EFFECT OF PEER TUTORING INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGY ON STUDENT’S ACHIEVEMENTS AND INTEREST IN SOME GRAPH-RELATED CONCEPT IN ECONOMICS AMONG UNDERGRADUATES IN IBADAN

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EFFECT OF PEER TUTORING INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGY ON STUDENT’S ACHIEVEMENTS AND INTEREST IN SOME GRAPH-RELATED CONCEPT IN ECONOMICS AMONG UNDERGRADUATES IN IBADAN

Abstract:

This research investigates the impact of peer tutoring as an instructional strategy on students’ achievements and interest in graph-related concepts in economics among undergraduates in Ibadan. The study employs a quasi-experimental design, utilizing pre-test and post-test assessments to measure the effectiveness of peer tutoring. The participants include undergraduate students enrolled in economics courses in selected institutions in Ibadan.

The research aims to address the following objectives: (1) to assess the baseline understanding of graph-related concepts among undergraduates; (2) to implement a peer tutoring instructional strategy to a randomly assigned experimental group; (3) to compare the academic achievements of the experimental group with a control group exposed to traditional teaching methods; (4) to gauge students’ interest in graph-related concepts before and after the intervention; and (5) to explore students’ perceptions and experiences with peer tutoring.

The intervention period involves structured peer tutoring sessions focused on enhancing students’ comprehension of graph-related concepts in economics. Data is collected through pre- and post-tests, surveys, and interviews. Statistical analysis, including t-tests and regression analysis, is employed to assess the impact of the peer tutoring strategy on academic achievements and interest levels.

The findings of this research contribute to the existing body of knowledge on effective instructional strategies in economics education. The study also provides insights into the potential benefits of peer tutoring, not only in terms of academic achievements but also in fostering interest and engagement among students in graph-related concepts. The implications of these findings are discussed with a focus on informing pedagogical practices in economics education.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

One of the objectives of the curriculum on economics, which was published in 2008, is to enable students to contribute intelligently to discourse on economic reforms and development as they affect Nigeria overall. Economics as a course equips students with the basic principles of economics required for higher education. It also encourages and prepares students to be prudent and effective in the management of scarce resources. Economics helps raise students’ respect for the dignity of labour and their appreciation of the economic, cultural, and social values of society. It also assists students in acquiring knowledge for the practical solution of the economic problems of society in Nigeria, developing countries, and the world at large.

In the Senior Secondary Economics Curriculum (SSEC) published by the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC, 2008), economics was placed as an elective subject under humanities, and students may only choose the subject if it is within their field of study or as an elective outside their field of study (Omosewo & Akanmu, 2013). Since economics is an elective subject, students have no motivation to study economics because they feel it is less important in comparison to other subjects; they register for economics just to fulfil the required number of subjects at the senior

Published by the University of Wollongong

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Effect of Peer Tutoring on Students’ Academic Performance

secondary school level. As a result, the number of students who study economics at the tertiary level of education is reducing drastically.

The philosophy of economics in the Nigerian educational system is to present it as a subject that has relevance in everyday life and could prepare graduates for an entrepreneurial career in the future (NERDC, 2008). Yusuf (2004) states that the conceptual approach of the new Senior Secondary Economics Curriculum is intended to ensure the effective handling of the subject in the classroom by inexperienced or untrained teachers while reinforcing the knowledge of teaching methods of the trained teachers. Zakaria, Chin, and Daud (2010) opine that to achieve effective and efficient teaching and learning, acquisition of knowledge should not merely focus on dispensing rules, definitions, and procedures for students to memorise, but should be inclined to actively engage students as primary participants. One approach to achieve that is peer tutoring, which is the focal point of this study.

Moreneo and Duran (2002) describe peer tutoring as a method of cooperative learning based on the creation of pairs of students with a lopsided relationship; that is, the tutor and tutee do not have equal academic ability but they share a common goal. This goal must be achieved through a relationship framework organised by the teacher. Peer tutoring is regarded as an excellent resource for facilitating the mastery of interpersonal competencies. Fuchs, Fuchs, Mathes, and Martinez (2002) assert that socialisation experiences that occur during peer tutoring can benefit both the tutor and the tutee by encouraging students to learn and increase their social standing among peers. Peer tutoring was found to be helpful in socialisation experience as the level of interaction among students both inside and outside the classroom improved significantly.

Peer tutoring is also important for the tutor; that is, learning is encouraged through teaching. Hartman (2010) conducted an evaluation study and reported that peer tutoring increased students’ motivation to learn. This result is supported by Whitman (2012) and Annis (2013) who argue that peer tutoring can be the most intellectually rewarding experience of a student’s career. They found peer tutoring helped students perform better on higherorder conceptual understanding scales than students who read the material simply for study purposes. Topping (2010) also asserts that peer tutoring serves as an effective way to improve self-esteem in students. Peer tutoring aids interaction among peers not only academically but also socially.

One of the problems that attracts public concern in Nigeria today is the gender gap in academic performance of students in schools. This observable disparity has been blamed on a number of factors, including social, economic, and cultural stereotyping. Gender is the range of physical, biological, mental and behavioural characteristics pertaining to and differentiating between the feminine and masculine (female and male) population (Adigun, Onihunwa, Irunokhai, Sada, & Adesina, 2015). The importance of examining performance in relation to gender is based primarily on the socio-cultural differences between girls and boys. Some vocations and professions have been regarded as men’s (e.g., engineering, arts and crafts, agriculture, etc.) while others have been regarded as women’s (e.g., catering, typing, nursing, etc.). In fact, parents assign tasks like car washing, grass cutting, and home repair to the boys. Among the researchers who conducted a study on gender disparity in

AbdulRaheem, Yusuf, and Odutayo

the academic performance of secondary schools in Ilorin, none of the researchers gave a conclusive answer to the relationship between peer tutoring and gender.

The main point of this study is aligned with one of the principles for designing the new Senior Secondary School Curriculum, which is to develop autonomous learning capabilities in students or assist students to learn how to learn by developing their generic skills and interest, as articulated in NERDC (2008) for secondary schools in Nigeria (Awofala & Awolola, 2011). The main purpose of this study was to determine the difference in performance between students taught with peer tutoring and conventional instructional strategy in economics. A second purpose of the study was to investigate whether any difference in the performance of students taught with peer tutoring was a result of their gender, thereby finding out if peer learning favors males over females or vice-versa.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The guiding concept of the new economics curriculum is the need to equip graduates of the senior secondary school with the basic knowledge and skills that will enable them to appreciate the nature of economic problems in any society. The conventional method of teaching, which is the preference of most economics teachers, allows students to simply obtain information from the teacher without building their engagement level with the subject being taught (Boud & Feletti, 1999). As a result, there are agitations for teachers to be dynamic with their instructional method to encourage the development of students’ generic skills (Bennett, Dunne, & Carre, 1999). Hence, it was of interest to see if peer tutoring could be adopted as an alternative teaching and learning approach to the conventional method to aid students’ understanding of economics as well as help learners fulfil untapped hidden potentials.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

This study investigates the following research questions:

i. What is the effect of peer tutoring and conventional instructional strategies on students’ performance in economics? ii. Will the performance of students taught using peer tutoring instructional strategy vary on the basis of gender?

RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

On the basis of Mesler (2009) and Yusuf (2004), among others, we hypothesise that:

H 0: There is no significant difference in the performance of students

taught using peer tutoring and conventional instructional strategies in economics.

H 1: There is no significant difference in the performance of male and

female students exposed to peer tutoring instructional strategy.

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