i s role I n t eaching but its f a i l u r e t o

suggest l i n k a g e s is related concepts of a mi t bes ides its

r ap id sequence of events , s o t h a t something new happens before

t t ~ preceding points i s ass imi la ted p l t c e s concept map a t

advantage or, t h i s regard.

From t h e f i n d i r q s of t h e s tudy , the following recommen-

d a t i o n s are made:

1 A formal t r a i n i n g programme should be organized f a r

a g r i c s ~ l t . u r a l sc ience t eache r s on t h e uue of concept vap

as d m&hd of in s t ruc t ion . Th i s could be achieved by

( e l i r~co rpora t ing concept mapking as a bas i c content

i n t o t h e TC I1 s y l l a b u s , NCE s y l l a b u s as w e l l as the

university sy l l abus and as one of t h e courses i n the

Uepart m a t of &ducat ion ;

(b) providing in-serv ice t r a i n i n g on t h e use of concept:

map f o r t h e p r a c t i s i n g t e a c h e r s a s a fu l l - t ime course4

(c) o rg in i z inq refresher courses through wcrkshops, seminars,

conferences and through hol iday programme f o r p r a c t i s i n g

teachers t o u p d a t e t h e i r knowledge i n t h e use of

concept me& ping.

(d 1 Orient a t i on and induct ion t r a i n i n g should be organized

f o r prospec t ive and f r e s h teachers t o i n t e g r a t e them

i n t o t h e new idea.

2. The concept map shod.? be i n t r o d w e d as a profess iona l

p r q r m e i n t e r i a r y i n s t i t u t i o n s t o he lp t o procl~w: those

people t h a t w i l l develop t h e content of t h e course.

74

3. p i o r e r e sea rch work i n t o t h e n W method should be encouraged.

5 uaqest ion s fo r fut her Study

The following f u r t h e r r e sea rch should be conducted

on a

1. raining needs of t e a c h e r s in t h e use of concept map

method i n teaching a g r i c u l t u r a l s c i ence i n both primary

schools and t e r t i a r y i n s t i t u t i o n s .

2. Curriculum d e v e l o p m ~ l t in concept map as a course of

progr m e in a g r i c u l t u r a l science.

3. The use of concept map in t e s h l n g manipulative s k i l l s i n

a g r i c u l t u r a l education.

4. ~ o n 8 t r a i . t ~ t o t h e use of concept map as a teaching

technique i n Nigerian schools.

5. Comparative ana lys i s of concept map method and m y other

teaching method as effective t o o l f o r i n s t r u c t i o n a l

improvement.

t'.

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APPENDIX C

DRAFT OF THE TR-ING GUIDE FOR THE

RESEARCH MPERIMENT

APPENDIX A

Department of Vocational Teacher aiucat ion, (~griculturdl Section)

University of Nigeria, N sukka.

Dear Sir,

SmE;ST FUR VALIDAT1014 OF A S E S W C H INSTRUMDJT

I am a postgraduate student i n t h e Department of Vocational Teacher EKIwction ( ~ g r i c u l t w e ) , University of ~ i g e r i a , Nsukka, c u r r e n t l y undertaking a research project aimed & iden t i fy ing t h e t r a i n i n g needs of teachers in t h e use of concept mapping for i n s t r u c t i o n a l imprwement i n s g r i c u l t u r a l science subject i n s ec md ary schools.

tjlclosed is a draf t copy of t h e training guide f o e t h e experiment. You are please requested t o read through t h e items and vet t h e i r c l a r i f y and relevance t o the t o p i c i n quest ion.

sir, I also request t h a t you put down your conmmts and suggest ions.

Thanks.

Yours s incere ly ,

TRAIl\rU!G GUIDE FUR VALIDWICN

I,W%(JN Oh' TRAlNUdC; OF AGRIC'VLT'JRAL TEACHERS Oh THE USE OF CUNCLPl' F W S Ini DLLIVtRY CX' INSTRUCTICN

3 a t i o n a l e f o r t h e T r a i n i n q

The l e s s o n is in tended t o introduce t h e t r a i n e e t e a c h e r s on

t h e meming and p r i n c i p l e o f concept mapping and t h e a p p l i c a t i o n

of such p r i n c i p l e s i n d e l i v e r i n g i n s t r u c t i o n i n a g r i c u l t u r a l

science lessons.

Teachers o f ~ g r i c u l t u r a l Science.

O u r a t i o n

6 hours o f 3 hours lesson a week,

I n s t r u c t i o n a l objectives

A t the end o f t h i s t r a i n i n g , t h e t r a i n e e t e a c h e r s should be

able to:

u e f i n e and e x p l a i n t h e meaning o f concept mapping.

Litate t h e p r i ~ i c i p l e s o f concept mapping ( t y p e s - primcry,

secondary and t e r t i a r y concepts) .

Apply concept maps i n organzing a c o u r s e and

Apply t h e p r i n c i p l e o f concept map i n p r epa r ing a u n i t con ten t .

aketch a t y p i c a l concept map i n p repar inq a wit t o p i c from

~qr icu l turs l S c i m c e s y l l a b u s of S.S. 11.

Use concept map diagram t o d e l i v e r a lesson arid t o evaluate

students.

REQUEST FOR VALIDXCION OF RESEARCH

ZNSTRUMDJT.

I..

Teaching s t r a t e g i c s

Teacher I s Kesyons ib i l i t ies (Researcher)

bhe exp la in s i n d e t a i l t h e meaning of t h e term concept mapping,

i t s p r i t l c ip l e and type, The concept mapping c o n s i s t s of primary

c. mcepts , secondary and t e r t i a r y concepts, These, t h e t e a c h e r w i l l

i l l u s t r a t e with a t y p i c a l diagram of concept map on a c h a r t .

P l a n t i n g o f Cassava

Types of Concepts i n Concept Mapping

and Pre- Met hod of S o i l ~ e r t ilit y P l ant i n i) Condit ior, ) I r i mar) parat i o ~ . Propagat ion Maintenance 1 Concept

I

+ Organic F e r t i - 1 l e r t i a r y

l i z e r ) Concepts

From the diayrarn above, t h e teacher i l l u s t r a t e s t h e meanirlg

of concept map, i t s t y p e s and f e a t u e s , empirasizing t h e h i e r a r c h i c a l

o rde r of t h e primary, secondary a.cl t e r t j h r y concepts.

S u m ary and Conclusion

yhr t eache r swt~rnarizes t h e a rea s o far covered on t h e c h a l k ~ o d .

.rhc t e a c h e r asks ques t ions t o t h e t r a i n e e s and provokes a d iscuss ion ,

t ak ing notes of suggest ions made by t h e trainees.

Second Lesson Period

'Juratiori: 1 Hour

Lopic : Uses of Concept ~ ~ a p p i n g

yeacher*s w t i v i t i e s

The t eache r s t a r t s by r e c a l l i n g t h e t r a i n e e ' s memory or. t h e

previous lesson and in t roduces t h e t o p i c f o r t h e p f ~ i o d .

USQ s of Conccpt r,aps i n Deliverinq I n s t r u c t i o n i n Aur icul ture

The t eache r st a r t s with explznat ion on how t o use cor~cept

map. The ccit.cept map can be used by t h e t eache r in a vatit4.y of.

ways tor d i f f e r e n t purposes,

1. AS a guide i n s e l e c t i n g course ob jec t ives and f o r evaluat ion.

For example, t h e t e a c h e r may want t h e s tuden t s t o know t h e

d i f f e r e n t concepts i n vegetable gardening such as t i l l a g e ,

manure, compose and marketing as applied t o vegetable

gardening. These concepts can form bases for i d e n t i f i c a t i o n

of t a s k s o r cornpet tncies t h a t s tuden t s should acqui re i n

the course.

bn t h i s c p ~ m d , concept map can be used as an i n s t r u c t i o n a l

focus. Uased on t h i s , t h e teacher can develop h i s i n s t r u c t i o n a l

1 t:s:jms t o correspond witti each concept. For example, l e s s o n s

can be planned on p l a n t i n g of vegetables , T i l l a g e for vegetzible,

harves t ing of vegetables , preparing manure for vegetable .

P,ap of k e y concepts on vegetable gardening

S o i l .C----- Tools .-> Harvest in y

J / 1 D i s e a s e s ;;i:), pi in

~anure eaves Root f, 1 y$izer7 7 Conlposet Fym Animal Waste

T h e concept map above cm be wed by t h e t e a c h e r fo r

evaluat ion purpose. s tudying t h e diagram, tests can be designed

t o focus on t h e concepts In t h e concept map; for example, t o d s

are used for t h e following in vegetable production except in

(a) T i l l a g e (b) p l a n t i n g (c) D i s e a s e (d) Harvesting.

Use of concept in organiz ing colrse uni t .

~ x a m p l e a

Topic of the courses CEREALS.

Course Submits

Durationt 1 hour.

1. The impcrtmce of cereals t o man

i) Food

ii) Feed

iii) Beverages

2. Class i f i ca t ion o f cereals

i) Femily

ii) class

iii) Subclass

i v ) Species

3. Diseases w d pes t s of cereals and t h e i r con t ro l :

i) Viral d i sease and t h e i r c o n t r o l

ii) Fungal d i s e a s e md their con t ro l

ili) Bac te r i a d i s e a s e and t h e i r c o n t r o l

i v ) Insect pest and t h e i r cont ro l .

4. product ion

i) Cul t iva t ion of cereals

a) L a d p r ~ p a e a t i o n ( c l ea r ing , ploughing, t i l l a g e

making o f beds etc) . b) Tools and implenents.

c) Maintenance of t o o l s end implemelts.

d) Planting.

ii) Growth and D€?velopIWnt

a) S o i l f e r t i l i t y ( f e r t i l i z e r )

C) Vegetat ive development

d ) Reproductive dwelopment

e) Fruiting.

f ) Weeding.

iii) Harvesting and s t o r a g e

a) Green harves t ing ( s t l a g e from stalk)

b) Dry harvest ing (hay from s t a l k )

C ) Method o f drying and percentage, water content

for storage.

d ) S torage facilities end p ro tec t ion from s to rage

d i s e a s e s and insect pest 8 .

Use of concept map in organizing unit content.

Topic: mport ance of Cereals t o men.

Unit Ccntemt t

1. Food - N u t r i t i o n - cacbohydr&e, gratein, fat

2. Feed, etc.

Specif-ic Object iv-

1) From t h i s tnit the dudents should be able t o identify food

t o man and feeds t o livestock.

ii) Recall the ro l e played by cereals in the emergence of man

from a hmter t o a farmer.

Example r

Unit Course C a c e p t Maps

Import ace of Cereals t o Man

Feed dever ages

hydrate car- Protein ~ a t s Minerals V i t a m i n s

Sumnary and ~ o r x l u s l o n

The t eache r cornem t o t h e end of t h e lesson on t h e use of

concept map f o r d e l i v e r y ins t ruc t ion . She yoes through t h e

previous l e s s o n s s t r e s s i n g t h e p r i n c i p l e s of carcept mapping,

i t s meariing and type, t h e uses o f concept mapping

a) t o 6elect i n s t r u c t i o n a l ob jec t ives and t o plar,

i n s t r u c t ion ;

b) t o l i n k d i f f e r e n t sub -mi t s o f e course;

C ) and t o prepare a u n i t contents o f a lesson, etc.

~ ~ w c l u s i o n

She calls on t h e t r a i n e e s f o r r eac t ion on t h e whole lessorl - this w i l l call f o r d iscuss ion on t h e area t h e y seem t o be confused

and t ht ir con t r ibu t ion on t h e lesson del ivered.

APPENDIX D

I N S T R U M FOR U)LLMXING SUDFNT DATA8

ASSESSMENT TESZ

Provide t h e following informationt

School r

C l a s s ; SS I1

Ins t ruc t ion; Below are ob jec t ive quemtions with f i v e options

l e t t e r e d A - E. Choose t h e co r rec t option a d write your answer

in t h e space provided. Read each question careful ly . Time

allowed, 1 how.

I. Which o f t h e l i s t e d ingred ien t s w i l l bes t supply calcium and

phosphorus f o r l i v e s t oc k7

(a) Fish meal (b) Bane meal ( c ) Oyster s h e l l (d) Rice hran

(e) Cotton seed mod.

2. Which of t h e following i s not s u i t a b l e as a prote in ingredient

o f l ives tock feed?

(a) Groundnut cake (b) Pdrn kernel cake (c) Fish meal

(d) Maize meal (d) Cotton seed meal (e) Bone meal.

Answer colurm /-7 - 3. The only mineral t h a t i s known t o be a c o n s t i t u t e n t of

insu l ine is: (a) Sodium (b) Iodine (c ) I ron (d) z inc

(e) calcium.

Anewer column - 4. The two impoctant minerals f o r t he formation and maintenance

of t e e t h are; (a) Zinc and calcium (b) Sodium and Copper

( c ) Calcium and i ron (d ) Pottasium and f l u o r i d e

~ ~ s w e r column

Right bl indness when experienced can be t r e a t e d by feeding:

( a ) More p ro te in (b) vitamin B12 ( c ) Vitamin A (dl Bone meal

(e) Calciun and v i t an in D. r"7 - Roughage d i e t s are known by t h e i r high content of (a) Protein

( b ) Minerals (c) sugars (dl F ib re ( e ) Vitamin.

'hen hens l a y eggs with weak s h e l l , t h e s i t u a t i o n can be

correc ted by increasingt (a) Maize meal (b) Fish meal

( c ) Wheat meal (dl Bone meal (el Vitamin, /-7 - Macronutrient o r minerals include one of t h e following groups

of elementst (8) Nitrogen and copper (b) Nitrogen snd

Phosphorous (c) Z i n c and manganese (dl Boron and i rm

( e ) Cdcium and zinc. /17 - 'dhich of t h e following minerals is a const i tuent of thyroxine?

(a ) copper (b) Calcium (c) Iodine (d l I ron (el Sulphur

me of these groups are members of micromineral s.

(a) Calcium, Sodium ad Nitrogen. (b) ~ i t r o g e n , Pottasiurn and

Phosphorous ( c ) Copper, Iron and Manganese (d) Zinc, i ron

aid Po t assiunl (el Magnesium, Phosophorous at-~d Copper 1-1 - idhich of t h e following f e e d s t u f f s car, be s tored i n form of

hay o r s i lage?

(a ) Roughages (b ) Bone m e a l ( c ) Cakes ( d ) Concentrate

(el oys te r s h e l l - Bme meal c o n s t i t u t e mostly p a r t of t h i s f e d - s t u f f :

( a ) Potatoes (b) Wains (c) Rcughages (d) Concentrate

C u r ~ ~ ~ l ~ t r a t e s are general ly t e d t o one of t h e s e groups of animal:

( a ) pigs and sheep (b) Carnivores (c) Plonogastric (d l cattle J t ( e ) pig:, m l y .

14. vegeta t ive p a r t s of fodder which have not reached t h e

flowering before being c& and chopped for s torage is known

as ( a ) nay (b) Silage (c) Straw (dl was6 (e l Pasture. /7 - 15. A gradually dried materials which is ctA at t h e vegetat ive

s tage is ca l l ed (a) Btraw (bl S i l age (c) Hay (d ) pasture

(el Concentrate. /17 - 16. A balance r a t i on i s t h e feed t h a t contains

(a) Less concentrate (bl More of concentrate (c) correct

propart ion of e s s en t i a l ingredient for feed (d) All ingredient

17. A r a t i on fed t o pu l l e t s , pregnant animals i s ca l l ed

(a) Work r a t i on (b) Maintensnce ra t ion (c) Balance r a t i on

(dl Production r a t i on (el Balsnce rat ion. /-/' - 18. Animal developing body weight need:

( a) Maintenance r a t i on (b) 8alW1cwaQtiont :7 Ca) Production ra t ion

(dl Ful l d i e t (e) Weaning rat ion. - f f

19. mother name for Vitamin c is (a) Scwvy (bl Ribo f l av ine

(c) hiacin (d) Thiamine (e) ~Scorbic acid /17 - 20. ~ i c k e t s is caused by lack of Vitamin (a) A (b) B (c) C

(dl 822 (e) 0. - /117

21. Carbohydreke contain m e of t h e following group of elements

(a) Hydrogen and oxygen only. (b) Carbon and hydrogen only

(c) Carbon, zinc md iron (dl Carbon, hydrogen a d Oxygen

( e l Magnesium, magmest and chlorine. - 22. Lysine is a derivative. of (a) Vitamines (b) Carbohydrate

(c l Prote in (dl rrinerals (el Silage. - /17

23. The informal t ype of educattion given t o fanners t o improve

t h e i r farming operations i s being done by:

( U ) ~overnment (b) Farmers (c) ~ g r i c u l t u r a l Exkenaim agents.

(dl Co-opwative s o c i e t i e s (e) woup workers /-7 - 24. Law on t h e use of land was promulgated by Federal Government

i n 1978 t o achieve one of t h e following.

(a) T o Educate farmers (b) To form c-operative s o c i e t i e s

(c) T G have enough lend fo r t h e Government (d) To s e t t l e t h e

problem of land ternart. t h a t hinders a g r i c u l t m a l use of t h e lend

(e) T o e n a b l e p e o p l e o w n l a n d a s t h e y l i k e . /7 '--.---

I 25. Agelculturel ~ ~ t e n s i o n workers can t r a n s f e r t h e knowledge of

I agr icu l tu re t o farmer through one of the followirrg means

(a1 U s e of' l e c t u r e (b) Granting c r e d i t t o farmers ( c ) Supply

of f ert i l i z e r (d) Forming co-operat i v e soc ie t fes (el Government ,

2b. Governmmt can enhmce agr icu l tu ra l production through one of

t h e followiny ways (a) Building of r o d (b) Supplying t e r t i l i z e r

( c ) s y r l c u l t u r i l l extension agents (dl Manufacturing chernlcals

I ( c ) using projec ts . - 27, Which o n e o f these i s not a system of land ownership is h i q e r i e

(a) kmnunal ownerahip of land (b) Freeho ld land ownership

1 (c) easeh hold 1 and ownership (d ) Matralineally inheriteci

ownership. (e) Government o r state ownership. f f - 1 28. Provision of pes t i c ide is par t of government a s s l s t a r c e made

I ava i lable t o ( a ) Government (b) co-operative socie ty (c) Farmers

I (d) Agricultural Wenmion agents (e) &rir:ultural science

1 teachers. /-7 - 1 29. Di6cusslo1l as one of t h e way& of developing agr icu l tu re i s being

I adopted by one of t h e following groups (a) Government (b) Research

~ n s t i t r r t e (dl Farmers (dl Co-operative s o c i e t i e s

32, ~ r a r , t s and subsidies provided Ly Government to agricul-

t u r a l sectar are p a r t of Government ( a) kdvinistratlve

r o l e (b) Enucational r o l e (c) Protective. r o l e ( d l Pinanciai

r o l e (el Piarketing ro le . /-7 - ? 1. C r l e of t h e p r o t e c t i v e roler.played by gove.rnmmt r.i: indtr-e

. ,,c i c u l t u r e product ion 1s (a) F'lnarxing

(c) Pol icy (dl vacc i r~e t ion ( e ) Grants

a ? . Ole of t h e prcqramnes planned b y Federal

pronote a g r i c u l t u r a l developmerit include

(t) Lo<di:> (c) ween revolu t ion (dl 'iescarch ( e ) Cme

3. 'iw~ major agents involve on a g i c u l t u r a l devt;l.oynia?t are

( a ) Lo-operative and tiovernncmt (5 ) k'armers a d Govcrru~ierk

(c) Lducat icn and farmers (d) ~ x t a ~ s i c ~ n works 61.d h ~ p p

1 4 . . i,drrtinistr s t i v e r o l e of government i n a g r i c u l t u r e drvdopmur~t:

, r - - - v r r r . . cnyaye in iuly o t these d q - i c ~ l t u r a l ;.rbducticiri

except ( a ) !;reel r e v o l u t i ~ , ~ (3) c rop (c) dame rese rves

6 . Cluxmtine rnearls (a) Granting h e a l t h to livestr.,-':

(b) ?esttxcl~ Tnstitukc: (c) Renoval of dl .sca: .e (dl I sb l&io ( :

r 1 . 1 c l o s e obs t rva t io r~ of any c rop or ;ui i lc i ,d for a1y : is:, of

Lsease or r e s t bef uce Lrllrig allowed i n t n t h e irurket.

??. ,ov tvxr rer~t helps t o reduce wz~stage of a g r i c u l t u r a l prcducc

' l!rouyll a-iy uf t h i s mta l . , . (a) LL ihher ier ; p r d ( ~ c i f o : ~

( h l i J o o t 1 hilrvrstlricj ( c ) P t - ~ ~ e b s i ~ ~ q ar,d siuraqt.

4 t , . ~ ..LL e d u c a t i o r ~ of f a r m e r occurs

( P ) C u t hide t he school sydc-tn

( 1 , ) I n t h e fam

IL) In t h e i r various h o u s ~ s

(d) In t h e farm sett1erne;~t

( e l i n colleges and u n i v e r s i t i e s .

hame of School

1. Cornunity Secondary School, Utuh

2 . Community Secondary School, Ihembosi

3. c o m m i t y Secondary School, menat or

~ a m e s of Teachers

~ r . Uche Amaizu

lvliss Onyef urunuo Ogechukwu

Miss Rose Mmzoba

10 1

Local Government Area (IGA)

Nnewi %&h L.G.A.

W U S ~ ~ O L. G - A.

NnWi South L.G.A.

S c h o o l

C.S.S. Utuh

C.S.S. Ebenator

C.S.S. Ihembosi.

FREX&JMCX DIZCRIBUZION OF THE FINAL

TEST SO;IRES

EXPERUI~NTAL GROUP A

Scarem o f Students o f t h e ~ e e c h e r that ~ e c e i v e d

w 3 weeks Training rained T r . 1)

Scores Tally Fr equenc y score X F X

Fr eauencv

68 11 2 13 6

WLRIMENTAL GROUP

Scoreb of Students of t h e Teacher- that Received One Week Trainirig rained Tr. 11)

bcores Tally Frequency Score X X 1' Frequmc y

2 - f f x - N

1083 25

CiROUP 8: COWROL GWUP

Scores of Students of the Teacher tha t d id not - - xake Part in t h e Traininq (untrained Tr.)

score Tally Frequency Sccce X X F ~ r e s u e n c y f x

68 1 1 68

5 8 1 1 58

5 '3 1 1 5 5

45 111 3 135

4 3 1 1 4 3

40 1 1 40

3 8 111 3 11.1

3 5 11 2 70

30 - 5 l50

33 1 1 3 3

28 11 2 5 6

2 5 1 1 2 5

2 3 1 1 2 3

2 0 1 1 2 0

18 1 1 18

APPENDIX G

ABILITY TES[P QUESTIONS

Below are questions on the training needs of teachers

or1 the usr of concept maps for instruztional improvement i n

~ g r i c u l t v a l Science, ~ i n d l y enswf*: the questions to t h e

befit of your knowledge.

F e e l free to seek for m y clarification where i n

dcjLlbt.

Yoms f a i t h f u l l y ,

Ndu B. Nwosu U-N-Nm

Please provide the following inforrnationt

N ame t

School t

class r

Ir~strUCticn; s S t d y the diagram below and answer questions 1 - 5. Put d a m your answers on the space provided below.

Nitro en e D€?nil. I-if yin g bacterial fungi

itrogen f ix lng b d e r i a . wotobacter Clostridium

n the air I

7 Nitrogen

"- \ Nitrogen f ix ing bacteria- (Rhizobium)

e l e c t r i c a l In root nodules of discharge of leguminous plants. l ightning

Nitric wid

Washed into the soil

N 1 t r i f ying bacteria. math and decay E x r e t i o n N it robact er and faeces

N ltrit en

R I w n i u m compounds

I

~ i t r i f y i n g Bacteria h itrosomon ae

--.-- 1.- --- - -*- i

S t a t e t h r e e major ways by which Nitrogen from t h e

atmosphere i s converted t o s o i l nitrogen.

Answers: 1.

2 . Amnonium cornporndm i s formed d i r e c t l y from atmospheric

nitrogen. True or false?

Answer r

Nit r i fy ing bac te r i a (Nitrobacter converts

t o

wobac te r b a c t e r i a convert atmospheric Nitrogen t o

(a) N i t r i c acid (b) Nitrite ( c ) Nitrate (d) m m n i a

Answf f c o l m - /-I

Animtils o#aine n i t rogen from

(a) I$mosphere (b) N i t r a t e (c) Plant (d) Nitrite.

DIAGRAM 111 AGRIWZURAL DEVELOPMENT

Co-oper at ive soc i-ct ies

Lecture

4 7

~nimal Crop ProdLlCtion Product ion .6 credit st $age

f a c i l i t i e s

pesticides Fert i - ~ e c h a n i z a t i o n l i z e r

Land 'I'enure

S t u d y D i a g r a m I1 md a n s w e r t h e q w s t i o n s 6 - 10,

6, one of the major ways of d e v e l o p i n g agr icu l ture i s

(a ) through Government aid

(b) through cooperative s o c i e t i e s

( c ) U s e of p r o j e c t

(d) solving land tenure problem.

A n s w e r Column 1 7 -7

a i s or~e way throucji, which government can a s s i s t i n

developing agricult w e :

( a) Es t a b l i s h h g cooperative soc iety

(b) Train iny farmers

(c) Haking l a w s guiding l a d tenure system

(d) Assisting agricultural agents,

Answer coluxA I- - 8. Provision of pes t i c ides is par t o f t hroucjh which

G o v c r r ~ m t ~ ~ t car assist: in developing agric~ilturet

( a ) Storage fac i l i t i e s (c) Land t e n w e

(b) Trarisporc (d) Credit

9. W ~ Y L t armers adopt s in developing agriculture include one ~f the following :

( a ) Carrying out delnonstration (b) Use ~i p r o j e c t (c) Giving lectwes ( dl Furring co-op= d i v e Societies.

10. D ~ s C U ~ S ~ O ~ as orce of t h e ways of developing agriculture

is being adopted by one of the followiny agent.

( a ) Government

(dl Lecture