Investigation Of Lesson Planning Practices Among Business Studies Teachers In Shomolu Lagos

Project and Seminar Material for Business Education Students

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to investigate business studies teachers’ views towards use of lesson plan in business studies classes.Over the years the focus on educational change has been pervasive and unrelenting as education systems everywhere have struggled to meet the needs of the times.The study was designed to find out if business studies teachers really understand the essence of planning note of lesson against any lectures in schools.To guide this research, a 20-item questionnaire was formulated for teachers and students. The randomly selected sample of 200 teachers and students was drawn from 6 different schools in Shomolu Lagos State. The instrument was administered to the respondents and the results were analyzed using simple percentages.The findings were summarized: it is seen that business studies teachers are clearly aware of the need to plan their lessons ahead of time in the department.

Chapter One

Introduction

1.1 Background of the Study

Nigerian Educational System has gone through various developments and changes viz-a-viz curriculum issues. The dynamic nature of the curriculum process informs the concept of effective planning of integrated science curriculum in secondary schools. This is so because science education plays a vital role in the lives of individuals and the development of a nation scientifically and technologically (Aleboisu and Ifamuyiwa, 2008). It is widely and generally acknowledged that the gateway to the survival of a nation scientifically and technologically is scientific literacy which can only be achieved through science education. This starts from giving students a good foundation in integrated science from junior secondary level. But government in this direction can not be said to have yielded much fruits given the dwindling nature of student’s performance in integrated science in junior secondary school and the low rate of students offering science in senior secondary school as well as their performance in core science subjects. Disturbed by this ugly development, researchers in the field of science education in Nigeria embarked on series of studies to find the logic behind this ugly development.

They found that the problem stemmed from the first form of science a child comes across at the junior secondary school level that is integrated science. Integrated science provide students sound basis for further science education study, hence a child that is not well grounded in integrated science at this level would not show interest in offering core science subject (Biology, Chemistry and Physics) at Senior Secondary Schol level which are pre-requisites for studying science oriented courses at the Nation’s tertiary institutions. They also found that lack of qualified teachers, lack of practical work as well as lack of equipments and facilities for teaching, insufficient allotment of time for integrated science on the school time table and poor methods of teaching are the major factors militating against the successive implementation of the core curriculum in integrated science (Ajuwape and Olatoye, 2004). It is against this background that the researcher seeks to investigate the subject matter of this research: The impact of effective planning and curriculum development on teaching and learning of integrated science in secondary school.Lesson planning in secondary schools often require teachers to turn in their lesson plans and to complete them in a certain format, it is important not to fall into the trap of completing lesson plans simply to meet the proprietor or principal’s requirement. Rather, teachers need to plan their lessons in order to ensure that they are taking the most thoughtful approach possible to get their students where they wish them to be. Regardless of the particular format their district might require, they will need to be sure that they are making the format work for them, and that they are writing the plan not in order to meet a particular requirement but rather to ensure that their students actually accomplish the objective.Lesson plan is a written description of education process in which it is shown what, when, where and with which method learners should learn and how they should be assessed. Lesson plan is one of the key factors in the educational process.The importance of lesson planning has been over emphasized for professional development of teachers, especially in this current era of educational reform, largely because it can facilitate teacher learning (Ball 1996; Little 1993).

Lesson plan is a written description for this process; where the materials, the method, the time and the place of education as well as methods for evaluating the students are described in detail. According to Farrell

( 2002)who defined a lesson plan as “a unit in which it is a sequence of correlated lessons around a particular theme or it can be specified as a systematic record of a teacher’s thoughts about what will be covered during a lesson”(p. 30). Farrell further adds that a daily lesson plan is a written description of how students will move towards obtaining specific objectives. It describes teaching behavior that will result in the students’ learning. Shrum and Glisan (as cited in Farrell, 2002) point out that for English language lesson, the effective objectives of a lesson plan describe what students will be able to do in terms of observation, behavior, and using the foreign language. According to Amininik et al. (2000) who opined that Lesson plan preparation by faculty members is one of the appropriate ways for promotion of education quality; it can help the lecturers in teaching as guidance. According to Coppola et al. (2004) Lesson plan is main foundation of educational structure and it is core of education. Faculty members should not be present in class without a lesson plan because it is required for a successful teaching. Houston and Beech (2002) believed that since there were students with different characteristics and a range of abilities in a class, meeting the different learning needs of students can create several problems for teachers. As stated by kame’enuiand simmons (1999 as cited in Houston & Beech, 2002) the best source of action to meet this challenge is to design effective lesson plans. According to Clark and Peterson (1986), researchers have conceptualized teacher planning in two ways. First, based on the theories in cognitive psychology, planning is defined as a basic psychological process in which a person visualizes the future, inventories means and end, and constructs a framework to guide his/her future action. Second, from the descriptive approach, planning is defined as the things that teachersdo when they say that they are planning. Placek (1984) defines teacher planning as a teacher activity that precedes instruction, is concerned with how instruction will be presented, and is based upon anticipation or expectation of classroom events. From a system approach paradigm, Panasuk and Todd (2005) define lesson planning as a systematic development of instructional requirements, arrangements, conditions, and materials and activities, as well as testing and evaluation of teaching and learning.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Lesson planning over the past decades has been an important process in teacher trainees’ gaining experience since it forces them to reflect on what to teach, how to teach and how to evaluate. The lesson plan breaks the unit plan down into detail and is the direction for the class period. Learners appreciate instruction that is well planned and want to know the objective for the class period. Learners want to know what they will be able to do when the class ends and how it applies to their lives beyond the classroom. Writing a lesson plan requires thinking about the skills to be taught, the objectives, timing, and procedures for the class.

Unfortunately, there has been little research on pre-service teachers’ lesson planning experiences. Since there is limited attention in the literature on teacher trainees’ lesson planning skills, this study aims at gaining insights and attitudes about the strengths and weaknesses of business studies teachers in terms of applying and producing lesson planning and if their understanding and attitude might be moderated by variable as teachers’ educational degree.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

The main objective of this study is to gain a better understanding of the learning process of business studies teachers regarding how to planning practice, the researcher intend to outline the following sub-objectives;

To investigate the lesson planning practices among the business studies teachers in Shomolu Lagos State.
To ascertain if there is any significant difference between teachers’ perception of lesson planning and students understandability.
To examine business studies teachers profile and interest in making lesson plan in Shomolu Lagos.
To suggest how business studies teachers could build and develop their professional skills into their lesson

1.4 Research Questions

This study is designed to answer the following research questions:

Is there any significant relationship between teachers’ attitudes towards lesson planning and their educational degree in Lagos State?
Does lesson plans help teachers achieve their goals and objectives appropriately as well as help them have great self-confidence and get rid of problems?
Does lesson plan help business studies teachers manage their time, effort and resources efficiently in Shomolu Lagos?
What is the profile business studies teachers and interest in making lesson plan in Shomolu Lagos?
What are business studies teachers’ attitudes towards the use of lesson planning in the class?
Is there any significant difference between teachers’ views on lesson plan according to their educational degree in Nigeria?

1.5 Research Hypotheses

H0: there is no significant relationship between teachers’ perception of lesson planning and students understandability in Lagos State
H1: there is a significant relationship between teachers’ perception of lesson planning and students understandability in Lagos State
H0: lesson plans doesn’t help teachers achieve their goals and objectives appropriately as well as help them have great self-confidence and get rid of problems
H2: lesson plans does help teachers achieve their goals and objectives appropriately as well as help them have great self-confidence and get rid of problems.

1.5 Significance of the Study

The research is carried out to know the problem that business teachers encounter as a result of feeling reluctant about lesson planning and how the problem could be solved. The research findings will give in details the impact of lesson plan on the teachers/student’s relationship and academic performance, it will reveal also how the level of exposure of teachers to lesson planning and how it helps in improving the academic performance of business studies students. By the end of this research work we shall also understand perfectly the role of the federal government of Nigeria towards bringing skilled and experience teachers with passion for the teaching profession into our schools in Nigeria. Finally, the findings of this study will serve as a reference material to scholars who intend to embark on a project of this nature in future.

1.6 Scope and Limitation of the Study

The scope of this research is delimited to the problems associated to lack of quality lesson practice among business studies teachers in Shomolu Lagos and possible solution to these challenges.The researcher encounters some constrain which limited the scope of the study;

Availability of Research Material:

The research material available to the researcher is insufficient, thereby limiting the study.

Time:

The time frame allocated to the study does not enhance wider coverage as the researcher has to combine other academic activities and examinations with the study.

Finance:

The finance available for the research work does not allow for wider coverage as resources are very limited as the researcher has other academic bills to cover.

1.7 Definition of Terms

Lesson Plan:

A lesson plan is a teacher’s detailed description of the course of instruction or “learning trajectory” for a lesson. A daily lesson plan is developed by a teacher to guide class learning. Details will vary depending on the preference of the teacher, subject being covered, and the needs of the students.

Lesson Note:

A lesson note is step by step guide into a specificlesson made by the teacher before the lesson; it can also contain important information about the expected outcome of the lesson, the sources of information and students’ data.

Practice:

In this context refers to a conventional, traditional, or otherwise standardized method of doing a particular thing continuously.

Investigation:

The action of investigating something or someone; formal or systematic examination or research.

Business Studies:

Its study combines elements of accountancy, finance, marketing, organizational studies and economics.Business Studies is a broad subject in the Social Sciences, allowing the in-depth study of a range of specialties such as accountancy, finance, organization,human resources management and marketing.

Teachers:

A teacher (also called a school teacher or, in some contexts, an educator) is a person who helps others to acquire knowledge, competences or values.

1.8 Organization of the Study

This research work is organized in five chapters, for easy understanding, as follows

Chapter one is concern with the introduction, which consist of the (overview, of the study), statement of problem, objectives of the study, research question, significance or the study, research methodology, definition of terms and historical background of the study.
Chapter two highlight the theoretical framework on which the study is based, thus the review of related literature.
Chapter three deals on the research design and methodology adopted in the study.
Chapter four concentrate on the data collection and analysis and presentation of finding.
Chapter five gives summary, conclusion and also recommendations made of the study.

Chapter Five

Summary Conclusion and Recommendation

5.1 Introduction

It is pertinent to note that this research was to investigate teachers view towards lesson planning in their profession. Thus the topic “investigation of lesson plan practices among business studies teachers in Shomolu Lagos”.

In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing the challenges associated with lesson planning in Lagos State.

5.2 Summary

This study was to investigate teachers’ views towards use of lesson plan in business studies classes. Most of the business studies teachers admitted that lesson plan is important in increasing the quality of education. The main findings of the study could be discussed in the following lines.

The first finding of the study regards business studies teachers’ views towards use of lesson plan in the class, the result of the study suggest that the most of teachers agreed with use of lesson plan and no one disagree with lesson plan. Therefore, the first research question was positively answered.

The results of the present study were to a great extent compatible with those of Hannon (2000); Saberian, Aghajani and Ghorbani (2003); Majidi, Asadi and Nemati (2000) Momennasab&Zah Tab (2002); Vakili et al (2003); Amininik (2000) who found that theacademic staff agreed with lesson plan and believed that the most important part of the lesson plan was behavioral objectives while teaching method, educational aides and method of assessment was next in importance as in other studies. According to findings of these studies, the researchers and expert’s focus group stated that the academic staff using lesson plan were satisfied with it and in spite of some difficulties in its performance, they considered it as beneficial. Although professor favored lesson planning and find it necessary to work, their heavy workload and lack of knowledge are defined as two main obstacles in doing so. The results of this study are also similar with the ones obtained from other researchers such as Gafoor and UmerFarooque (2010) and Ruys, Keer and Aelterman (2012).

Moradana & Pourasadollah (2014) explored, majority of older, experienced and less-educated teachers stated that they don’t usually use lesson planning and they don’t need previewing lessons before class. However younger and novice teachers felt it’s very useful for them, and give them much confidence in class. On the other hand, higher educated teachers stated that although they are important factors, they don’t usually use them.

On the contrary, in study of Fattah, Jalili, Alizadeh, and Adhami (2009), most of faculty members didn’t have positive attitude toward lesson planning, which is different from results of studies in other universities. The second finding of this study regards teachers’ attitudes towards lesson planning according to their educational degree. According to our finding there is no difference between teachers’ attitudes towards lesson planning according to their educational degree.so, the second hypothesis was rejected.

Taghipour (2013) found that positive attitudes towards lesson plan were meaningfully related to the educational level, e.g. the higher academic degree is the more positive attitude towards lesson planning would be. Fattahi et al (2009) concluded, there was no significance difference between the lecturers’ attitude based on the faculty, but there was a significant difference on level of knowledge score based on academic rank. Ebrahimipour et al (2014) stated, there were no significant correlations between academic rank and compliances of taught content. The results showed a significant difference between the mean scores of different educational levels. Monitoring of implementation of the curriculum, along with empowering the teachers about developing and using their own course plan may improve the alignment between the course plans and the taught materials.

5.3 Conclusion

This study explored business studies teachers’ attitudes at high schools and institute towards use of lesson plan in the class based on their teaching experience and educational degree. This result indicated that there is a significant difference between teachers’ views according to their teaching experience and educational degree. It can be claimed that there is no difference between teachers’ views on lesson plan according to educational degree.

The findings of this study revealed that most business studies teachers favored using lesson plan. Results showed that majority (%79.6) of the business studies teachers had interest in making the lesson plan. A well trained teacher should be able to enjoy planning for teaching. A few business studies teachers (%12.9) are neither agree nor disagree in preparing the lesson plan probably the untrained teachers. Specialized committee of lesson planning plays a key role as facilitator but the final decisions should be made by the teachers themselves.

By having a lesson plan, a teacher is able to manage his time, effort and resources efficiently. Obviously, developing a lesson plan can be difficult to do and requires efforts, energy, and time to accomplish. However, it helps teachers to save much time in the coming years since the lesson plan developed can be applied several times without forgetting to update it. Besides, it provides the teachers many ways such as variation of activities, methods and materials to keep the teaching process not monotonous and redundant. Furthermore, lesson plans can help business studies teachers to achieve the goals and objectives appropriately as well as help them have great self-confidence and get rid of problems.

5.4 Recommendations

Inspired by the findings of this study, a number of recommendations were put forward by the researcher which may be beneficial for further studies.

It is suggested to replicate this study at a national scale and cover a large number of subjects to elevate the generalizability of the findings. By conducting the same study in different cities, it can be examined whether the same results will be obtained by replicating this study in different contexts.
It is also recommended to expand and analyze the data by teachers of other fields, too. It would be interesting to see if science teachers were more interested in use of lesson plan than math teachers etc.
Teachers’ should indulge more in individual and collegial planning and workingtime may be a necessary condition to improve the quality of teaching in Nigerian schools, and detailed lesson plans that will provide a way for business studies teachers to better understand content, student learning, and pedagogical content knowledge.

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