ASSESSMENT OF EFFECT OF THE MEDIA ON PERFORMANCE OF ISLAMIC STUDIES STUDENTS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study 

Media is a term frequently heard and discussed among educational technologists today. Unless clearly defined, the term can alternatively mean the development of computer-based hardware and software packages produced on a mass scale and yet allow individualized use and learning. In essence, media merges multiple levels of learning into an educational tool that allows for diversity in curricula presentation. Mayer (2001) views media as the exciting combination of computer hardware and software that allows you to integrate video, animation, audio graphics and test resources to develop effective presentation on an affordable desktop computer. But Philips (1990) opines that “Media is characterized by the presence of text, pictures, sound animation and video, some or all of which are organized into some colorant programme. However, today’s media is a carefully woven combination of text, graphic, sound, animation and video elements. If the end user is allowed i.e. the viewer of a media project, is allowed to control “what ““when” and ’’how’’ the elements are presented, it becomes interactive media. As such, media can be defined as an integration of multiple media elements (audio, video, graphic, text animation e.t.c.) into one synergetic and symbiotic whole that results in more benefit for the end user than any of the media element can provide individually. On the other hand, at the inception of the 6-3-3-4 system of education, Islamic studies was a core subject at the junior secondary school level, but elective at the senior secondary. In the 1998 edition of the National policy on education, however, with the revised edition of policy in 2004, the subject became elective at the junior secondary school level and a core subject at senior secondary school. With this development more attention is directed to the implementation of the curriculum, this is because Islamic Studies has been made compulsory. As an experienced teacher, the researcher of this study gained useful experience and observed that most teachers either have no media facilities or do not make effective use of the media facilities in their teaching, this negligence towards effective use of media in teaching and learning is common to both trained and untrained teachers i.e. those who have no teaching qualification. In teacher training schools, emphasis is laid on the effective and adequate use of instructional/media facilities in all instructional situations. During teaching practice, a student teacher is assessed according to how effective he/she selects and uses instructional aids in teaching a specific content of a curriculum, student teachers equipped themselves with necessary facilities but surprisingly after graduation, these same teacher trainees (as teachers) became reluctant to use the available facilities in their teaching learning situation. The utilization of instructional facilities does not start with secondary schools in Kaduna State. According to Seattler (1968) images had been utilized as communicative media since the time of the creative men of upper Paleolithic France and Italy and down through Egypt. Mayer (1996) and Seattler (1968) state that both Cecero and Senaca approved the use of visual forms of instruction. With the development of modern technology, teachers no longer have to rely solely on words to make their teaching more effective and meaningful. There are many varieties of facilities around that can be used to make teaching and learning more vivid and more interesting. It is the researcher’s opinion that every educator and teacher in particular, not only in Zaria inspectorate Division of  Kaduna State, but all over the country should realize the importance of media facilities in teaching and learning thereby making adequate use of them in every classroom interaction. This is so as the relevance of media facilities in teaching has been emphasized by educators and teacher trainers. It is the researcher’s concern about lack of initialization or non effective use of media facilities that motivated the researcher to delve into the Islamic Studies area of Junior Secondary School curriculum in order to assess the effect of media in the performance of JSS students of Islamic studies in Zaria inspectorate Division of Kaduna State.