CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Teaching styles are considered to be the general principles, educational, and management strategies for classroom instruction. The use of different teaching styles started in the beginning of the twentieth century. This was due to the amount of research being poured into different learning methods. Once it was understood that everybody learns differently, it became obvious that, there is need to use different teaching styles in other to accommodate the different learning styles of the learners.

Background to the Study

Over the years, there have been visible changes in teaching styles.  Since the 1950s, psychologists have been investigating the nature of various types of styles, such as cognitive thinking, teaching and learning styles and their effects on performance in both academic and nonacademic setting, (Goldstein, Blackman, (1978), Kogan, Saarns, (1990), Sternberg , Grigorenko, (1997). This term teaching styles appeared around the 1970s (Bigg, 2001) when interest began to focus on the role of styles in teaching and learning. It is worthy to note that various teaching styles have been used by teachers from the 1960s to the present date. One of these are the authority style.

 Historically, the term social science first appeared in 1824 written book by William Thompson (1775-1833). In the late 19th century, social science focused on human behavior became increasingly common. Among the first were the law of philology, which attempted to map the change over time of sounds in a language. Comte(1838) established sociology, though Comte was regarded as the father of sociology, the discipline was formally established by another French thinker, Emile Durkheim (1858-1917),who developed positivism in greater detail. Durkheim set up the first European department of sociology at the university of Bordeaux in (1895), publishing his rules of the sociological method. Today, Durkheim, Marx and Max Weber are typically cited as the three principal architects of social science. Social science however, has since become an umbrella term to describe all those disciplines, outside of physical science and art, which analyse human societies.    

The origin of students’ academic performance started in the United States since the 1830s. Education advocates Horace Mann and Samuel Gridley however, used a standardized test to evaluate student progress in Boston, Massachusetts Kansas school.  Administrator, Frederick Kelly advanced the idea of standardized testing with the Kansas silent reading testing in 1914). In (1934), Johnson developed a grading machine that could grade test sheets by picking up the electrical created by pencil marks. In 1965,   the elementary and secondary education act encouraged adoption of standardized testing. Recently, President Barack Obama in 2015 signed the every student succeed act replacing the elementary and secondary education act of 1965.

The following are the various teaching styles used by teachers from the 1960s to the present date. One of these are the authority style also known as the lecture style. It involves sitting and listening to the instructor speak about a pre-assigned topic while the students take notes and memorize to the best of their ability what is being said. This particular style is more popular in universities and some high schools due to the large class size Bohren, (2019). Also, another teaching style used by teachers is the demonstrator style. It tries to maintain authority in the classroom instead of using only a verbal lecture to give information and to teach. This style uses gateways like multimedia presentations, classroom activities and demonstrations that deals with subjects like music, art and physical education subjects Grasha, (1994). Furthermore, the facilitator style recognized as the activity style which tries to encourage self-earning through peer to teacher learning Grasha, (1994). The goal is for students to develop a deeper understanding of the topic by using self-discovery and develop problem solving skills.

Conceptually, teaching style refers to the teaching strategies and methods employed plus use of certain kinds of rhetorics (Schneider, 1980).Galton et al, (1980) defined it as a set of teaching tactics whereas, Siedentop (1991) referred to it as the general pattern created by using a particular set of strategies. Teaching style could equally be the attributes of a teacher that define their style, methods and behaviours in the classroom (Sam, 2013). Trowbridge and Bybee, (1996), defined teaching style as the most effective and efficient means of presenting the materials as long as the style is appropriate for the subject and the students.

Peter Hudson, (2004) defined students’ academic performance as the knowledge and skills that students have gained over a specific period of time. Also, Rebecca and Aryal (2009) refers to students’ academic performance as the achievement of students rated by marks grades or it is the interior process of gaining skills and knowledge. Again, Eze (2016) defined students’ academic performance as the outcome of students’ effort in examination. Narad and Abdullah (2016) refer to students’ academic performance as knowledge gained which is assessed by a teacher and educational goals set by students and teachers to be achieved over a specific period of time. Other related concepts to teaching styles and students’ academic performance are teaching methods, teaching strategies and learning styles.

Theoretically, the study is based on the theory of constructivism. Constructivism is a learning theory that emphasizes the active role of learners in building their own knowledge. This means that, learners reflect on their experiences, create mental representations, and incorporate new knowledge in to their schemas. Arends (1998), states that constructivism believes in the personal construction of meaning by the learners through experience and that meaning is influenced by the interaction of prior knowledge and new events. This theory is important to the present day study because it  allows students to construct knowledge leading to problem solving rather than being passive in which they are refers to as tabula rasa(empty vessels). Moreover, the study is based on the theory of Behaviorism.

Behaviorism like Skinner (1953) focuses on observable behavior, believing learning was supported through drill and practice and related reinforcement. Behaviorist instruction tends to be directive, incorporating lectures and practice problems often leveraging objective assessments. This theory is relevant to the present day study because, learners with different learning styles especially audio-visual can learn through observing behaviours of their teachers leading to knowledge acquisition.

Contextually, social science teachers in secondary school classroom in Cameroon, have used different teaching styles. For example, teachers use the lecture style with a large group of students, when a lot of interaction between the teacher and students is not feasible. Subject matter in the lecture style, most of the time, is singular and predetermined. Students are encouraged to take notes and ask questions at the end. Hence, the students are not engaged in active learning.

Also, another teaching style used by social science teachers in Cameroon is the demonstrator style; whereby the teacher still retains a lot of authority but is more open to trying a student centered approach to teaching. It also encourage students to come up with problem solving strategies, ask questions and stimulate what they have just learned. This style often goes beyond lectures showing presentations, images, films and experiments. As a result, it’s more applicable to more learning styles. However, the styles does not accommodate the needs of all students

The facilitator style which refers to shifting from students centered approach to inquiry based learning is used by Cameroonian. Students learn by asking questions and discussing real world case studies. Some other activities might be designed to improve problem solving skills and help understand the subject matter better through practical challenges. However, this style does not work well in large classes. From the above discussions one wonders whether social science teachers in Cameroon effectively use the lecture, demonstrator and facilitator style during the teaching learning process.

Statement of the Problem

Teaching styles are very essential in the teaching of social science subjects in schools. Like any other subject, social science students when their teachers ineffectively use the lecture, demonstrator and facilitator style. These challenges might include: low retention of the information, no active learning, and students’ needs not addressed, since, it is difficult to assess with certainty the magnitude of these challenges, and there is a need to investigate the effects of social science teachers teaching styles on students’ academic performance in Bamenda II municipality.

Objective of the Study

General Objective

This research seeks to investigate the effects of social science teachers teaching styles on their students’ academic performance in the Bamenda II municipality.

Specific Objectives

• To examine the extent to which lecture style affects students’ academic performance in the Bamenda II municipality.
• To determine the extent to which demonstrator style affects students’ academic performance in the Bamenda II municipality.
• To find out the extent to which facilitator style affects students’ academic performance in the Bamenda II municipality.

Research Questions

Main Research Question

What is the effects of social science teachers teaching styles on their students’ academic performance in the Bamenda II municipality?

Specific Research Questions

• To What extent does lecture style affects students ‘academic performance in the Bamenda II municipality?
• To What extent does demonstrator style affects students ‘academic performance in the Bamenda II municipality?
• To What extent does facilitator style affects students ‘academic performance in the Bamenda II municipality?