USING THE DISCUSSION METHOD TO IMPROVE UPON THE PERFORMANCE

OF BASIC 7 PUPILS OF DASTECH D/A BASIC SCHOOL IN SOCIAL STUDIES

 CHAPTER ONE

OVERVIEW

This chapter consists of the background to the study, description of the study area, statement

of the problem, purpose of the study, research questions, and significance of the study,

delimitations, and limitations.

Background to the study

Social studies education is important in the life of every member in the community. This will

encourage people to take care of the natural environment around them. In addition, facts

about the past should be known, conditions occurring presently should also be known. People

who received social studies education should be able to link the past with the present and

forecast into the future. All these can be done if social studies education is well done by the

teacher. Exploring the environment is vital in social studies education. In doing this, primary

teaching learning materials should be used. This helps people to know exactly what surrounds

them.

To explain facts in social studies education, secondary and tertiary, appropriate methods of

teaching such as child-centered method is used coupled with teaching and learning resources,

these makes lessons lively and lovely for both the teacher and learner.

Teaching methods according to Burden & Byrd (2010) are approaches to teaching and

learning in which concepts, patterns and abstractions are taught in the context of strategies

that emphasize concept learning, inquiry learning and problem-solving learning. The most

popular teaching method, as Eison (2010) claims, is the lecture method. It has been used for

years as a means of transmitting cognitive or factual data from a teacher to a group of

students (Ganyaupfu, 2013). It presupposes that the teacher is the only expert with all the

access at the teacher’s disposal, and that the students need or want a large amount of this data

in a short time (McKeachie & Svinicki, 2006). This method is one way channel of
communication of information since the emphasis is mainly on the presentation of the topic

and the explanation of the content to the students (Richards & Rodgers, 2014).

Students’ attention in a lecture appears to fall off steadily after an initial rise, until the last

five minutes when it briefly rises again which means that the middle of a talk is less well

remembered than the beginning and end (Bligh, 2000). Lecturers' performance also declines

over an hour. Lecturing may be less effective than discussion or individual work in class as

there is a lack of concentration on the part of students (Richards & Rodgers, 2014). Though

lectures are much criticised as a teaching method, Paul (2015) reports that universities have

not yet found practical alternative teaching methods for the majority of their courses.

Students in the age of global technological advancement have an extensive and instant access

to information they require with a single click of a mouse, meaning that they expand the

scope of their knowledge whenever and wherever they wish. The lecturer and library are no

longer the limited sources of academic learning at university.

Students may attend classes with other information than is provided in a normal lecture

(Novak et al., 2004) to contribute to their own learning.

The discussion method could be one of the available teaching methods utilised by university

lecturers (McKeachie & Svinicki, 2006) to promote learning. However, the dynamics of the

discussion technique may not be realized by most of these lecturers (Forrester-Jones, 2003).

Research on the efficiency of group discussion methods has shown that team learning, and

student-led discussions produce favorable student performance outcomes, and foster greater

participation, self-confidence and leadership ability (Perkins & Saris, 2001; Yoder &

Hochevar, 2005).
 Pre-Intervention

An intervention is a set of strategies planned and implemented to solve a specific problem of

improving on educational practice located in an immediate situation which involves step-by

step procedures and is constantly monitored over a period. It is procedure that the researcher

adopts in trying to diagnose perceived problem before the actual intervention.

The researcher, upon an encounter with the basic people realized, that the pupils’

performance was below average. The researcher to confirm this decided to administer a test

to assess the performance of the pupils.

To assess the performance of learners in social studies, the researcher administered a test and

recorded. It was administered on a whole class of twenty (25) pupils and scored over 10, and

the results is shown below

Table 1: Pre-intervention scores of students

Scores (x ) No. of students (f ) (fx) Percentage (%)

1 7 7 28

2 10 20 40

3 3 9 12

4 2 8 8

5 2 10 8

6 1 6 4

7 - -

8 - -

9 - -
 10 - -

Total Ʃf =25 Ʃf x=60 100

Ʃ fx
Mean ¿ =2.4
Ʃf

After the test, the researcher confirmed that the pupils’ performance in social studies is poor.

The poor performance could be attributed to several factors including the methods of

teaching the subject. This led the researcher to design an intervention to help improve the

pupils’ performance in the subject. Thus, the use of the discussion method of teaching as an

intervention.

Description of the study area

Dabala is a town in the South Tongu district of the Volta region. It has a population of about

6,000 people. The indigenes of the town are Ewes but there are other settlers in the town. The

main languages spoken there are Ewe and Hausa. The main occupations of the people are

farming and trading.

The town has three government basic schools of which Dastech D/A basic school where the

researcher is carrying the study is one of the schools. The town also has a second cycle

institution. There are other public sector institutions like the health service and a police

service in the town.

Statement of the problem

When pupils are taught using appropriate teaching methods and instructional materials, they

tend to perform well in the subject area. It was realized that basic seven pupils of Dastech

D/A basic school were taught without the use of appropriate teaching methods and materials,
hence their poor performance in social studies. This therefore led the researcher to use the

discussion method to help improve the performance of the learners in social studies.

Purpose of Study

This study focuses primarily on the poor performance of pupils in social studies and how the

discussion method can be used to improve upon the performance of pupils in the teaching and

learning of social studies in Dastech D/A basic school.

Research questions

For the purpose of this study, the following questions were posed.

1. What are the causes of pupils’ poor performance in social studies?

2. To what extent would the use of the discussion method help improve pupils’

performance in social studies

Significance of the study

By researching into the how teaching methods can help improve on pupil’s performance in

social studies, it is envisaged that the findings will provide strategies for monitoring

teachers. This can be done by giving them the necessary support to improve their skills in

teaching content and assessing learning outcomes in the affective domain in social studies.

The findings of the study will also help curriculum designers to identify areas within the

affective objectives in social studies which need attention in terms of innovation. The

findings may further provide a basis to give in-service training to teachers who have been

in the service for more than five years or enrich the training given to the new teachers of

social studies by their pre-service training institutions.

Delimitation

The study is specifically narrowed to only Dastech D/A Basic seven and the researcher

addressed solely the performance of pupils in social studies. There are other effective
teaching methods which can help improve the performance of pupils, but the researcher

limited himself to the use of the discussion method of teaching.

Limitations

The researcher encountered some challenges during the study. Notable among them is stated

below;

Absenteeism on the part of the students was a major challenge the researcher faced. Another

challenge was inadequate furniture in the school. This made it difficult for the researcher to

have a conducive environment during the study because most of the students must keep

standing for the whole period.

 CHAPTER 2

Overview

This chapter deals with scholarly reviews and works on the subject matter of the study, that is

discussion method of teaching. For the purpose of this study, the researcher grouped the

reviews into sub-headings. These are

1. Teaching methods

2. Discussion as a teaching method in the classroom

3. Role of the teacher in the discussion method

4. Restraints of the discussion method

5. Implication of the use of discussion method for teaching and learning

6. Summary

Teaching methods

Teaching methods according to Burden & Byrd (2010) are approaches to teaching and

learning in which concepts, patterns and abstractions are taught in the context of strategies

that emphasize concept learning, inquiry learning and problem-solving learning. The most

popular teaching method, as Eison (2010) claims, is the lecture method. It has been used for

years as a means of transmitting cognitive or factual data from a teacher to a group of

students (Ganyaupfu, 2013). It presupposes that the teacher is the only expert with all the

access at the teacher’s disposal, and that the students need or want a large amount of this data

in a short time (McKeachie & Svinicki, 2006). This method is one way channel of

communication of information since the emphasis is mainly on the presentation of the topic

and the explanation of the content to the students (Richards & Rodgers, 2014).

Students’ attention in a lecture appears to fall off fairly steadily after an initial rise, until the

last five minutes when it briefly rises again which means that the middle of a talk is less well

remembered than the beginning and end (Bligh, 2000). Lecturers' performance also declines

over an hour. Lecturing may be less effective than discussion or individual work in class as
there is a lack of concentration on the part of students (Richards & Rodgers, 2014). Though

lectures are much criticised as a teaching method, Paul (2015) reports that universities have

not yet found practical alternative teaching methods for the majority of their courses.

Students in the age of global technological advancement have an extensive and instant access

to information they require with a single click of a mouse, meaning that they expand the

scope of their knowledge whenever and wherever they wish. The lecturer and library are no

longer the limited sources of academic learning at university.

Students may attend classes with other information than is provided in a normal lecture

(Novak et al., 2004) to contribute to their own learning.

The discussion method could be one of the available teaching methods utilised by university

lecturers (McKeachie & Svinicki, 2006) to promote learning. However, the dynamics of the

discussion technique may not be realized by most of these lecturers (Forrester-Jones, 2003).

Research on the efficiency of group discussion methods has shown that team learning and

student-led discussions produce favorable student performance outcomes, and foster greater

participation, self-confidence and leadership ability (Perkins & Saris, 2001; Yoder &

Hochevar, 2005).

Discussion as a teaching method in the classroom

Generally speaking, ‘discussion’ could be considered an activity which involves written or

oral expression of different points of view in a given situation (Cashin, 2011). Also,

Brookfield and Preskill (2005: 6) define it as ‘an alternately serious and playful effort by a

group of two or more to share views and engage in mutual and reciprocal critique’. Proper

discussion would assist learner participants to reach a critically informed understanding of

the topic, self-awareness and capacity for self-critique, appreciation of diversity, and

informed action (Applebee et al., 2003; Parker, 2003).

The discussion process is not merely controlled by one individual presentation as the case in

the lecture. The lecturer as the discussion leader may try to strike a balance between
controlling the group and letting students air their views with no restrictions (Anastas, 2010).

Participation in a class discussion can be voluntary to avoid embarrassment of shy or

introvert participants and would be achieved by creating a supportive climate (Rotenberg,

(2010).

The nature of language according to Berns (1984: 5) would be ‘interaction as it is an

interpersonal activity and has a clear relationship with society. In this light, language study

has to look at the use function of language in context, both its linguistic context and its

social, or situational, context’. The teaching-learning process involves mutual responses

between the lecturer and students as well as amongst students themselves as all should

participate and contribute to this process. Blumberg (2008) claims that interactions during

this activity would encourage students to exchange ideas and experiences which run

alongside with what is learnt from the lecturer.

In a university class, discussion could be among the common strategies which would be used

by lecturers to stimulate active learning (Kim, 2004). If the objectives of a course are to

promote long-term retention of information, to motivate students toward further learning, to

allow students to apply information in new settings, or to develop students' thinking skills,

then discussion, as McKeachie et al (2006) claim, is preferable to lecture.

Discussion, when used during lectures, is an effective way to facilitate learning (Nystrand,

2006). It can offer the lecturer an opportunity to check students’ understandings of the

material and comprehending ideas thoroughly through expressing their own viewpoints and

questions (Nystrand, 2006). Sybing (2015) reports that discussions provide students with a

platform to participate in their learning process. When students are actively involved in using

the relevant material, learning would be more interesting for them, and students would be

more motivated.

Classroom discussions are valuable for developing critical thinking when students learn how

to arrange their ideas and then present them convincingly (Silverthorn, (2006) Later in life,

they may find themselves in situations where they participate actively in social debates
(Brookfield & Preskill, 2005). However, the authors assume that there are no clear

standardised and universal principles which can be used to assess discussion leader's

competence or the students' contributions.

A number of academics tend to take for granted the idea that discussion is a centrally

important learning tool (Omatseye, 2007; Rasmussen, 1984). Therefore, there have been few

studies conducted of the connection between discussion and learning. These studies that have

been carried out support the claim that proper discussion may result in a number of

pedagogical learning outcomes. (Barkley, 2010) postulates that there is an increased curiosity

about the subject area, more positive perceptions about the value of the subject, extended

time spent reading materials related to the subject as well as enhancing the conception of

connecting to other individuals.

The role of the teacher in the discussion method

A lecturer who is a good discussion leader could be equipped with some kind of general

plan. As a result of the comments or questions the students may raise in class, experienced

lecturers may find it appropriate to modify or change their aims during a discussion

(Henning, 2005). Without a general plan at the start of a class, it may be difficult to make

such prompt decisions.

In order to start a constructive class discussion, a lecturer could spend more time and effort

to prepare thoroughly for a discussion than for a lecture. Although the students present the

ideas, lecturers may have sufficient knowledge of the subject matter to be able to absorb the

flow of ideas (Anastas, 2010). They must be aware of ideas that may lead the lecturers off on

a tangent and direct the discussion away from these ideas. The lecturer may also guide the

students away from irrelevant ideas and toward the desired aims without dominating the

whole discussion.

It may be useful to allocate enough time for individual reflection before group discussion

takes place. Individual reflection, as McKeachie et al. (2006) suggest, may increase the
diversity of opinions among the group and decreased the tendency that the group takes a

single track of thought in relation to the question forwarded by the lecturer.

A way to create a context is by allocating certain tasks at the beginning of each session such

as study questions. These may prepare the ground for the discussion and also to focus the

students’ attention on the objectives of the course (Redfield, 2000). Another way is to agree

on the topic for the day at the start of a discussion session and also to choose the subheadings

which may be covered.

In the discussion class, a process may occur in which the lecturers could use questioning,

listening, and response activities to steer the discussion toward the targeted pedagogical ends

(Rotenberg, 2010). The lecturers may intervene at some times with a question or a summary.

At other times, they may allow discussion to take place with minimum obvious domination

on their part.

In an English teaching context, the foreign language could be a great obstacle to the success

of group-discussion since the learners may not have enough language tools to express their

thoughts. Henning (2005) points out that as students may not be familiar with the language

of discussion e.g. summarising points, signalling agreement or disagreement and turn taking,

the lecturer’s assistance, therefore, may be needed to make text-discussion possible in the

language classroom. The discussion ‘tool’ could be acknowledged as a preferable method of

teaching because of an increase in students’ participations; the learning is more effective; and

students do not have to rely on rote learning as this method develops creativity among

students (Anastas, 2010). When class discussion is informal, it tends to be loose and that may

encourage some students to talk more often. Yet, when discussion is more formal, it tends to

be more productive and interesting (Howard, 2015).

 Restraints of the discussion method

Despite the strength that discussion may possess, McCarthy and Anderson (2000) argue that

it could also include some limitations, such as that only few students may dominate it during

the whole session; other students may not participate at all in the discussion and that the

discussion itself might get off track (Brookfield & Perskill, 2005). Redfield (2000) notes that

at times, the discussion may flow well but more often it slows down and loses its magic.

The discussion method would be appropriate to selected subjects as it could be used for

students who have some prior knowledge in disciplines such as social sciences or humanities

(Brookfield & Perskill, 2005). The nature of class discussion could make the process very

time consuming particularly when it goes off track and move entirely away from the point of

discussion. While it is possible to redirect a drifting conversation back on track, valuable

class time is wasted and teachers risk losing student's focus on the subject matter (Craven, &

Hogan, (2001). The teachers lose control over the students and discussion, and this could

lead to disturbing the flow of learning.

Lecturers at university are familiar with assessing students’ written works so they may find

some difficulty in judging verbal activities in discussion. It may be unfair to reward a student

who talks a lot but says little. They may also underestimate the contribution of a student who

tries out new ideas that may seem badly off-track (Craven & Hogan, 2001). There is also the

situation in which a student just does not want or are unable to, make any contribution to the

discussion.

There may be some other obstacles to disrupt smooth discussions. Class discussion may

become less effective with a number of students that exceeds 20 (Brookfield & Perskill,

2005). As the class size increases beyond this limit, individual participation decreases and

the opportunity for the class to focus on a particular topic is reduced (Chingos, 2013).

Experienced teachers, however, may endeavour to utilize more effective class management

to establish a proper class environment.

Discussion not only has positive aspects, but it also has some visibly negative ones. During

discussion, it may be difficult to get the participation of all students (Brookfield & Perskill,

2005). Also, discussion could be more time consuming than lecturing, and not well suited to

covering significant amount of content. Effective discussion requires more forethought than

do lectures, and in discussion the lecturer has less control than in lecturing (Cashin, 2011).

In general terms, it is claimed that discussion teaching may be regarded by many teachers as

a less demanding and freer method of teaching and learning than is lecturing (Brookfield &

Perskill, 2005). However, Redfield (2000) disputes this claim, and argues that some of the

underlying features of the discussion teaching are problematic.

Getting students to talk can be difficult sometimes as starting and maintaining effective

discussion is not an easy task. Sometimes even the more experienced lecturers fail to get

certain types of personalities to enter into discussion.

Implication of the use of discussion method for teaching and learning

The implications of the use of the discussion method for teaching and learning are

noticeable. The discussion method could encourage the active participation of students

during the lecture time as there would be interactions between students and the teacher and

also among students themselves. Through sharing, exchanging and advocating of ideas and

opinions, learners have the opportunity to express themselves, defend their points of view

and shape their thoughts through the contrast and comparison with those of their fellow

students.

The discussion method assists students in improving their language and linguistic skills,

develop their cognitive abilities, enhancing their personal growth and provide the academic

atmosphere to manage their learning. The use of the discussion method leads to the

accomplishment of many other objectives among which are providing the lecturer with

feedback about students’ learning, meeting higher-order cognitive goals, such as application,

analysis, synthesis, and evaluation which help students develop interest and values and
change attitudes (Cashin & McKnight, 1986). The implications of the use of the discussion

method could be extended to the social side of education (Elkind & Sweet, 2000).

Teachers of other subjects may accept the fact that actual participation of students in their

learning is an urgent and significant step to achieve the goals set by their educational

institutions. It certainly does not affect the role of the teacher as an educator and leader. On

the contrary, it could create an active and enjoyable atmosphere for exchanging knowledge

and views which lead to improving the academic skills.

Summary

This chapter dealt with the conceptual and empirical reviews on relation to the study.

The aspects dealt with are the meaning of teaching methods as used in the teaching and

learning of social studies. It further looked at discussion as a method of teaching with its

relevance in the classroom.

The role of the teacher in the discussion method was also reviewed as well as the restraints in

the use of discussion as a teaching method. Another aspect deal within this chapter is the

implications of the use of discussion method for teaching and learning.

The review is based on conceptual and empirical evidence.

 Chapter 3

Overview

This chapter focuses on the methodology which describes the process followed in conducting

the research design, population, the sample size and sampling technique, research instrument

used, intervention, post-intervention, and comparative analysis.

Design of the study

The research design is the plan that the researcher follows or uses to specify how data relating

to problem should be collected and analysed to obtain answers to the research questions. The

main purpose of the study aims at improving pupil’s performance using the discussion as a

method of teaching social studies

Action research is the design used for this research. The reason for using action research is

that it deals with classroom problems and ways of improving classroom practices.

In action research design, the information is gathered with the aim of gaining insight,

developing practices, effecting positive change in the school environment and on education

practice in general and improving learners’ outcome. However, action research does not

demand thorough and intensive review. Again, procedures used are not planned in specific

terms but only in general terms. Below are some few strengths that action research has.

1. It promotes and enhances the researcher’s development of his or her practices.

2. It gives in-service training to the researcher who in turn applies knowledge gained in

his or her classroom.

3. Action research equips the researchers with the various hindrances in teaching and

learning situation with their appropriate redress. It also helps the classroom teacher to

establish conditions in the classroom which will enable him or her to achieve a

particular result.
Despite the strengths of action research, it also comes with weaknesses which are as follows:

1. There are disappointments and discouragements as the researcher finds it difficult to

get resource materials for the study.

2. It is uneasy to prepare the project materials.

3. It also focuses on a specific problem that has been identified, which brings about

finding solution only to the identified problem.

Population of the study

The research was conducted in Dastech D/A Basic School. The total population of the school

is three hundred and sixty-seven (368), whilst that of the target class is thirty (25). The class

consists of 11 girls and 14 boys.

Sample size and Sampling technique

The researcher used non-probability sampling technique to select the subject of study. The

entire population of the class numbered twenty-five (25) was used as the sample for the

study.

Data collection Instruments

Observation.

According to Collins (2005) in his book titled “Collins English Dictionary”, observation is

the process of carefully watching someone or something or it is the ability to pay a lot of

attention to things and to notice more about them than most people do (page 1124).

Observation is an instrument. It is also the point at which the teacher takes the role as an

observer finding out the behaviour and activities of learners in a particular class he or she is

handling.

The main purpose of using this instrument is to know the report of the events in their natural

state since the event and the study are both on-going. The researcher collected information of
learners’ behaviour without their notice. The researcher observed that while the lesson was

going on without teaching and learning resources and active participation of the learners,

some learners were seen not paying attention and at the same time chatting with their friends.

Test

According to the Longman Dictionary Contemporary English (2007), “Test is described as a

set of questions, exercises or practical activities to measure someone’s skills, ability or

knowledge”. (Page 1713). Also, in action research, test can be used to diagnose the extent of

a problem and again to determine the effectiveness of an intervention that has been designed

to address the problem. When used as a diagnostic instrument, it is termed as pre-test, after

administering the intervention to enable ascertain whether there has been change or not, this

process is called the post-test. Samples of test items can be found in the appendix.

To know the performance of the learners, the researcher administered a test for the whole

class and marked it. The test items were administered to the sample group of twenty-five (25)

learners, to enhance reliability, the test was on the topic “Environment”. Even though the

topic was freshly treated, the researcher was surprised to see learners perform poorly in the

test.

Intervention

After the pre-test, the researcher realized that learner’s performance was poor. The researcher

therefore decided to use discussion method to improve the pupil’s performance since the

method relies on active participation of the leaners.

The researcher created five groups of five in the class for the intervention process. Each

group had a leader and a secretary. The group will meet and work on a task given them and

present their findings to the whole class for further discussion. The researcher gave the

overview and guidelines of the process to the learners.

 Intervention Process

The intervention process took four weeks. The first three weeks were used for

implementation of the intervention and the fourth week was used to assess the extent to

which the intervention was successful.

The topic treated during the first three weeks were

1. Adolescent reproductive health

2. Tourism

3. Socialization

Week 1

The researcher introduced the topic for the day, “adolescent reproductive health” and gave

the overview of the topic. The researcher then asked the learners to break into their various

groups. The researcher wrote five questions on the topic “adolescent reproductive health” on

different papers and kept them in a box. Each group picked from the box randomly and

whichever question picked became the task for the group. The groups were given fifteen (15)

minutes to work around their question. The researcher went round to ensure the participation

of all the members of the group.

Presentations for five (5) minutes from each group was done one after the other to allow the

whole class to discuss each group’s work. The researcher made sure that, the presentation

was not done by one person, each member of the group had the opportunity to do part of the

presentation. Because it was their first time, some group member fumbled, but with the

guidance of the researcher, they sailed through.

The researcher summarized the salient points of each group’s presentation and gave exercise.

This activity was done three times in the week on the same topic with different sub-topics.
Week 2 & 3

As done in the first week, the researcher repeated the procedure on the topic “tourism” for

week 2 and “socialization” for week 3 respectively.

Week 4

In the fourth week, the researcher did a recap of all the three topics with the leaners. The

researcher then administered another test and recorded the marks to know the extent to which

the intervention has been successful.

Post Intervention

It explains or evaluates the outcome of the action taken. This helps to show how learners

performance improved after using the discussion method where the learners were actively

involved in the teaching and learning process. The researcher conducted a test for the class to

find out learners’ performance after the intervention. After marking the test, the result showed

clearly that learners’ performance has improved massively.

Table 2: Post-intervention scores of the participants

Scores(x ) No. of students (f ) (fx) Percentage (%)

1 - - -

2 - - -

3 - - -

4 3 12 12

5 8 40 32

6 5 30 20

7 3 21 12
 8 3 24 12

9 2 18 8

10 1 10 4

Total Ʃ f =25 Ʃ fx=155 100

Ʃ fx
Mean = =6.2
Ʃf

Comparative analysis

During the post-test, when discussion method was used for the lessons, the researcher

observed that, the learners paid attention throughout the intervention process. Most of the

learners were also involved in the lesson and thereby enhancing easy understanding and

performance. This tells the impact of the discussion method as the results of the post-test

confirms it

Comparison between pre-intervention and post-intervention results

It was observed that, during the pre-test, 22 participants representing 88% of the total

participants scored between 1 to 4 marks and only 3 of the participants scored 5 marks and

above representing only 3% of the total participants. Moreover, the mean mark of the pre-test

is 2.4 as shown in table 1.

After the post-test, it was observed that, only 3 participants representing 12% scored below 5

marks and 22 participants representing 88% of the participants scored 5 marks and above.

The mean mark of the post-test is pecked at 6.2 as shown in table 2.

Putting these two results into context, it can be deduced that the performance of the pupils

rose after the intervention process using the mean mark of both tests. The performance and

pupils’ attitudes towards the teaching and learning of social studies has changed positively.
The performance of the pupils after the intervention process confirms the idea that discussion

is a centrally important learning tool (Omatseye, 2007; Rasmussen, 1984). The change in

attitude also affirms what Cashin & McKnight, 1986 postulated, “the use of the discussion

method leads to the accomplishment of many other objectives among which are providing the

lecturer with feedback about students’ learning, meeting higher-order cognitive goals, such as

application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation which help students develop interest and

values and change attitudes”.

Summary

This chapter dealt with the methodology, population and sampling technique used, pre-

intervention, intervention and post-intervention processes.

The researcher used observation and test as the main data collection instruments before,

during and after the study.

The researcher observed that, learners do not pay attention during social studies and hence

performed poorly in the subject. To confirm this, the researcher administered a test to know

the extent of the problem. The test confirmed what the researcher observed. 88% of the

learners scored below 5 marks and the mean mark was 2.4

The researcher used discussion method as an intervention tool for a period of four weeks to

teach three different topics. After the intervention process, the researcher conducted a post-

test to know whether or not the intervention was successful. In the post-test, it was observed

that, about 88% of learners scored 5marks and above with a mean score of 6.2.

Comparatively, it can be deduced that the intervention process was a success.

 CHAPTER FOUR
FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATION.
Overview

This chapter deals with the summary of the research findings, conclusion, and

recommendation of the action research. The conclusion deals with comparing the findings

that were identified by the researcher to other literature. Recommendation also follows which

comprises of suggested proper measures to improve upon the conduct of such a study to

obtain better results next time.

Findings of the study

The researcher came across several problems faced by Basic 7 pupils of Dastech D/A basic

school. But since all these problems could not be addressed by one person, the researcher

managed to pick one peculiar problem that cuts across the learners’ performance in social

studies. By doing so, the researcher thought it was wise to address that problem to serve as

the baseline to solve the rest of the problems.

The performance of the pupils in social studies came to light when the researcher observed

pupil’s attitudes in the teaching and learning of social studies. After that the observation, the

researcher administered a test and scored it over 10. It was observed that, pupils performed

woefully in the test. Due to this, a lot of questions bordered the researcher's mind, notably,

among these questions were; what was the cause of pupil’s poor performance in the test?

Could it be that the approach adopted by the teacher did not make the learners understand the

topic? It was noted by the researcher that, the use of inappropriate teaching methods is a

major reason for the poor performance because lesson was taught using the lecture method. It

was also realised that, due to the use of the lecture method, most learners were passive

throughout the learning process which did not foster understanding of the concepts taught,

hence the poor performance of the pupils. The poor teaching methods used by most teachers

in the teaching and learning of social studies made it difficult for pupils to fully understand

the topics taught since they are not actively involved in the learning process
The use of the discussion method in lesson delivery actively involved the pupils in the

learning process which enhanced the retentive abilities of pupils hence the improvement in

their performance in the subject area. Findings in relation to the effectiveness of the

discussion method in the teaching and learning of social studies are;

I. Using the discussion method in teaching helped pupils to participate effectively and

actively during social studies lessons.

II. Using the discussion method in teaching helped improve the performance of the

pupils in social studies

The study was intended to improve the performance of Basic 7 pupils of Dastech D/A basic

school in social studies using the discussion method of teaching.

Conclusions

From the study, it was observed that 88% of learners failed during the pre-test and only 12%

passed. But after the intervention, it was observed that 88% of pupils performed above

average. This can be attributed to the use of the discussion method of teaching.

Social studies can be effectively when teachers use appropriate teaching methods which will

actively involve the pupils in the learning process.

Recommendations

In relation to the findings from the study, the researcher managed to come out with the

following recommendation.

First and foremost, it is in the interest of the researcher that in-service training (INSET)

should be given to teachers of socials studies. This will go a long way to equip them new

teaching methods and help them to handle challenging topics through effective

communication, logical thinking and by creating conducive and harmonious environment for

teaching and learning.

Secondly, teachers must be motivated to use the right teaching and learning resources for the

teaching of social studies. Where there are no provisions, teachers should try to improvise

these teaching and learning aids to facilitate and enhance better understanding.

Finally, a lot of research have been carried out in social studies, so researchers recommend

that, policy makers should implement these findings.