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eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo
Security Related Concern in Wireless Sensor Networks
To be able to weigh the effectiveness of counter security measures, it is important to
understand the likely attacks and how they tend to threaten a network. Unless a root cause of
a problem is known, little can be done to deal with the problem. Therefore, this section
reviews common threats and attacks on WSNs which includes signal jamming, power
exhaustion, denial of service and so on.
Security Threats on WSN
Threat is a plan to hurt, wound, destroy, or cause other hostile actions on something
or someone in revenge for something. Accordi ng to Ashraf, Rauf, Mussadiq, Chowdhry and
Hashmani (2009), a threat is regarded as any internal or external impact that may misuse the
weaknesses of a system. Ashraf et’ al (2009) to identified security threats as, ‘‘Topology
change, change of frequency, Large messaging overhead, Non-scalability, Recursive
Routing, Recursive localization, Non-reachable, battery exhaustion of cluster/network,
Unauthentic network access, Link failure, High-density of nodes, Indefinite jamming of
signals, Data tempering, High noise, unmanaged mobility, Resilience to physical security,
Natural hazards, environmental interference, indefinite flooding and desynchronization,
Human interaction (to damage network), and Catastrophic (man-made) system failures’’ (p.
8).
However, threats are peculiar to the environment where WSN is used, the type of
topology and some threats are layered based. Thus, what is considered a threat in a WSN
installed a particular environment may not be a threat for a WSN in another environment.
Additionally, threats are classified as Network based, Link based, Sink based, Node based or
Natural based (Ashraf et’ al, 2009; Sharma & Ghose, 2010; Saifiqul Islam &
AshiqurRahman, 2011). Other threats in WSN are eavesdropping, Traffic analysis, inserting
false data and changing routing behaviour. In Eavesdropping, the attacker basically listens to
traffic flow and assembles data which gives him insight about the design of the network
much more than the data that is situated on the servers. Whereas Traffic analysis is a
situation whereby the number of transmitted packets among specific nodes are incremented
to flag that a sensor has enrolled an action. In Insert false data, a malicious node traps the
system into lessening data twisting through spoofing subjects. Finally, change routing
behaviour is a situation in which an embedded node drop packets, forward them incorrectly
or promote itself as the best route to all nodes trying to pick information (Belsis & Pantziou,
2011).
Attacks on WSN
Attack is the occurrence of an event that causes an undesirable effect to a system, like
loss of information, denying a service, sniffing, spoofing and so on. Though like one another,
attacks are of different types with varying magnitude on Wireless Sensor Networks.
Many researchers like Sharma and Ghose (2010), Moon, Shah, Iqbal and Ayub (2013), Marzi
and Marzi (2014), Goyal, et’ al. (2015), identified several attacks on WSN. The attacks are
classified into those against security mechanisms and those against basic mechanisms. There
are many potential attacks on WSN but the major ones are: Denial of Service (DOS),
wormhole attack, Sinkhole attack, Sybil attack, Selective Forwarding attack, Node capturing
and Hello flood attack. Goyal et’ al. illustrates the various attacks and the layers in which
they occur based on Open System Interconnect model below.
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Fig. 1: Classification of attacks (Adopted from Goyol, Bhatia and Verma, 2015)
Denial of Service (DoS) is an attack that is targeted at exhausting available resources on a
victim’s node by sending additional superfluous packets and in this manner blocks legitimate
users from getting services or resources. Blackhole attack, is DoS in nature which happens
when the attacker captures and re-program a set of nodes in the network to block packets
they get instead of forwarding them towards the base station. Due to that, any information
trapped doesn’t reach its destination. This incurred a delay in the network (Jokhio, Jokhio &
Kemp, 2012; Wazid, et’ al., 2013). DoS attack does not only imply the attacker’s ability to
subvert, disrupt, or demolish a network but, in addition, triggers any event that reduce
network’s capacity to render service. There may be several types of DoS attacks that are
encountered in different layers of WSN. At physical layer the DoS attacks could be jamming
and altering, at link layer it may create collision and at the network layer, it could be
performed by malignant flood (Fei, Yujun, Yonjun, Lin, & Boyu, 2014).
Wormhole is an attack that does not need to break encryption key. This attack
introduces two or more malicious nodes into a network. One of the malicious nodes
introduced, seize a packet from a neighbouring node and send it to another malicious node
using a distinct channel. The receiving malicious node then resends the received message
into the network. This gives other nodes on the network the impression of a shorter route and
redirects all traffic towards the malicious nodes. These nodes obviously discard some of the
packets received (Jin & Zhi-Yong Lei, 2011; Goyal et’ al, 2015). This type of attack is hard
to counter since information on finding destination node is hard to confirm.
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Nonetheless, Sybil attack is the kind of attack in which malicious nodes tries to get
various characteristics at diverse area. This attack significantly influences the system that
give adoption to internal failure in the network (Goyal et’ al, 2015). Sinkhole attack is the use
of a malicious node to steal identity and proliferates itself as the base station through
replaying all packets from the genuine base station on the network (Guoxing Zhan, Weisong
& Deng, 2012; Petal & Aggarwal, 2013). Furthermore, Selective Forwarding attack is the
type of attack where an attacker plants a malicious node in a network and drop certain
packets received from neighbouring nodes. Nodes on a network are programmed to detect
malicious neighbouring nodes with this behaviour and immediately triggers an alarm by
alerting the base station (Petal & Aggarwal, 2013).
Moreover, Passive information gathering is the use of a technique to record the
conversation between any two genuine nodes passively, especially if the information is
exchanged in plaintext. This attack can be a source of carrying out an attack and not the
attack itself (Jokhio, Jokhio & Kemp, 2011). Other attacks include false node, message
corruption, node outage, node replication, node malfunctioning, node subversion, Hello flood
attack and so on (Jokhio, Jokhio & Kemp, 2011).
Constraints in WSN
Certain factors limit the smooth operation of WSN in terms of its ability to report
readings to base station efficiently and securely or eventually the WSN loss some of its
sensors due to power exhaustion. Scarcity in resources is the main challenge of WSNs which
fuels the slowing down of its development. The constraints of WSN are; energy, memory,
computational power and bandwidth.
WSN, just like any other network requires complex routing decisions, powerful
security algorithms and reliable data delivery mechanisms. These services rely on the above
mentioned scarce resources to carry out these critical tasks (Goyal et’ al, 2015). Recently,
researches on energy harvest options like the one by Saad-Bin-Alam and Moury (2014),
engaged in finding solutions to problems which would not only optimize the life span of
sensors but also ends the difficulty encountered in implementing sufficient and reliable yet
powerful routing and security algorithms. This would eliminate the need for a low processing
power, limited memory and limited bandwidth barrier in WSNs.
WSN Security Models and Frameworks
A lot of researchers devoted their resources towards finding solutions to the lingering
problems militating around WSNs. Many models were proposed that could help implement
security algorithms with little cost. But as problems are solved, others develop and the
infinite loop keeps on. Though this section presents some security models, several many
others are out there.
One good approach to improving security is through local monitoring. As seen above, WSNs
are susceptible to attacks due to its resource constraints (power, memory, bandwidth and so
on). To burst availability, WSN need to be monitoring itself continuously.
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However, the use of sensor debugging tools like Sympathy, Memento, DiMo as
means of notifying the sink about any node anomaly like node failure, residual energy used
in the past were inefficient due to the cost on resources as result of huge sum of notifications
from specific sensor nodes (Bhuiyan, et’ al., 2013). Because of the highlighted weaknesses
with the debugging tools, Bhuiyan et’al (2013) proposed a monitoring approach called Local
Monitoring and Maintenance (LoMoM). This approach carries out monitoring function
concurrently with the main environmental monitoring activity. While sensing parameter
changes, the network would be able to sense any fault and immediately without consuming
much power correct the fault remotely. LoMoM can achieve this by in-cooperating two
network structures; lower and upper parts.
In the model, nodes are not only monitoring the local environments for sensing but
they also monitor themselves and connected links against any abnormal behaviour using an
implanted algorithm. Through this, a lot of attacks can be detected and reported to
coordinator nodes who in turn notifies the Monitoring Centre (MC). The MC situated
anywhere in the network proposes a countermeasure to be taken against the alleged node’s
behaviour. LoMoM proposes better ways of minimizing the number of false alarm, latency
and can be used to improve the life span of nodes. However, the flaws of this approach are
that it may consume more bandwidth and may have poor performance due to the additional
monitoring and maintenance behaviour on the nodes. The diagram below illustrates the two
parts of a LoMoM.
Fig. 2: The two-parts monitoring architecture for WSNs (Adopted from Bhuiyan, Guojun,
Jiannong and Jie, 2013)
Nevertheless, Farah and Nabila (2014) proposed Mobile Assisted Clone Detection scheme
(MCD) as a security protocol that can be used to identify and stop node replication attacks.
Node replication attack is an attack that copy legitimate node’s identity with all its structural
behaviour to participate in a network as though it belongs to that network. Attackers use this
type of attack to send codes into a network to accomplish their illegitimate tasks (Shaukat, et’
al., 2014). Therefore, Farah and Nabila in 2014 believed that node replication attack has the
power to penetrate encryption and authentication without detecting them easily because the
replicated node is an exact replica of a legitimate node. The MCD protocol founded on
amalgamation of designs that consist of three (3) main stages on the principle of ‘no trust is
supposed in any sensor’ to tackle replication attacks.
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The first stage in MCD is initialization which is implemented prior to node deployment. The
nodes are configured (in the boot setup) with unique identifier and a random key by Basic
Station (BS). The second stage, a protocol robot is appointed to visit all nodes to identify
clones in the network. It does so by sending broadcast to all nodes on the network. Every
node replies with its identifier and key configured in the previous stage one after the other.
Any replication of identifier and key detected in the process is reported to the base station
and at the same time keep record of the replicated sensor in black list. The record is cleaned
before starting a new round. Finally, detection using Honeyspot. The objectives of using
honeyspot are to defend the patrol robot from attacks and trick attacker by placing the
honeyspot between the sensors. Below is an illustration by Farah and Nabila.
Fig. 3: Architecture of the MCD model (Adopted from Farah and Nabila, 2014)
The MCD protocol improves the chances of detecting and preventing replication attacks. It is
also cost effective in terms of memory as we have seen that patrol robot gets rid of records of
replication at the end of each round. However, the protocol works only on static WSN and
may likely consume more power and bandwidth due to the number of broadcast by the patrol
robot.
Similarly, another model for detecting replication attack on Mobile Sensor Network
using Danger Theory in human Immune System was formulated. The model by Shaukat,
Hashim and Sali in 2014 uses two main security tactics:
One is the attack detection. Here, any two nodes can detect when their meeting
frequency exceeds a precise threshold. If this threshold is detected, the node notifies the base
station which then declares the area as a Danger Zone (DZ). All nodes within that area begin
further investigation process to establish more facts about the happening. The second
approach is security control. This work based on the declarations of the base station of the
existence of a Danger Zone to find any replicated node through sensing of any strange
behaviour of nodes in the DZ. Through this process, replication can be detected and dealt
with. This protocol has better utilization of bandwidth and power but is not memory efficient
if compared with MCD protocol.
Furthermore, we have seen above that Denial of Service (DoS) is one of the
devastating attacks on WSN. A DoS resilient enhanced Two-factor Authentication approach
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was put in place by Fei et’ al. (2014). The approach hires two improved methods; light
weight pre-authentication based on Merkle hash tree and Custom-made secret bounds for
sensor nodes. Denial of Service (DoS) attack is prevented by designing a Merkel hash tree by
gateway node which is utilized at login stage as a tool for executing pre-authentication,
maintaining only a hash operation. Additionally, this also provides firm access control for
logged users. Custom-made technique, on the other hand, keeps all nodes’ values secret
thereby preventing the outflow of the nodes’ information using two-factor authentication. But
this approach is based on a faulty authentication technique (two-factor).
Likewise, Wazid, Katal and Goudar (2013) developed a Topology Based Efficient
Service Protection (TBESP) algorithm for tackling a black hole attack (a form of denial of
service attack) on wireless sensor networks. In their work, the performance of two different
WSN topologies (Tree and Mesh) subjected to black hole attack were compared and
analysed. The authors could establish that a Tree topology WSN experienced delay of
2.77msec when subjected to black hole attack. This is slightly better than Mesh topology
WSN which has latency of 2.81msec. This means that Tree topology is more time efficient
than its Mesh counterpart, however, Mesh is more throughput efficient with drop throughput
of 190.95bps against Tree topology having 109.78bps.
Nevertheless, other attacks target the network layer. These attacks are launched with
the knowledge of routing protocol in mind to alter routing information and to redirect
network traffic towards the wrong place, i.e. towards an adversary. Examples of these attacks
include Sybil and Wormhole attacks. Goyal, Bhatia and Verma (2015) assessed some
defensive mechanisms against both Sybil and Wormhole attacks. Among the three Wormhole
defensive approaches reviewed (Location and Time based, Connectivity and Neighbourhood,
and Graphical and Topological), they established that Location and Time-based approach
(defend on tight time synchronization and shared secret keys) produces a low number of false
alarm but uses more bandwidth and requires high computation overhead. But the number of
false alarm tends to be high with Connectivity and Neighbourhood approach, an approach
that is based on hop count and neighbour list. They discovered that implementing this
approach does not require any special hardware as it is the case with other approaches. Also,
assessed, Graphical and Topological approach based on introducing a special monitor,
consumes less bandwidth and requires little computational power to be executed.
Similarly, their research revealed that, among the three Sybil attack defensive
mechanisms, Trusted Certification is expensive in terms of cost if applied to large scale
network but has resource overhead attached to it. Resource and Radio Resource Testing
approach provide minimal defence against Sybil attacks but cannot prevent them entirely.
This mechanism is good for network with low threat and can be good for bandwidth
utilization. The other mechanism, Incentive Based Detection does not require the use of
special clock synchronization but provides less prevention against the attack. Perhaps, the
research concludes that these mechanisms are not efficient for energy constraint and accuracy
sensitive WSNs. Moreover, Sarigiannidis, Karapistoli and Economides (2015) believeed a
good security model is the one capable of identifying familiar threats and recognizing new
threats that have never been experienced before. As such, they came up with a Threat
Visualization Tool for Internet of Things System Security (VisIOT) which stands out to be a
solution to attacks including Sybil and Wormhole by combining informative visualization
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analytics with many threats determination procedures. In this way, threats can be identified
based on their known signatures or new ones recognized from their abnormal behaviour.
Conclusion
Several amazing technologies are hitting the world day-in-day-out, some of which are
becoming important part of our lives. Wireless Sensor Network is a magnificent technology
with wide scope of applications in sensitive areas of human life with interesting research
areas. This research reviewed certain important issues with WSN.
Perhaps, it was established that WSNs though important and becoming popular, are threaten
by many different types of attacks. The attacks range from simple denial of service to
complex ones which hijack (take over) an entire WSN. The attacks take advantage of the
existing vulnerabilities which are because of the constraint nature of WSNs.
Though, there were lots of models and frameworks designed to tackle the persistent security
threats, none has proven to be a unified solution to the diverse and terrible attacks identified.
Nevertheless, a combination of models can provide much higher level of security to WSNs.
Even that cannot be efficient due to its resource demand, and resources are scarce in WSN.
Recommendation
1. More researches geared towards resource generation and utilization like energy
harvest should be encouraged the stake holders since a good security algorithm
require high power and other energy-based resources to be efficient.
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HIV/AIDS Awareness and Sexual Behaviour among Adolescent Students
in Senior Secondary Schools, Bauchi Metropolis
Dr. Muhammad Adam
Department of Educational Foundations
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi
Gsm No.: 08067824943
E-mail: [email protected]
&
Mu’azu Abba Jabir
Department of Educational Foundations
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi
Gsm No.: 08061575470
E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract
The study investigated the relationship between awareness of HIV/AIDS and students’ sexual
behaviour in Bauchi metropolis. To achieve this, two null hypotheses were postulated and
tested. A cross-sectional correlation design was employed for this study. Sample of 200 SSI
students were selected from a population of 6,420 drawn from 5 schools using
disproportionate stratified sampling techniques. A self developed 20-items questionnaire
validated by two experts titled ‘Adolescent Awareness of HIV/AIDS and Sexual Behaviour
Questionnaire’ (AAHASBQ) was used for collecting the data. The Cronbach Alpha was used
to obtain the reliability index coefficient of 0.85. Data were analyzed using paired sample t-
test and Pearson product moment correlation coefficient. Results revealed significant
differences in hypothesis one and significant relationship in hypothesis two.
Recommendations offered encouraged formation of clubs such as Friendly Awareness Club
that will enlighten students on transmission and prevention of HIV/AIDS as well as avoiding
risky sexual behaviour among students.
Keywords: HIV/AIDS, Sexual behaviour, Awareness, Adolescents.
Introduction
AIDS stand for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. It is caused by human
immune deficiency virus (HIV). The virus spares no gender, religion, classes of people,
political inclination and race. It affects anybody that comes into contact with it. AIDS
epidemic is global crises and a formidable challenge to the development and social progress
of the entire world since it was discovered in 1981. It has become one of the destructive
epidemics recorded in history despite the effort of world bodies such as the World Health
Organization (WHO), United Nation Children Education Fund (UNICEF), United Nation
Development Programme (UNDP), United Nation on Acquired Immune Deficiency
Syndrome (UNAIDS), and much scientific researches, yet there is no vaccine to prevent HIV
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and no cure has been found for now. Prevention relies mainly on public awareness campaign
and individual behaviour change in a supportive environment.
According to a report by UNAIDS (2010) young people are at the centre of the global
AIDS epidemic of 1.7 million worldwide, 5.4 million are estimated to be living with HIV.
About 4 percent of new HIV infection are among young people (UNAIDS, 2010). These
young people remain more prone to HIV/AIDS epidemic in terms of rate of infection,
vulnerability, impact and potential for change. The young generation were born and brought
up in a world contaminated by AIDS, but many of them lack the knowledge on how to
prevent HIV infection. The situation persists even though the world has agreed that young
people have the human right to education, information, and services that could protect them
from harm (Adam, 2015). After knowing the silence inherent in the epidemic and climates in
AIDS by the stakeholders there are little incentives for adolescents to be encouraged to seek
for counselling and testing.
It is easy for the adolescent to proclaim that he can avoid HIV infection because
he/she has never had any casual sex before marriage. Obviously, one can get infected through
other means of transmitting HIV/AIDS, such as blood transfusion, using unsterilized needle
or knife and so on. Equally it is not easy for the adolescents to overcome the temptation of
trying to experiment sexual intercourse outside marriage. Children in secondary schools
experience physical changes in their body as they grow. They always experience new
emotional feelings about friends of the opposite sex that urges them to try sex. There is also
pressure from the peer group to experiment sex before marriage. Indeed this is not the culture
of the African tradition. The casual sex culture is neither that of African nor the Christian or
Muslim religion (Sambo, 2009). A casual sex is dangerous to the life of all and sundry
because it will expose them to sexually transmitted diseases. A feeble minded adolescent
who might think that having sex is safe, fun and harmless and might not overcome the
temptation and desire that urges him/her to experiment sex, thus allowed him/her to be
pushed into it for the first time, the first experience in sex will made it possible to desire for
more experiences in it. It may be too late before he/she discovered that he/she is infected by
HIV/AIDS.
Bauchi state is one of the states in Nigeria with the low prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS
with just 0.6% (NaijaQuest, 2016). Dada (2016) said; 13,354 persons are HIV positive and
are receiving treatment in the state. Thus, there are 25 clinics offering free HIV testing and
counselling (Abubakar, 2009). Yet, there was paucity of publicity and awareness campaign
carried out by the government. In most cases such campaign are seldom carried out in our
secondary schools. Thus, most of the students are at their adolescence stage. Abubakar
(2009) posited that more than 100 cases of young women who are married as virgins but
were infected shortly afterwards due to their husbands’ concealing status. Therefore, it is
likely the prevalence rate may shoot up if other means of making people in the state become
aware of the infection were not utilized.
Bauchi state is bordered by states experiencing crises from Boko haram. Therefore,
there is high risk of HIV vulnerability among refuges and internally displaced persons in the
state as a whole and in Bauchi metropolis in particular. Warami (2017), reported Borno
Agency for Control of HIV/AIDS (BOSCA) who identify 512 new cases of HIV infection at
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Internally Displaced Persons (IDPS) camps in the state. In emergency situation rape and
exchange of sex for survival are the most likely visible manifestation of violence in every
society. This can lead to a fast and wide spread of HIV infection within the population.
Warami (2017), posited that official records in Borno state’s IDPS showed that 51000
persons in 27 camps were living with HIV.
The adolescents fall between the ages of 12 to 25 years (Iliya, 2010). This age bracket
falls in between the ages with the highest HIV prevalence in Bauchi state. Plateau AIDS
Control Agency (PLACA) (2005) posited that, those people in the age bracket of 15-49 years
constituted 60% of people living with HIV/AIDS. This statistics is not far fetched from what
is obtainable in Bauchi state. Most of the students in the secondary schools fall in this age
bracket (15-49years). Therefore, the thrust of this study is to investigate the relationship
between awareness of HIV/AIDS and sexual behaviour among adolescents in Bauchi
metropolis.
Statement of the Problem
Majority of adolescents are faced with the problem of lack of awareness of preventing
themselves from contracting HIV/AIDS, yet quite a number of them are engaging in pre-
marital and extra-marital sexual relationship (Adam, 2015). Moreover, those who are HIV
positive usually concealed their status for the fear of being stigmatised. Earlier Adam (2013)
observed that, adolescents were influenced by peer group to participate in an unprotected
sexual relationship. It may likely that, the sex partner was infected; therefore, the possibility
of contracting the disease is positive. Some of the adolescents are engaging in sexual
behaviour because friends in their group see them with high prestige and regard them as
brave (Adam, 2015). Obviously, this negative societal attitude is likely to encourage the
spread of HIV/AIDS among adolescents. Therefore, this paper is targeted at filling the gap by
providing enlightenment that would bring a change on sexual behaviour among adolescents
in secondary schools in Bauchi metropolis.
Specific Objectives of the Study
Two objectives were postulated to give a guide to this research work.
1. To examine the difference between awareness of HIV/AIDS and sexual behaviour of
male and female adolescent students in secondary schools in Bauchi metropolis.
2. To examine the relationship between sexual behaviour and contraction of HIV/AIDS
among adolescent students in Bauchi metropolis.
Research Questions
The following research questions were formulated to give a focus to this study:
1. What is the difference between awareness of HIV/AIDS and sexual behaviour of
male female adolescent students in senior secondary schools in Bauchi metropolis?
2. What is the relationship between sexual behaviour and the contraction of HIV/AIDS
among adolescent students in Bauchi metropolis?
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Null Hypotheses
The following hypotheses were employed to guide this study:
1. There is no significant difference between awareness of HIV/AIDS and sexual
behaviour of male and female adolescents in secondary schools in Bauchi metropolis.
2. There is no significant relationship between sexual behaviour and contraction of
HIV/AIDS among adolescents in secondary schools in Bauchi metropolis.
Cross-sectional co relational research design was employed in this study. Thus, data
was collected from representative samples or cross-sectional of the population and studied
over a period of six months which determines the manifestation of the virus in an infested
person. The rationale for this design is to determine the appropriateness of the relationship
that exists between knowledge of HIV/AIDS among adolescents as it correlates to their
sexual behaviour in Bauchi metropolis. Awotunde and Ugodulunwa (2004) posited that,
cross-sectional correlation determines the appropriateness of the relationship between two or
more variables. It is said to relate variables that are related or not. The population for this
study consisted of six thousand four hundred and twenty (6,420) SS I students from public
secondary schools in Bauchi metropolis. It includes both male and female students.
A purposive sampling technique was used in drawing five (5) secondary schools as
sampled schools for the study. The rationale for using purposive sampling technique is to
ensure that each zone has a school representation. The metropolis was divided into five
zones. Each zone is represented by one (1) school. The disproportionate stratified sampling
technique was used in drawing the sample of two hundred (200) students. Forty (40) students
(twenty (20) males and twenty (20) females) were drawn from each of the five schools. The
fish and bow method was used in the selection of the schools. All the names of the schools
with each stratum were written in order of the zones on pieces of papers and the papers with
names of the schools from the zones. One paper was randomly selected and the names of the
schools on those pieces of papers were those that participated in the study.
The instrument for data collection was a researcher designed structured questionnaire
titled ‘Adolescent Awareness of HIV/AIDS and Sexual Behaviour Questionnaire’
(AAHASBQ). It was a twenty (20) items questionnaire, which was modified on 4 point
Likert scale of Strongly Agree (SA); Agree (A); Disagree (D); Strongly Disagree (SD). Two
experts in the Unit of Guidance and Counselling and Measurement and Evaluation at
Abubakar Tafawa Balawa, Bauchi validated the instrument. It yielded reliability co-efficient
of 0.85 using Cronbach alpha method.
Two statistical methods were employed to analyse the null hypotheses. Null
hypothesis one was tested using the paired sample T-test, this is to determine the significant
difference in the mean of awareness of HIV/AIDS and sexual behaviour of male and female
adolescents in secondary school in Bauchi metropolis. Hypothesis two was tested using the
Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (PPMCC). The justification for the use of
this statistics was that, it is useful for determining the strength and direction of relationship
between adolescents’ sexual behaviour and contraction of HIV/AIDS. The level of
significant was set at α = 0.05.
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Results
A summary of the results of data on the differences between awareness of HIV/AIDS
and sexual behaviour and the relationship between sexual behaviour and contraction of
HIV/AIDS among adolescents in Bauchi metropolis. The results were computed using the
Statistical Package for social Sciences (SPSS) version 21 as thus;
Research Question 1: What is the difference between of HIV/AIDS and sexual
Behaviour of male and female adolescents in secondary schools in
Bauchi Metropolis?
Table 1: Awareness of HIV/AIDS and Sexual Behaviour of Male and Female
Adolescents
Variables N Mean Sd
15.27 2.70
Male test scores 200 12.07 1.36
Female test scores 200
Source: field work 2017
Table 1: this showed lower mean result of 12.07 ( SD= 1.36 ) in the female mean
score on the awareness of sexual behaviour as against the mean scores of male of 15.27 (
SD=2.70 ). This indicates that males’ level of awareness and sexual behaviour is higher than
that of the female participants. Thus, the research question can adequately be answered by
concluding that male adolescents students have more awareness on HIV/AIDS and sexual
behaviour than female adolescents.
Research Question 2: What is the relationship between adolescents’ sexual behaviour and
the Contraction of HIV/AIDS in secondary schools in Bauchi
metropolis?
Table2: sexual behaviour and contraction of HIV/AIDS among adolescents
Variables N Mean Sd
55.12 7.68
Male test scores 200 56.42 4.04
Female test scores 200
Source: field work 2017
Table 2: this showed lower mean result of 55.12 ( SD=7.68 ) of male scores as against the
mean result of 56.42 ( SD=4.04 ) of the female test scores. Thus, the research question can
adequately be answered by concluding that female adolescents participate in sexual
behaviour and have higher risk of contracting HIV/AIDS than the male adolescent students.
Null Hypotheses:
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HO1: There is no significant difference between awareness of HIV/AIDS and sexual
behaviour of male and female adolescent in secondary schools in Bauchi metropolis.
Table 3: The paired sample t-test of the difference on knowledge of HIV/AIDS and Sexual
behaviour of male and female adolescents in secondary schools in Bauchi metropolis.
Variables N Mean SD t-value P-value Remarks
Male test scores 200 15.27 2.70
12.96 .000 Significant
Female test scores 200 12.07 1.36
Source: field work 2017.
The result on table 3 showed that the P-value of .000 is less than the calculated t-value
of 12.96 at 0.05 level of significant. This implies that the null hypothesis which stated there
is no significant difference between awareness of HIV/AIDS and sexual behaviour of male
and female adolescents in Bauchi metropolis is rejected. This means there is significant
difference between awareness of HIV/AIDS and sexual behaviour of male and female
adolescents in Bauchi metropolis. Therefore the alternative hypothesis is accepted.
HO2: There is no significant relationship between sexual behaviour and contraction of
HIV/AIDS among adolescents in secondary schools in Bauchi metropolis.
Table 4: Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient of the relationship between
Sexual behaviour and contraction of HIV/AIDS in secondary schools in Bauchi
metropolis.
Variables Sexual behaviour HIV/AIDS
contraction
Sexual behaviour Pearson correlation 1 .532**
.000
Sig (2-tailed) 100
1
N 200
100
HIV/AIDS Pearson correlation .532**
contraction
Sig (2-tailed) .000
N 200
Correlation significant at 0.05 level (2-tailed)
The result in table 4 showed that the female scores on no significant relationship
between adolescents sexual behaviour and the contraction of HIV/AIDS in secondary schools
in Bauchi metropolis indicates that the P-value of .000 is less than the calculated r-value of
.532** at P < 0.05 level of significant. This means that there is significant relationship
between adolescents’ sexual behaviour and the contraction of HIV/AIDS in secondary
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schools in Bauchi metropolis. To this end HO2 is hereby rejected and the alternative
hypothesis is accepted.
Discussion of Findings
The result of the findings from research question 1 on table 1 and hypothesis1 on
table 3 shows that there is a significant difference between awareness of HIV/AIDS among
male and female students in Bauchi metropolis. This finding coincide with the findings of
Dele-Osibanjo (2012) who observed that there is a significant difference between sexual
behaviour and lack of awareness of HIV/AIDS among students in secondary schools.
The findings of research question 2 on table 2 and the null hypothesis 2 on table 4 showed
a significant relationship between adolescents’ sexual behaviour and the contraction of
HIV/AIDS. This agrees with Senior (2012) who reported that adolescents are not always
reached by effective intervention or preventive educational programme that will protect them
from contracting HIV/AIDS. Obviously lack of receiving this type of information usually
makes them get involved in risky sexual behaviour. In similar vein, Centre for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) (2014) in their findings, gave a statistics of 8,300 young
people aged 13 – 24 years in the 40 states in United State of America were infected by HIV
in 2009 due to indulging in risky sexual behaviour.
The result of the present study is also in line with the study conducted by Elsevier
(2014) on adolescents HIV relevant sexual behaviour that where there is major HIV/AIDS
related knowledge, the adolescents reported high level of sexually risky behaviours. In
addition they found that taking moderate intoxicants (alcohol and marijuana) can lead
adolescents to risky sexual behaviour. It was concluded in the data obtained in this finding,
indicates the urgent need to develop preventive strategies that will prevent the spread of HIV
among intercity youth based upon relevant predictors of risky sexual behaviour
Conclusion
It is well documented that areas that hosted refugees and Internally Displaced Persons
(IDPs) are at high risk of sexually transmitted infection with Human Immunodeficiency
Virus (HIV) although a growing amount of literature suggested that this pandemic indicates
an urgent need to develop preventive strategies among adolescents, to curtail its spreading of
HIV/AIDS. For it is a known fact that it has no immunization or cure for now.
Recommendations
Based on the findings of the present study, the following recommendations were made:
1. Establishing functional Guidance and Counselling Centres in the schools by employing
the services of professional personnels that can aid in the dissemination of information
as well as providing strategies on prevention that will curtail the spread of HIV/AIDS.
2. Students should be encouraged to form clubs such as Friendly Awareness Club (FAC)
that would challenge and discourage risky sexual relationship that can lead to the
transmission of HIV/AIDS.
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References
Abubakar, A. (2009). HIV positive matching making brings hope in Nigeria.
http://ng.co.za/article/2009-03-23-hiv-positive-matchingmaking-brings-hope-in-nigeria.
Adam, M. (2013). Predominance of psycho-social opposition to voluntary counselling and
testing of HIV/AIDS among youths in Pankshin Local Government Area of Plateau state.
Journal of counselling psychology on the plateau. 1(1): 214 -222.
Adam, M. (2015). Effectiveness of cognitive group counselling approach in preventing
HIV/AIDS among selected SSII students in Jos Metropolis, Plateau state – Nigeria.
Unpublished Ph.D thesis submitted to Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto – Nigeria.
Awotunde, P.O. & Ugodulunwa, C.A. (2004). Research method in education. Jos: fab Anieh
(Nig). LTD.
Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2014). Adolescent and school helath. Available
at http://wwww.cdc.gov.healthyyouth/sexualbehaviours.com
Dada, M. (2016) 13,354 HIV Positive receiving treatment in Bauchi state https://www.daily
trust.com.ng/news/general/13354-hiv-positive-receiving-treatment-in-bauchistate/174099.
Retrieved on 1st July, 2017.
Dele-osibanjo, T.A. (2012). An assessment of the role of parents in preventing HIV/AIDS
amoung secondary school student in ogun state Nigeria. Available at
http://www.scencedirect.com/scie.fetchtitleandicom
Elsevier, B.V. (2014|) HIV-relevant sexual behaviour among a healthy inner-city hetero
sexual adolescent population in an endemic area of HIV. Available at
http://www.sciencedirect.com/scie.fetchtitleandicon
Iliya, (2010). Psychological concept of behaviour modification in schools. Jos: Grace
Production Arts and Prints.
NaijaQuest (2016). Top 10 state with the highest prevalence in Nigeria.
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July, 2017.
PLACA (2005). Prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) among patients
screened in plateau state health facilities from 1999-2004. Jos: Ace Compuserve Ltd.
Sambo, S. (2009). Counseling strategies for minimizing youth and adolescent problem.
Zaria: Ahmadu Bello University.
Senior, F.M. (2012). AIDS epidemic fresh in risk taking youths. Available at
http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/risk/age/youth/index.html.
UNAIDS, (2010). Reports on the global epidemic. UNAIDS
Warami, O. (2017). Reps move to address HIV/AIDS spread in IDP camps.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/05/reps-address-hivaids-spread-idp-camps/. Retrieved on 1st
July, 2017.
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Mathematics ability and Achievement in Quantitative aspect of Economics
among Senior Secondary School Students in Jos North Area Directorate,
Plateau State, Nigeria.
Joseph John Mawak
Department of Educational Foundations
Faculty of Education, University of Jos
Phone no: 08067773253
E-MAIL: [email protected]
&
Bako Gonzwal Wakdos
Federal Government Girls’ College
Langtang, Plateau State, Nigeria
E-MAIL: [email protected]
Abstract
The study sought to determine senior secondary school students’ mathematics ability and
achievement in quantitative aspect of economics. A correlational research design was
adopted because the study required the researcher to collect data two times from the
respondents. The population consisted of all the SS two economics and mathematics students
in Jos North Area Directorate and a sample of 360 students were used for the study. Simple
random sampling was used in selecting both the schools and the students for the study.
Pearson r was used in answering the three research questions that were raised to guide the
study and multiple regression was used in analyzing the hypothesis that was formulated.
Findings from the study revealed that there was a moderate relationship between students’
achievement in mathematics ability and their achievement in quantitative aspect of
economics. It was recommended that students that are doing well in mathematics should be
encouraged to read economics. It was concluded that both students; male and female should
be encouraged to read both mathematics and economics and other subjects that are
quantitative in nature.
Key words: Mathematics ability, quantitative aspect of economics, achievement
Introduction
Mathematics is the study of numbers, quantities and shapes. It is a mental activity
which involves mental construction of figures, shapes, numbers in various subjects
(Nizolowlan, 2013). Hence, it is a field of study in which properties and ideas are examined.
It involves human activities that are concerned with solving problems that involves scores,
values or figures. Mathematics as a subject is important in the technological development of
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every nation and its place in the advancement of knowledge especially science based courses
cannot be over emphasized as observed by Daso (2013) mathematics is used in formal and
informal education as well as in our everyday life to subdue our environmental and reform
our life through the daily domestic activities that we do.
The Federal Government of Nigeria in realization of the importance of mathematics,
embarked on vigorous mathematics curriculum reforms and the establishment of the nation’s
Mathematics Centre (NMC) to enable the educational system to work towards improving
sciences and technology. The major aim of making mathematics compulsory in the primary
and secondary schools is for skills acquisitions and mastery of content taught so as to apply
the knowledge of mathematics in different aspects of life especially science and technology
(FRN, 2008). The importance accorded to mathematics motivated the Plateau State
Government to organise training and retraining workshop for teachers from 2004 to 2016
with the aim of improving the teachers’ skills and competency toward improving the
performance of students in the subject.
Unfortunately, there is still poor performance of students in the subject in both
National Examination Council (NECO) and West African Senior School Certificate
Examination (WASSCE). Chief Examiners Report from 2012 – 2016 reveal that most
candidates performed poorly in mathematics specifically basic concepts and theories,
geometry, trigonometry, ratio, algebraic process and other topics. A global view of
mathematics as a subject reveal that it is widely recognized as a problem area and most
students have phobia for it (Arigbasu, Balogun, Oladepo, Ojedokun, Opayemi, Enikanoselu,
Onoyele, Owolabi & Oluwafemi, 2012). Also, Mustapha (2014) posited that performance in
WAEC/SSCE mathematics from 2012 – 2014 showed that the performance of students in
Plateau State was low with only 15.4% passes at credit level on the average while failure rate
within the same period was as high as 72.8%.
Some factors that could be held responsible for students poor performance in
mathematics include difficult nature of the subject, poor teaching method, students’ phobia,
students’ anxiety, students’ attitude towards mathematics, abstract nature of the subject
among others (Mustapha, 2014). These factors have been found to have significant effect on
students’ performance in mathematics. Furthermore, mathematics is applied to other subjects
such as geography, biology, economics, physics, chemistry among others and students’ good
knowledge of mathematics ability helps students to perform better in these subjects while
students with poor mathematics ability tend to perform poorly (Hernandez, 2014).
Economics is a social science which study human behaviour as a relationship between
ends and scarce means which have alternative uses (Ogba, 2003). Economics problems could
be solve using three basic approaches. These include quantitative, graphical and theoretical
approaches (Anyawuchi, 2010). Hence, the quantitative approach involves mathematical
computation. Similarly quantitative economics is a representation and analysis of information
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about the direction of change in some economics variables. Again quantitative aspects of
economics is an aspect of economics that deals with computation of values, it involves topics
such as basic tools for economics analysis, simple linear equations, theory of cost, theory of
consumer behaviour, demand and supply among others (FRN, 2008) in both WAEC and
NECO examinations, quantitative aspects stands as a compulsory aspect each student must
answer, and each student is to answer one question out of two. The one question is usually
awarded 30 marks. Hence, for any student to perform well in either of the examinations,
he/she has to do well in quantitative economics as observed by Hernandez (2014).
Unfortunately Chief Examiners Report 2012 – 2016 showed that students
performance in quantitative aspect of economics continue to be low. The report reveals that
students lost valuable marks with regards to questions that are quantitative in nature. The
poor performance cut across male or female, private or public schools as observed by Daso
(2013). Gender according to Yang (2010) refers to social attributes and opportunities
associated with being male or female. Gender differences in academics performance have
been among the contemporary issues in current academic debates all over the world (Abdu-
Raheem, 2012). However, different studies have been conducted to investigate the influence
of gender on academic performance at different levels and different subjects. Findings are
inconclusive. A study by Arslan (2007), Chauddhry, Shafiq, Berhana (2011), reveal that
female performed better than their male counterpart while studies by Awotola (2011)
Oluwagbahunmi (2014) revealed that male performed better than their female counterpart.
School type is another variable of interest in this study. This is defined in term of the
ownership of the school which is public or private. Public are those schools owned and
funded by the local, state or federal government (Okon, 2013) while, private schools are
those owned by private individuals or organisations (Roscingno & Crouley, 2012).
Researches have been conducted on the influence of school type and academic performance
with different results. While Adigun (2010) found that there was no significant difference
between private and public secondary schools. Yang, (2008) found that private secondary
school performed significantly better than public secondary school. Similarly finding by
Okon and Archibong (2015) showed that public secondary schools performed significantly
better than private secondary schools. In view of the controversy, the study will attempt to
determine if students’ mathematics ability is related to their achievement in quantitative
aspect of economics.
Furthermore, research findings by Nizoloman (2013) who conducted a study on the
relationship between mathematics ability and students’ achievement in mathematics, the
result reveal that mathematics ability has a significant relationship on the achievement of
students. Similarly, Hernandez (2004) carried out a study on the relationship between
mathematics and socio-economics status of students. The findings showed that socio-
economic status of parents had a strong correlation with standardized test mathematics score.
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Few researches have been carried out in the area of relationship between students’
scores in mathematics and other variables, but the researcher did not come across a study on
students’ mathematics ability and achievement in quantitative aspect of economics, hence the
need for the study. Therefore, the study aimed to determine senior secondary school
mathematics ability and their achievement in quantitative aspect of economics as it relates to
their gender and school types.
Research Questions
The following research questions were raised to guide the study:
1. What is the relationship between students’ mathematics ability test scores and
quantitative aspect of economic achievement test scores?
2. What is the relationship between students’ achievement in mathematics ability and
quantitative aspect of economics achievement test base on gender?
3. What is the relationship between students’ achievement in quantitative aspect of
economics and mathematics ability base on school type?
Null Hypothesis
1. There is no significant relationship between students’ mathematics ability, students’
gender and their achievement in quantitative aspect of economics test.
Methodology
The study used correlational research design, correlational research design enables
the researcher to determine the relationship between students’ mathematics ability and their
achievement in quantitative aspect of economics. It is also one of the designs used in survey
research. Correlational research design was used because the researchers aimed to determine
the relationship between students’ mathematics ability and their achievement in quantitative
aspect of economics.
The population for the study consisted of all public and private senior secondary
schools students in Jos North Area Directorate. There are 28 public senior secondary schools
and 23 private senior secondary schools in Jos North Area Directorate. The choice of SSII
students was inform by the fact that they have studied mathematics and economics for one
year at the senior secondary school level and they are not in their final year of schooling at
the secondary school level of education.
A sample of 12 senior secondary schools were used for the study. The schools
consisted of 6 private senior secondary schools and 6 public secondary schools made up of
males and females, in all 360 SSII students were selected for the study. Simple random
sampling technique was used in selecting the schools. In the first stage the list of all the
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public secondary schools were selected separately while the public secondary schools were
also selected separately. In each school visited 30 senior secondary two students were
selected for the study.
The instruments for data collection were mathematics ability achievement test and
quantitative aspect of economics achievement test. Each instrument had thirty objective test
items and five essay items. Each instrument had a marking guide and correct respond
attracted one mark for the objective test items while wrong response attracted zero mark. The
essay items also had there marking guide. The two instruments were developed by the
researchers. Three experts from the University of Jos were used in validating the instruments.
After their inputs, the instruments were complied for final used by the researchers. The two
instruments were trial tested on a sample that was not used for the main study. Kuder-
Richardson KR21 was used in establishing the reliability of the two instruments and
reliability coefficient of 0.87 and 0.85 were established respectively. Pearson r was used in
answering the research question while multiple regression was used in answering the
research hypothesis.
Results
Research Question 1: What is the relationship between students’ mathematics ability test
scores and quantitative aspect of economics test scores?
Table 1: Performance of Students in Mathematics Ability and Quantitative Aspect of
Economics
Levels N xR
Mathematics ability 360 49
Quantitative aspect of Economics 360 52 0.68
Table 1: shows the performance of students in mathematics ability and quantitative
aspect of economics. The results showed that the mean performance in mathematics ability is
49.00 and the performance in quantitative aspect of economics is 52.00 also Pearson product
moment correlation coefficient was 0.68.This shows that there is a moderate positive
relationship between students’ mathematics ability and achievement in quantitative aspect of
economics.
Research Question 2: what is the relationship between students’ performance in
mathematics ability test and quantitative aspect of economics achievement test base on
gender?
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Table 2: Students’ Performance in Mathematics Ability and Quantitative Aspect of
Economics
Levels N xR
Public – Male 95 48
Female 85 49 0.86
Private – Male 92 47 0.85
Female 88 50
Table 2 shows the relationship in the performance of students by gender. From the
result, it is evident that male performance in public secondary schools is 48, female 49.00,
and private secondary schools male had a mean of 47.00, and female 50.00. Furthermore
public schools had a high positive relationship of 0.86 while relationship between male and
female in private schools is 0.85.hence there is a high positive relationship in mathematics
ability and quantitative aspect of economics based on student gender
Research Question 3: What is the relationship between students’ achievement in
mathematics ability and in quantitative aspect of economics base on school type?
Table 3: Students’ Achievement by School Type
Levels N xR
48.5
Public 180 48.5 0.68
Private 180
Table 3 shows relationship in the performance of students in mathematics ability and
quantitative aspect of economics. From the Table the performance mean score of public
schools is 48.5 and private schools 48.5 hence there is a moderate positive relationship of
0.68 in students’ performance. This means that the performance of students based on school
type is related based on this study.
Null Hypothesis 1: there is no significant relationship between students’ mathematics
ability, students’ gender and achievement in quantitative aspect of economics test.
Table 4: Model Summary of Mathematics Ability Gender and School Types Mode
1R R Square Adjusted Standard Error of the
Estimate
Square
4.577
1 26.3 .690 0.450
A predictor (constant) maths gender school type.
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Table 5: Coefficient UnStandard
Model B Standard Betta T
Error
1 Constant 35.325 5.485 6.440
School Type 2.250 1.851 .115 –1.216
Gender .1619 1.842 .83 –.879
Maths 6.739 .101 .236 2.377
Dependent variable Q/economics
Table 4 and 5 show the model summary and coefficient of determination of the
multiple regression analysis. From the analysis the variables gender, school type and
mathematics ability accounted for 69% variance in students’ performance in quantitative
economics F = 47.87, p< 0.001 which is significant at 0.05. Hence, the model equation for
prediction is yQecons = 35 + 6.7maths ability + 2.25school type + 0.16gender.
Discussion of Findings
The aim of the study was to determine the relationship between senior secondary
school students’ mathematics ability and achievement in quantitative aspect of economics.
From research question one, it was evident that the performance mean scores of students in
quantitative economics was higher than their achievement in mathematics also there was a
positive moderate relationship between student mathematics ability and quantitative aspect of
economics. Hence this confirms the view of Hernandez (2014) that there is a positive
relationship between students’ performance in mathematics and their achievement in other
subject that are quantitative in nature.
Furthermore, findings from research question two shows that gender has no effect on
students’ achievement. This is because the mean performance of both male and female
showed that their mean was the same both in mathematics ability and in quantitative
economics. The study also reveal the fact that there is a strong positive relationship in
students’ performance based on gender This also confirmed the views of Abdul-Raheem who
is of the opinion that gender has no significant effect on students’ performance.
Again, findings from research question three showed that students’ achievement
based on school type had no effect. This is because the mean of both private and public
schools in the two examinations did not show any significant difference in mean between the
two groups. The result also shows that there is a moderate positive relationship between
students’ performance in mathematics ability and in quantitative aspect of economics. This
also confirmed the views of Okon and Archibong (2015) who are of the view that school type
has no effect on students’ achievement.
Similarly, findings from hypothesis one showed that the variables gender, school type
and mathematics ability accounted for 69% variance in students’ performance in quantitative
economics which is significant. Hence, this study confirmed the view of Nizolowlan (2013)
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that there is a significant relationship between students’ achievement and other related
variables such as school type, gender and mathematics ability.
Conclusion
In conclusion, teachers should work towards improving mathematics ability of
students and their achievement in quantitative aspect of economics. This will help to improve
students’ achievement in WACE and NECO examinations in the study area.
Recommendations
Based on the study, the following recommendations are made:
1. Students’ achievement in mathematics ability is related to their achievement in
quantitative aspect of economics. Students with high mathematics ability should be
encouraged to also take economics as a subject.
2. School type has no significant relationship with students’ performance in
mathematics ability and quantitative aspect of economics thus both students from
private and public secondary school should be given equal opportunity by the school
authorities to take both mathematics and economics as subjects.
3. Both male and female students should be encouraged to take mathematics and
quantitative economics. This is because gender is not a hindrance to students’
performance.
Furthermore, the variance accounted for is high therefore effort should be put in place
to determine the remaining 31 percent variance that was not accounted for in the study.
References
Abdul-Raheem, B.O. (2012). Gender difference and students’ academic achievement and
retention in social studies among junior secondary school students in Ekiti State
Nigeria. European Journal of Educational Study 41, 155-161
Anyanwocha, R.A.T. (2010). Fundamental of economics for senior secondary schools.
Africana First Publishers Limited p. 5
Arigbabu, A.A., Balogun, S.K., Oladip, S.E. Ojedokun, O.A, Opayemi, S.A., Enikanoselu,
O.A. Owoyene, W. Owojabi-Gabriel, M.A., & Oluwafemi, O.J. (…). Examining
correlates of maths anxiety among single-sex and co educational schools in Nigeria.
Global Journal of Human Social Sciences Linguistic and Education 12, (10), version
1.0
Arslan, F.A. (2007). Gender difference and academic achievement of pupils. Retrieve from
www./gender/edu/ers.
Awotola, A. (2011). Senior secondary schools performance in geography. Jos Journal of
Educational Forum. Fab. Anieh Jos
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Chaudhry, A., Shafiq, Y. & Berhana, U. (2011). Gender disparity in academic achievement.
Retrieved from www.gender.edu.NRA.http.
Chief Examiners Report (2014). West African Examination Council. Lagos Adesola & Co.
Ltd.
Federal Republic of Nigeria FRN (2008). Senior secondary education curriculum. NERDC
Printers: ISBN A78 – 054 – 588 – 3
Hernandez, M.E. (2014). Relationship between mathematics achievement and socio-
economics status. JEP EJournal of Educational Policy. Retrieved from
http://nau.edu/coe/Ejournal.
Mustapha, A.Y. (2014). Relationship between secondary school students’ level of
testwiseness and their performance in mathematics in Bauchi, metropolis of Bauchi
State, Nigeria. 10SR Journal of Humanities and Social Science 10SR-(HSS) 19(3).
Nizolomam, O.N. (2013). Relationship between mathematics ability and achievement in
mathematics among secondary school students in Bayelsa State Nigeria. Proceedings-
Social and Behavioural Science 16, 2230 – 2240.
Ogba, L. (2003). Principles of economics volume 1. T.O. Abayomi Industrial Packaging Ltd
Lagos
Okon, E.F. (2013). Effect of formative assessment on students’ achievement in mathematics
in Bayelsa State. World Journal of Education 4(4) 67
Okon, C. & Archibong, U.I. (2015). School type and students’ academic performance in
social study in junior secondary certificate examination. 4(2), 421.
Oluwagbahunmi, O.O. (2014). Assessment of teachers’ competency in assessing teachers’
competency in the use of formative assessment. Jos Journal of Education 3(5).
Roscingno, V.A. & Couley, F. (2012). Students’ academic achievement in rural vs. non-rural
high school. Retrieved from www.wisconsin.http/non-rural/rural
Yang, D.H. (2010). Gender and classroom learning psychology in the school. 22, 208-228
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Adoption of Environment Friendly Agricultural Practices among
Farmers in South – South, Nigeria.
Abanyam, V. A., P.hD
Department of Vocational Education,
University of Calabar.
[email protected]
&
Okadi, A. O., P.hD
Department of Agricultural Education
Faculty of Vocational Teacher Education
University of Nigeria, Nsukka
Abstract
The supply of sufficient food and fibre to satisfy the needs of ever increasing population have
forced farmers to indiscriminately utilize toxic chemicals and other high input agricultural
practices in food production process. The main purpose of the study was to determine the
adoption of environment friendly agricultural practices among farmers in south-south,
Nigeria. Three research questions were answered while three related null hypotheses were
formulated and tested at .05 level of significance. The descriptive survey research design was
adopted for the study. Proportionate random and purposive sampling techniques were used
to select 329 respondents. A 53 item structured questionnaire developed from the literature
reviewed was used to collect data from the respondents. The questionnaire items were face
validated by three experts. The reliability data was collected from 20 respondents outside the
area of study and a reliability coefficient of 0.82 was obtained using the cronbach alpha
reliability test. The findings revealed low level of adoption of environment friendly
agricultural practices. Eighteen obstacles to adoption of environment friendly practices were
identified to include high labour requirement, low level of education of farmers, low
economic potentials and profitability of environment friendly agricultural practices, lack of
clear and reliable information among others, while sixteen measures to promote adoption
were identified to include provision of material inputs required for adoption, making
application procedures simple and easy, enhancing technical skills and capacity of farmers
among others. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended among others that,
there should be massive education and enlightenment of farmers, agricultural extension
agents and the general public on the economic potential and profitability of environment
friendly agricultural practices.
Key words: Environment friendly agricultural practices, adoption, farmers.
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Introduction
Farmers have indiscriminately used toxic chemicals and other high input agricultural
practices extensively in food production because of their reputation for speed and effectiveness.
Rising use of these inputs have over the years posed serious health risks, as well as threatening
widespread environmental challenges. The problem will undoubtedly be exacerbated if farmers
respond to rapidly increasing food demand by intensifying their use of such inputs. According to Bhat
(2009), the indiscriminate use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and unplanned use of irrigation water
have threatened the sustainability of agricultural production, increased health hazards, and pollute
soil, water and the environment at large.
Considering the extensive, unscientific and inappropriate use of chemical inputs like
fertilizers, insecticides, herbicides and others, agricultural scientists, environmentalists, and policy
makers are increasingly advocating the introduction and adoption of low input sustainable agriculture,
ecological farming, eco – friendly agriculture, and integrated intensive farming systems which is
mainly based on the principles of integration of both organic and inorganic systems in order to
achieve the target of increasing agricultural production without severe environmental problems.
According to Rai and Srivastava (2001), the basic concept of environment friendly agriculture lies
between modern chemicals and mechanical inputs. It is the blending of both old and new methods and
techniques of agriculture in order to complement the effects of each other for ensuring optimum
agricultural productivity and environmental safety. Its major aim is to achieve optimum agricultural
production without severely damaging the environment.
An environment friendly agricultural practice or system is one that is resource conserving,
socially supportive, commercially competitive, and environmentally sound (Amalu, 1998). Altieri
(2009) is of the view that an environment friendly agricultural practice must provide long term
sustained yields through the use of ecologically sound management technlogies. The concept of
environment friendly agriculture has been used synonymously with sustainable agriculture and often
taken to mean low external input farming. It challenges farmers to think about the consequences of
agricultural practices, as well as the functioning and interactions of agricultural systems (Horringan,
Lawrence & Walker, 2002).
The concept of sustainable agriculture is more frequently defined using its three components
or aims: environmental health, economic profitability, and social and economic equity. The
environmental component refers to the promotion of environmental quality including protection and
improving soil quality, reducing dependence on non-renewable resources and minimizing adverse
effects of agriculture on safety, wildlife, water quality and other environmental resources (Sustainable
Agricultural Research and Education (SARE), 2003). Environment friendly agriculture could thus be
seen as a component of sustainable agriculture which improves the environment and natural resources
upon which agriculture depends. It encompasses environmental sustainability by emphasizing the
efficient use of on farm resources, non-renewable resources and integration of biological cycles.
When properly adopted by farmers, environment friendly agricultural practices could have the
capacity to enhance agricultural production and promote inter – generational equity in the utilization
of the resource base upon which agricultural production rest. It is also expected to bring about
improvements in the wellbeing of the farmer expressed in terms of increased yield and better living
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standard due to improvement in feeding and income status. For the environment, it is expressed in
terms of sustainability in the use of environmental resources.
However, the adoption of eco – friendly agriculture practices have been found to receive low
patronage among farmers over the years (Rai & Srivastava, 2001). Farmers most often focus on
private costs and benefits in the choice of whether to adopt or not to adopt a particular farm practice.
In the case of practices that reduce environmental damage caused by agricultural production, the
farmer’s consideration of the benefit to society in their choice of production becomes pertinent.
Farmers with better understanding of the environmental impacts of their technology choices are more
likely to adopt environment friendly farm practices. This study was therefore designed to;
1. determine the extent of adoption of environment friendly agricultural practices by farmers
2. identify constraints to the adoption of environment friendly agricultural practices by farmers;
and
3. identify measures that could promote the adoption of environment friendly practices by
farmers
Methodology
The descriptive survey research design was adopted for this study. The study was carried out
in South-South, Nigeria. There are six states in the study area. These include Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa,
Cross River, Delta, Edo, and River States. The population for the study was 28,968 respondents. This
was composed of all the Agricultural Research Scientists domiciled in the three agricultural research
institutes in the area, Agricultural Education and Training lecturers in Federal Universities within the
area, Agricultural Extension Agents and Registered Contact Farmers within the study area. The
sample for the study was 332 respondents. This was made up of 82 Agricultural Extension Agents,
176 Registered Contact Farmers, 35 Agricultural Education and Training lecturers, and 39
Agricultural Research Scientists domiciled in agricultural research institutes in the study area. The
proportionate random sampling and purposive sampling techniques were adopted for this study. Data
was collected with the aid of a validated structured questionnaire titled “Environment Friendly
Agricultural Practices Adoption Questionnaire (EFAPAQ)” developed by the researchers was used to
generate data for this study. A reliability co-efficient of .81, .82 and .83 respectively was obtained for
each of the clusters, indicating high reliability.
Three hundred and thirty two (332) copies of the questionnaire were administered to the same
number of respondents with the aid of four research assistants. Out of which three hundred and one
(301) were retrieved and analyzed giving a 90.66% rate of return. The data for this study was
analyzed using mean for the research questions, while the hypotheses were tested using analysis of
variance (ANOVA). For the research questions, a mean score of between 0.5-1.49 was taken as
strongly disagree/very low extent; 1.50-2.49 was taken as disagree/low extent while a mean score of
2.50 – 3.49 was taken as agree/high extent. A mean score 3.50 – 4.00 was accepted as strongly
agree/very high extent. With regards to the hypotheses, the null hypotheses were rejected for any
item in which the computed value of F was greater than the critical value at .05 level of significance
and rejected if otherwise.
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Results
Research Question 1
To what extent have farmers adopted environment friendly agriculture practices?
Table 1: Mean ratings of respondents on the level of adoption of environment friendly agricultural
practices. N = 301
S/N Environment friendly agricultural practices X Remarks
2.35 LE
1 Use of cover crops to ensure all round cover for the soil 1.78 LE
2 Use of organic compost to supply soil nutrients 2.08 LE
3 Application of farm yard manure (animal droppings/beddings) 1.78 LE
4 Use sewage sludge and organic waste as manure 2.89 HE
5 Adopt crop rotation to break life cycles of pest and provide nutrients to
2.23 LE
sequenced crops
6 Combine keeping of animals with cultivation of crops to use animal 1.83 LE
2.21 LE
waste as input to crops and vice versa 1.80 LE
7 Adopt conservation tillage that avoid use of heavy tillage equipment 2.05 LE
8 Incorporate green plants into the soil as green manure 2.91 HE
9 Timing of planting date to avoid pest and diseases 1.98 LE
10 Conduct soil test before fertilizer application 1.89 LE
11 Practice inter-cropping to reduce weed competition
12 Integrate food crops and/animals with forest trees 1.93 LE
13 Combine the use of biological pesticides with cultural and biological 1.82 LE
1.99 LE
methods to control pests 1.91 LE
14 Spray insecticide based on economic threshold of pest
15 Combine chemical fertilizer with compost
16 Planting multiple species in grazing land
17 Weed control with mulch, nurse crop and smothering
N = 301, HE =High extent, LE = Low extent.
Table 1 present the mean ratings of respondents on the extent of adoption of environment
friendly agriculture practices. All items except items number 5 and 11 recorded mean ratings below
the 2.50 cut off point on a four point rating scale which indicate low level of adoption. Items number
5 and 11 recorded mean ratings of 2. 89 and 2.91 which were above the 2.50 cut off point on a four-
point rating scale which indicate a high level of adoption.
Null Hypothesis1
Registered Contact Farmers, Agricultural Extension Agents, and Agricultural Research
Scientists do not differ significantly in the mean rating of their opinion on the extent of adoption of
environment friendly agricultural practices.
Table 2: Analysis of variance test for comparing data obtained from the responses of farmers,
agricultural extension workers and agricultural research scientists on the extent of
adoption of environment friendly agricultural practice.
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Source of Df Sum of Mean F – cal F- Sign. Decision
difference 2 squares squares 1.0054 critical Level
Between 233 1.5676 0.7838 3.04 0.05 NS
groups 235
Within 183.4182 0.7542 Accept
groups Ho
Total
184.9857
Table 2 presents the results of Analysis of variance test of the opinion of farmers, Agricultural
extension workers, and agricultural research scientists on the level of adoption of environment
friendly agricultural practices. From the f- ratio table, the critical value of F at 2 and 233 degrees of
freedom at .05 level of significance is 3.04. Since the f- calculated value of 1.0054 was less than the f-
critical value of 3.04, the null hypothesis was upheld meaning that farmers, agricultural research
scientists and agricultural extension agents do not differ significantly in their mean ratings on the
extent of adoption of environment friendly agricultural practices. Respondents were unanimous in
their responses on the extent of adoption of environment friendly agriculture practices. Environment
friendly agricultural practices are not popularly adopted by farmers in food production.
Research Question 2: What are the constraints to the adoption of environment friendly agricultural
practices by farmers?
Table 3: Mean ratings of the responses of respondents on the constraints to the adoption of
environment friendly agricultural practices by farmers: N = 301
S/N Constraints to Adoption of Environment Friendly Agricultural Practices X Remarks
1 When practices require high labour 3.35 A
2 Low education level of adopters 2.76 A
3 Poor perception of environment sustainable practices 3.18 A
4 When practices requires high capital investment for adoption 2.97 A
5 Poverty level of farmers 3.22 A
6 Age of farmers 2.96 A
7 Cultural/ethnic background of adopters 3.17 A
8 Sex (male/female) of the adopters 2.98 A
9 Insecurity of tenure 3.19 A
10 Size of the family 2.97 A
11 Lack of clear and reliable information 3.20 A
12 Inadequate social and physical infrastructure 3.09 A
13 Extension agents’ lack of knowledge and information 3.23 A
14 Small size of land owned by farmer 3.05 A
15 Low economic potential and profitability of the practices 3.23 A
16 Negative influence from friends and neighbours 3.06 A
17 Government policies such as taxation 3.17 A
18 Lack of extension programme for farmers in rural areas 3.28 A
N = Number of respondents, A = Agree.
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Table 3 contains the result of the mean ratings of respondents on the constraints to the
adoption of environment friendly agricultural practices. All items recorded means ratings ranging
between 2.76 and 3. 35 which are above the 2.50 cut-off point on a four point rating scale, indicating
that all items expressed are accepted as obstacles to innovation adoption.
From table 3, the factors which affect the adoption of environment friendly agricultural
practices include Age of farmers, family size, size of land holdings and government policies such as
taxation and subsidies, high labour requirement, low level of education, poor perception, high capital
requirement, poverty level of famers, cultural/ ethnic background, sex and insecurity of tenure. Others
include lack of information, lack of social and physical infrastructure, low profitability and economic
prospects of environment friendly practices, negative influence of neighbours and friends and
inadequate extension programmes for farmers.
Null Hypothesis 2: Farmers, extension workers, research scientists and AET lecturers do not
significantly differ in their mean ratings on the obstacles to the adoption of environment friendly
agricultural practices by farmers.
Table 4: Analysis of variance test for comparing data obtained from the responses of farmers,
extension workers, research scientists and AET lecturers.
Source of Df Sum of Mean F -Cal F -Critical Sign Decimal
Difference squares Squares Level
Between 3 4.9764 1.6587 1.76 2.65 0.05 NS
groups
Within 297 275.0753 0.9216
groups
Total 300 280.057
Table 4 present the result of the Analysis of variance test for comparing the responses
obtained from farmers, extension workers, research scientist, and AET lectures on the obstacle to the
adoption of environment friendly agricultural practices. The F-calculated value of 1.76 was less than
the F- critical value of 2. 65 at 2 and 297 degrees of freedom and .05 level of significance. Since the
f-calculated value is less than the f critical value, the null hypothesis is upheld, meaning that there
was no significant difference in the mean ratings of the responses of respondents on the obstacle to
the adoption of environment friendly agricultural practices. This shows that environment friendly
agricultural practices are not widely adopted in agricultural production. The non-adoption of these
practices is as a result of a number of factors as contained in Table 3.
Research Question 3: What are the measures that could promote the adoption of environment
friendly agricultural practices by farmers?
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Table 5: Mean ratings of respondents on the measures that could promote the adoption of
environment friendly agricultural practices N = 301
S/N Measures that could promote the adoption of environment friendly Remarks
agricultural practices
1. Availability of material inputs that are required for the 3.77 SA
implementation of the practices
2. The practices should be simple and easy to implement 3.25 A
3. The practices should have high economic profitability 3.54 SA
D
4. practices should be at the same level with adopters’ technical skills 2.34
5. practices should agree with farmers’ socio – cultural characteristics 2.28 D
such as beliefs and taboos A
6. practices should have high potential for reducing risks and 3.30
uncertainties in agricultural production
7. Practices should not require heavy capital investment 3.49 A
8. New practices should be easily divisible to make for easy trials 3.70 SA
A
9. practices should produce quick and noticeable results 3.24 SA
10. practices should be jointly planned and executed with users’ 3.57 A
consent SA
A
11. The source of the practices should be credible and reliable 3.14
A
12. Government should provide necessary input and support required 3.51 A
for adoption
A
13. There should be Constant follow – up and ongoing feedback and 3.15 A
exchange of information between innovation generation and SA
utilization agencies
14. The methods of disseminating the innovation should be suitable to 3.46
target users
15. The innovation should actively promote the utilization and 3.20
consumption of locally produced and processed products.
16. The innovation should support local development and support input 3.41
minimization
17. Membership of farmer association/organization 3.20
18. It should promote the use of local leaders 3.50
SA = Strongly Agree, A = Agree, D = Disagree
Table 5 contains the result of the mean ratings on the measures that could promote the
adoption of environment friendly agricultural practices by farmers. The analysis showed that all
items, except two, recorded mean ratings ranging between 3.14 and 3.77 which are above the 2.50
cut- point on a four point rating scale signaling acceptance. Two items however recorded mean
ratings of 2.34 and 2.28 which were below the 2.50 cut- off point on a four point rating scale.
From Table 5, the measures that could promote the adoption of environment friendly
agricultural practices include provision of material input required for adoption, simplicity of
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innovations, high economic profitability and potentials, ability of the practice to reduce risk and
uncertainties, low capital requirement, ease of dividing and using the innovation in bits, ability to
produce quick and noticeable result and provision of necessary input required for adoption. Others
include constant follow - up and feedback, suitable innovation dissemination method, and the ability
of the practice to utilize locally available inputs. Also, involving users in planning innovations and
being members of farmer organizations and associations could also promote the adoption of
environment friendly agricultural innovations. Respondents however disagreed that making
innovations at the same level with adopters’ technical skills and socio- cultural characteristics such as
beliefs and taboos do not promote the rate of adoption. This decision by respondents may be
considered true when one takes into consideration the fact that every innovation is meant to bring
about an improvement over the existing ways of doing things. Thus, emphasis should be on up
scaling the technical capacities of farmers in line with the innovation and not subjecting new practices
to traditional beliefs.
Null Hypothesis 3: Research scientists, extension workers, AET lecturers and farmers do not
significantly differ in the mean ratings of their opinion on the measures that could promote the
adoption of environment friendly agricultural practices.
Table 6: Analysis of variance tests for comparing the responses of research scientists, extension
workers, AET lecturers and farmers on the measures that could promote the adoption
of environment friendly agricultural practices.
Source of df Sum of Mean f-cal. f-critical Sign. Decision
differences squares squares Level
Between groups 3 4.3146 1.4382 2.89 2.65 0.05 S
Within groups 297 147.8881 0.4979
Total 300 152.2027
Table 6 presents the result of the analysis of variance test of the responses of agricultural
research scientists, agricultural extension workers, AET lecturers and farmers on the measure that
could promote the adoption of environment friendly agricultural innovations by formers. The F-
calculated value of 2.89 was greater than the f- critical value of 2.65 at 3 and 297 degrees of freedom
and 0.05 level of significance. Since the Calculated F value was greater than the critical value of F,
the null hypothesis was rejected, meaning that the respondents differed significantly in the mean
ratings of their opinions on the measures that could promote the adoption of environment friendly
agricultural innovations.
Discussion of Findings.
The findings on the extent of adoption of environment friendly agricultural practices revealed
that crop rotation and intercropping are adopted to a high extent by respondents while other practices
such as combining animals with crop cultivation, integrating food crops with forest trees, use of
multiple species in grazing land, cover cropping, organic compost, farm yard manure, use of sewage
sludge and organic waste, and conservation tillage are adopted to a very low extent. Other practices
which indicate low level of adoption include use of green manure, biological and cultural methods of
pest control, use of economic threshold of pest as basis for spraying insecticides, use of mulch, nurse
crops and smothering to control weeds, conducting soil test before applying fertilizers, and timing of
planting dates to avoid pest and diseases.
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This is in line with the results Norwak (2007) and Bell, Carolan, Maryfield and Exner (2001) who in
their separate works, observed low level of adoption of environment friendly agricultural practices as
compared to conventional agricultural practices that require heavy use of external inputs and quicker
results. They attributed the low level of adoption to the scarcity of information about the technical and
economic issues as well as knowledge of implementation and viability of these practices..
The constraints to adoption of environment friendly agricultural practice include high labour
requirement, low level of education of farmer, poor perception of environment sustainable practices,
high capital requirement, poverty level of farmers, cultural/ethnic background of farmers and sex
(male/female) of the farmers. Other constraints identified include insecurity of tenure, lack of clear
and reliable information, lack of qualified extension agents, low economic potential and profitability
of environment friendly agricultural practice, negative influence from friends and neighbours and lack
of extension programme for farmers in rural areas. Age of farmer (old), family size, size of land
holdings and government policies, such as taxation and subsidies ware also identified as constraints to
adoption.
Measures that could promote the adoption of environment friendly agricultural practice were
identified to include provision of material input required for adoption, making application easy and
simple, clarifying the economic potential and profitability of the innovation, enhancing the technical
skills and capacities of farmers, making innovations easily divisible to allow for trials in bits, the
ability of the innovation to produce quick and noticeable results and the credibility and reliability of
the source. Other measures identified include constant follow up, feedback, and exchange of
information between innovation generation and users, adopting dissemination methods suitable to the
farmers and target users and the ability to utilize locally available farm inputs.
Conclusions
Adopting environment friendly (sustainable) agricultural practices will greatly help to
promote the quality of Agricultural resources such as land, air, water, plant, and animal diversity and
promote the overall quality of the environment and human health. The low level of adoption of
environment friendly agricultural practices is largely due to the fact that people ignorantly assess the
productivity of an agricultural system based on annual tonnage to the total neglect of the environment
and health implications of such production systems. The inability of extension agencies to educate
farmers on the benefits of environment friendly agricultural practices may be due to the fact that the
agencies are ill equipped with the knowledge of the practices. The rate of adoption of environment
friendly agricultural practice could be enhanced through the provision of necessary input required for
adoption, educating and enlightening the people on the economic potentials and profitability of
environment friendly agricultural practices, and disseminating information about environment
friendly agricultural innovations using methods that are suitable to the personal characteristics and
conditions of farmers and farming communities.
Recommendations
The following recommendations are made;
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1. Conventional agricultural systems involving the use of high external input should be integrated by
farmers with systems that promote the replenishing of soil material through natural nutrient
cycling process. This can be done through exploring alternatives that utilizes biological and
organic waste as basis for the production of agricultural inputs.
2. Since environment sustainable agricultural practices have long term benefit, government should
provide subsidies and material inputs that facilitate adoption for farmers who adopts such
practices. This will serve as benefit to farmers for contributing to the sanitization of the
environment.
3. There should be massive enlightenment and education by extension agents’ for farmers and
stakeholders on the economic potentials and profitability of environment friendly agricultural
practices.
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Bell, M. M, Caroline, M. S, Maryfield, D & Exner, R (2001) Professional Development for
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Department of Sociology, Iowa state university, Ames, O I. Unpublished manuscript.
Harrigan, L; Lawrence, R .S, and Walker, P (2002). “How sustainable agriculture can
address the environmental and human health harms of industrial agriculture”.
Environmental health perspectives, 11(5) 112-119
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in Agriculture”.Retrieved august 5, 2005.
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Rai, D. P. and Srisvastava (2001).Relationship between Attitude and Adoption Behavior of
Gram Growers. Agricultural Extension. Review, 13: 18 – 20.
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Assessing the Effectiveness of the Treasury Single Account as a Tool for
Curbing Financial Irregularities in the Nigerian Public Sector
Dr. Eno Gregory Ukpong & Mrs. Ese Bassey Nsentip
Department of Accounting
Faculty of Social and Management Sciences
Akwa Ibom State University, Nigeria
Abstract
The treasury single account has proven to be quite effective in the control and management
of public funds in public entities around the world prior to tits adoption in nigeria. this
research was carried out to ascertain the effectiveness of the TSA policy implemented in
ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of government. 3 specific objectives, research
questions and hypotheses were stated for the study. The study employed both qualitative and
quantitative research design, using the federal Inland Revenue service (FIRS), Uyo, Akwa
Ibom State as a case study. A sample size of 63 staffers from the FIRS1 was purposefully
used. The mean and standard deviation was used to anser the research questions while
regression was used to test the hypotheses at .05 alpha level. Consequently, the result finds
that there was a high positive relationship between the implementation of TSA and the
management of public funds. The research also established that the main job of the TSA is to
mop up cash and not to detect fraud. It was recommended among others that Government
should endeavour to sensitize the public on the implications of the TSA on government MDAs
as well as other technical partners.
Keywords: TSA, fraud, funds management, public funds, government, remitta system
Introduction
Several emergent scholars have noted that the adoption of the Treasury Single
Account has sufficed as an operational trend in developing countries recently. It remains a
phenomenal concept that has been a major catalyst for driving efficiency in public financial
management systems. It has been in operation in most advanced and developed countries
including the United Kingdom, France, Sweden, United States, to mention but a few for
several years now prior to its adoption in Nigeria. Yusuf (2016) noted that the Treasury
Single Account has been both a constitutional provision and an extant fiscal practice. Its
inception and coherent implementation came as a result of the need for the Nigerian
government to tackle financial aberrances, promote accountability and transparency as well
as to prevent revenue loss and mismanagement by revenue-generating agencies. Although the
adoption and implementation of the TSA scheme was supported by several government
agencies, it is worthy of note that it also faced opposition from some other federal agencies.
Agencies against the adoption of the treasury single account alleged that the scheme deterred
them from mobilizing finances necessary for funding extra budgetary projects and activities
of the ministries (Adams, 2001).
Consequently, Ocheni (2016) posits that the proper implementation of the TSA would
remove the ambient secrecy in the management of public finance in MDAs. Under the guise
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of non-descript official secrecy, government staff and politicians have been known to employ
all sorts of administrative devices and illegal liaisons to engage in business ventures for
private gains using government money. Hence, frustrating proper execution of projects, as
well as causing salary delays.
To this end, the implementation of the Treasury single Account in every ministry and
extra ministerial department of government will enhance an overall effectiveness in the
management of public funds in Nigeria. Hence, this study attempts to appraise the extent to
which the Treasury Single Account which here-in-after shall be referred to as the ‘TSA’
remittal policy has been complied with in Federal agencies. It also attempts to decipher how
effective it has been in curbing financial anomalies in the revenue remission and expenditure
allocation system of government (Adebisi, 2016).
Statement of the Research Problem
Unfortunately, the unimpressive state of public sector fund management In Nigeria
has spilled in a quick glance several leakages and pitfalls in the revenue generation and
remission processes of Government holistically. Recent investigations prior to the
implementation of the ISA policy revealed that several government agencies were evidently
involved in the fraudulent diversion of government funds through the keeping of mushroom
bank deposits in commercial banks. Consequently, the diversion of funds by ministries and
extra ministerial departments of government has cost great financial loss to the Federal
government in estimable trillions of naira.
Prominent among other challenges in relations to the public financial management of the
government funds is also the inability to keep proper track and record of revenue generated
from inception stage to the stage of final remission. The need to keep progressive track of
government revenue came as a result of being unable to estimate to a reasonable degree of
certainty the amount of revenue available to the Federal government for budget planning and
subsequent appropriation.
Research Questions
i. Is there any relationship between the implementation of the .TSA remittal system and
the management of public funds in Nigeria?
ii. Has the adoption of the TSA remittal system led to an increase in the amount of
revenue remitted to the federal government in Nigeria?
iii. Has the TSA remittal system been effective in minimizing financial irregularities in
the management and remission of public funds in Nigeria?
Objectives of the Study
The main objective this study is to appraise the relevance o’f the TSA remittal system
as an essential tool in public financial management as regards to the Nigerian public sector.
This study also intends to highlight the usefulness of the TSA remittal system in minimizing
financial anomalies in the generation and remission of federal government revenue. In this
regard, the specific objectives of this study will include to:
i. Determine the relationship between the implementation of the TSA remittal system
and the management of public funds in Nigeria.
ii. Examine the extent to which the adoption of the TSA remittal system has led to an
increase in the amount of revenue remitted to the federal government in Nigeria.
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iii. Ascertain the effectiveness of the TSA remittal system in minimizing financial
anomalies in the management and remission of public funds in Nigeria.
Statement of Null Hypotheses
In order to ensure accurate validation of primary data to be gathered through the
questionnaires, the null hypotheses have been postulated.
For the purpose of this study, the hypothesis shall be stated thus;
Null Hypothesis 1: There is no significant relationship between the implementation of the
TSA remittal system and the management of public funds in Nigeria.
Null Hypothesis 2: The adoption of the TSA remittal system has not led to a significant
increase in the amount of revenue remitted to the federal government in Nigeria.
Null Hypothesis 3: The TSA remittal system has not been significantly effective in detecting
financial irregularities in the management and remission of public funds in Nigeria.
Significance of the Study
The implementation of the TSA scheme faced several challenges primarily in form of
under enlightenment, as many government agencies only saw the TSA scheme as an effort of
government to cripple their autonomous ability to utilize government revenue for the funding of
their extra- ministerial activities. This research project will therefore be of great benefit to the
ministries and extra ministerial departments of the Nigerian Federal government as it seeks to
serve as a source of enlightenment to them on how the TSA scheme actually works. This study
will be of immense benefit to federal government ministries as. it intends to decipher how
effective the TSA scheme could be in preventing financial fraud in the public sector. It also
intends to proffer reasonable detail to policy makers to enable them establish more feasible
Data Analysis
Data obtained are analyzed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation, Mean and
Standard Deviation to answer the research questions and regression analysis to test the null
Hypotheses.
Research Questions: The following three research questions were answered.
Research Question 1: Is there any relationship between the implementation of the TSA
remittal system and the management of public funds in Nigeria?
Table 1: Analysis of relationship between the implementation of the TSA remittal
system and the management of public funds
variables X X2 XY r-cal
1mplementation of the TSA Y Y2 26880 0.557
Management of public funds in Nigeria 7160 26160
7460 28340
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Table 1 shows the analysis of the relationship between the implementation of the TSA
remittal System and the management of public funds in Nigeria using Pearson Product
Moment Correlation (PPMC). The result gives a correlation index of 0.557, indicating a high
positive Relationship between the implementation of the TSA remittal system and the
management of public funds in Nigeria.
Research Question 2: Has the adoption of TSA remittal system led to an increase in the
amount revenue remitted to the federal government of Nigeria?
Table 2: Analysis of adoption of TSA remittal system and increases in remitted revenue
to the federal government
S/N Items N Mean Std Remarks
X Dev
1 The TSA has been able to enhance the 63 3.23 0.82 SA
public financial management policies in
Nigeria.
2 The TSA is beneficial to the Nigerian 63 3.03 0.97 A
Public Sector
3 The TSA has improved the revenue 63 3.45 0.99 SA
remission process of FIRS to the
Federation Account since implementation.
4 There are no financial leakages in the 63 3.43 0.91 SA
management of public funds as they were,
prior to implementation of the TSA
5 The TSA has significantly enhanced the 63 3.00 1.02 A
effective execution of government yearly
appropriations in MDAs.
Grand Mean 63 3.23 0.96 SA
Table 2 shows the item by item analysis of how the adoption of the TSA remittal
system has led to increase in remitted revenue to the federal government. The result shows
that all the items have Mean responses above 3.0, indicating that the respondents all agreed
to the benefits of adopting TSA by the government. The grand mean of the respondents that
is the averages score for the total set of questions asked is 3.23. This shows that all the
respondents all agreed positively that the adoption of TSA remittal system has led to an
increase in the amount of revenue remitted to the Federal government of Nigeria.
Research Question 3: Has the TSA remittal system been effective in minimizing financial
regularities in the management and remission of public funds in Nigeria?
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Table 3: Analysis of the effectiveness of the TSA in minimizing financial irregularities
in the management of public funds
S/N Items N Mean Std Remarks
X Dev
1 The TSA is an effective instrument for 63 3.34 0.97 SA
curbing fraudulent financial practices in the
Nigerian Public Sector
2 The TSA is effective in ensuring financial 63 3.56 1.00 SA
Accountability and Transparency in the
Nigerian Public Sector.
3 The TSA has stiffened fund mobilization 63 3.49 0.94 SA
procedures for extra budgetary activities of
the FIRS
4 The TSA has mopped up cash available but 63 3.87 086 SA
inaccessible to government prior to its
implementation
5 The TSA has been effective in checking 63 3.23 1.05 SA
sharp practices by public services
Grand Mean 63 3.23 0.96 SA
Table 3 shows the item by item analysis of the effectiveness of TSA in minimizing
financial regularities in the management of public funds. The results shows that all the items
have Mean responses above 3.0, indicating that the respondents all agreed to the
effectiveness of adopting SA by the government for checking financial irregularities. The
grand mean of the respondents at is the average score for the total set of questions asked is
3.49. This shows that all the respondents all agreed positively that the TSA remittal system
has been highly effective in minimizing financial irregularities in the management and
remission of public funds in Nigeria.
Testing of Null Hypotheses
The following null hypothesis were tested at 0.05 level of significance
Ho1: there is no relationship between the implementation of the TSA remittal system and the
management of public funds in Nigeria.
Table 4: Summary of Significant Relationship test for implementation of the TSA
remitta system and the management of public funds in Nigeria
Model Sum of squares Df Mean Square Fcal Fcrit Decision
1 Regression 194.142 1 194.142 9.71 3.85 Reject Ho
Residual 595.561 2018 .20
Total 789.703 2019
r= 0.557, R2 = 0.311, @ 0.05
Table 4 shows the summary of the regression- ANOVA table for the significant test of
relationship between the implementation of the TSA remits system and the management of
public funds in Nigeria. The result shows that the calculated F-value is 9.71. At 1 and 61
degree of freedom and .05 alpha levels, the critical f-value is 3.85. Since the Fcal is greater
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than the Fcrit, the null hypothesis is rejected. Thus, there is a significant positive relationship
between the implementation of the TSA remittal system and the management of public funds
in Nigeria. The coefficient of determination value (R2) gives a value of 0.311, indicating that
the only 31.14% of changes in the management of public funds is as a result of TSA
implementation.
Ho2: The adoption of the TSA remittal system le to a significant increase in the amount of
revenues remitted to the federal government of Nigeria.
Table 5: Summary of Regression Analysis of the Influence of TSA on increases in
the amount of revenue remitted to the Federal government of Nigeria
Model Sum of squares Df Mean Square Fcal Fcrit Decision
1 Regression 105.540 1 105.540 5.77 3.85 Reject No
Residual 684.163 2018 .20
Total 789.703 2019
r= 0.366, R2 = 0.134, @ 0.05
Table 5: shows the summary of the regression- ANOVA table for the significant test
of significant increase in the amount of revenue remitted to the Federal government of
Nigeria. The result shows that the calculated F-value is 5.277. At 1 and 61 degree of freedom
and .05 alpha level, the critical f-value is 3.85. Since the F-cal is greater than the fcrit, the
null hypothesis is rejected. Hence there is a significant positive relationship between TSA
remittal system and the increase in the amount of revenue remitted to the Federal
government. Thus the adoption of ISA remittal system led to a significant increase in the
amount of revenue remitted to the federal government of Nigeria.
Ho3: The TSA system has not been significantly effective in detecting financial irregularities
the management and remission of public funds in Nigeria
Table 6: Summary of Regression analysis of the significant effectiveness of the
TSA in detecting financial irregularities
Model Sum of squares Df Mean Square Fcal Fcrit Decision
1 Regression 29.750 1 29.750 1.565 3.85 Accept Ho
Residual 759.953 2018 .20
Total 789.703 2019
r= 0.194, R2 = 0.018, @ 0.05
Table 6: shows the summary of the regression-ANOVA table for the significance test of
effectiveness of TSA in detecting financial irregularities. The result shows that the calculated
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F- value is 1.565. At 1 and 61 degree of freedom and at .05 alpha level, the critical f-value is
3.85. Since the Fcal is less than the Fcrit. The null hypothesis is accepted. Thus, TSA system
has not been significantly effective in detecting financial irregularities in the management
and remission of public funds in Nigeria. The main job of the TSA is to mop up cash and not
to detect fraud. However, it helps control other factors that manage fraud in the public sector.
Discussion of Findings
Relationship between the implementation of the TSA remittal system and the
management of public funds
The result of the analysis shows that there is high positive relationship between the
implementation of the TSA remittal system and the management of public funds. The
corresponding hypothesis shows that there is a significant positive relationship between the
implementation of the TSA remittal system and the management of public funds in Nigeria.
The coefficient of determination value (R2) gives a value of 0.311, indicating that the only
31.14% of changes in management of public funds is a s a result of TSA implementation.
These findings are in line with Pattanayak and Fainboim (2011) which found that the
maintenance of fragmented systems of handling government receipts and payments through
the banking system remains a critical public financial management weakness that needs to be
addressed. Hence, TSA system helps to consolidate government cash balances.
Influence of TSA on increase in the Amount of revenue remitted to the Federal
government
Result of the research question analysis shows that all the respondents all agreed
positively that the adoption of TSA remittal system has led to an increase in the amount of
revenue remitted to the Federal government of Nigeria. The hypothesis test indicates there is a
significant positive relationship between the TSA remittal system increases in the amount of
revenue remitted to the federal government. Thus, the adoption of the TSA remittal system led to
a significant increase in the amount of revenue remitted to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Thus the findings, is supported by Oguntodu et a! (2016) which found that TSA would facilitate
transparent reporting of tax revenue and pave way for tax offsetting and faster payment of
refunds. He added that the adoption of TSA will be positive for the economy in the long run,
Significant Effective of TSA in Detecting Financial Irregularities
The findings of the study from the research question show that all the respondents all
agreed positively that, the TSA remittal system has been highly effective in minimizing financial
irregularities in the management and remission of public funds in Nigeria. The corresponding
hypothesis test shows that TSA system has not been significantly effective in detecting financial
irregularities in detecting financial irregularities in the management and remission of public
funds. The main job of the TSA is to mop up cash and not to detect fraud. However, it helps
control other factors that manage fraud in the public sector. The findings of the study is in line
with Yusuf ( 2016) which found that the implementation of the ISA will go a long way in
blocking financial leakages in the system, improve revenue collection and promote transparency
and accountability.
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Conclusion
Based on the results of analysis, it is concluded that the TSA since its adoption and
implementation in Nigerian public sector, has increased revenues collected and remitted to the
federal government significantly. While there may have been grumblings in some quarters with
regards the implementation of , overwhelmingly, TSA remita system has led to significant
increase in the amount of revenues remitted to the federal government of Nigeria. however, TSA
system has not been effective in detecting and checking financial irregularities in the management
and remission of public funds in Nigeria. the main job of the TSA is to mop up cash and not to
detect fraud. However, it helps to control factors that manage fraud in the public sector.
Recommendations
Based on the findings of the study, the following recommendations are made.
1. Government should endeavour to sensitize the public on the implications of the TSA on
government MDAs as well as other technical partners.
2. Government should consider alternative fiscal means of stimulating cash liquidity for
banks who are hit with shortage of cash through the mop up activities of the TSA.
3. The synergy between banks and government should be strengthened for more undisclosed
accounts to be accessed by the government.
References
Adams J.K. (2001). Reinventing governmental accounting for accountability assurance in
Nigeria. Nigeria Research Journal of Accountancy, 1(1):1-16.
Adebisi, J.F. (2016). The adoption of the treasury single account (TSA) and its effect on revenue
leakages of Nigerian States. American Research Journal of Business and Management.
43(2):1-10.
Ocheni, A. (2016). Nigeria: the victims, the gainers of treasury single account. Available at
www.allafrica.com/stories/20150817365.html, retirved on 12th July 2017.
Oguntodu, J.A, Alalade, Y.S, Adekunle, Y.A and Adegbie, F.F (2016). Treasure single account
and nigeria’s economy between 1999 and 2015: An assessment. Journal Of Accounting
And Financial Management., 2(6):13-15.
Pattanayak, S and Fainboim, I.(2011). Treasury single account. An essential management for
government cash management. International Monetary Fund.
Yusuf, I. A.(2016). Counting cost of treasury single account. Available at
www.thenationonlineng.net/counting-cost-of-treasury-single-account/:The Nation.
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Effect of Cooperative Learning Approach on Students’ Performance in
Business Plan Writing in Federal College of Education (Tech.), Omoku,
Rivers State
Abdulkarim, Musa & Ukpong, O. U. Ph.D
Business Education Unit
Department of Vocational Education
University of Uyo, Akwa-Ibom State
[email protected]
Abstract
This study determines the effect of cooperative learning approach on students’ performance
in business plan writing in Federal College of Education (Tech.), Omoku, Rivers State. To
achieve its major purpose, two specific purposes, two research questions and two hypotheses
were formulated. Quasi-experimental design using post-test, non-randomized control group
was used for this study. The population of 132 NCE III Business Education was used for the
study. The population was made up of two intact classes of 70 Accounting option students
and 62 Office Technology and Management option students who were studying
Entrepreneurship in Business Education II (BEA 320) during the 2015/2016 academic
session. The two sets of instruments developed by the research for the study were: Test Guide
for Writing Bankable Business Plan (TGWBBP) and Business Plan Assessment Sheet
(BPAS). The reliability of stability of the BPAS was ascertained using the test-retest method
and Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) to obtain a reliability index 0.76. The
results show that students in cooperative learning activity group performed significantly
better than those in individualized learning activity group. It also shows that students in the
heterogeneous cooperative group performed better than those in the homogeneous
cooperative group. Based on the findings and the conclusion drawn, the following
recommendations were put forward among others: That any Business educator responsible
for the implementation of entrepreneurship in business education curriculum should utilize
cooperative learning activities to enable students aid each other in the learning process. That
Business educators intending to use the cooperative approach should mixed the students
based on their ability level in order to form a heterogeneous group which tends to have
significant effect on learning objective than a homogeneous one.
Keywords: Heterogeneous students, Interdependency, Effective learning
Introduction
The survival of every human being depends on supports from others. In other words, no man
lives alone, no matter how small it may be, man depends on his fellow human being for the necessary
support that guarantees his continuous survival. It is also worth noting that human experiences,
knowledge and skills depend to a larger extent on shared ideas. This is the philosophy upon which
cooperative learning is founded. Amita (2006) defined cooperative learning as that form of learning
approach that assign students to small dedicated groups in order to learn together and take advantages
of each other’s expertise to achieve a common goal. In the same vein, Slavin (2011) opined that
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cooperative learning has to do with instructional methods where the teacher organizes students into
small groups in which they work together in order to help each other learn the academic content
effectively.
According to Johnson, Johnson and Stanne (2000) cooperative learning is a widely used
instructional procedure in all educational fields. The authors noted that this makes it even difficult to
find a comprehensive and modern instructional techniques textbook that does not refer to this
methodology. In cooperative learning, students depend on each other and serve as sources of learning
to each other, therefore affecting the performance of each other (Hajji, 2000). In other words, in
cooperative learning, students are active participant in the construction of their own knowledge, skills
and attitude rather than being perceived actors in the teaching and learning process.
There are three main types of cooperative learning groups or situations (Johnson & Johnson,
2009). These authors outlined and explained them as: informal cooperative learning, formal
cooperative learning and cooperative based groups. The informal cooperative learning normally last
from a few minutes to one class period, they are used for short-term and ad-hoc groups in which
students are required to work together to achieve a shared learning goal. This may be utilized to assist
learners to engage in the learning task, and focus their attention on the material they are to learn
through focused-pair discussions before and after a lecture. The cooperative based groups usually last
for a semester or an academic year, or even several years. They involve the use of long-term and
heterogeneous learning groups with committed relationships aimed at supporting one another to
complete assignments and make academic progress. While the formal cooperative learning involves
the use of groups that mostly last for one class period to several weeks.
Using cooperative learning approach does not simply mean letting students sit next to each
other at the same desk and asking them to do their own tasks (Gillies, 2003). Ballentine and Larres
(2007) noted that cooperative learning approach can only exist if groups are structured in such a way
that group members co-ordinate activities to facilitate one another’s learning. In order to achieve this,
Stahle and Van Sickle (1992) outlined the conditions that must be met in forming a cooperative
learning group. These conditions are: groups of students should be heterogeneous as much as
possible; teacher and students should prepare individual and collective objectives clearly and
concisely; determination of what is required to be done by everyone in each group; Motivating
superior individuals and groups; Distributing students in small groups of 2-6 students in each group;
The dialogue and debate within the group should be face to face; and the teacher's role should be
guidance and counseling only.
Johnson and Johnson (2009) noted that other researches have also identified some
components that guarantee the effectiveness of cooperative learning approach. These components are:
i. Positive interdependence: which allows students to perceive that they are linked
ii. with each other in such a way that one cannot succeed unless everyone succeeds.
Positive interdependence means that in cooperative learning situations, students
iii. are required to work together as a cohesive group to achieve shared learning
Vol. 8(1) 2017 objectives (Jensen, Moore and Hatch, 2002);
Individual accountability: this is aimed at giving each member of the group a sense
of personal responsibility toward goal achievement. Yamarik (2007) noted that in
order to make cooperative activities in the group effective, each group member
must be responsible for a defined part of the learning materials, and all group
members must take individual accountability for their group members’
achievement;
Promote interaction: which takes place when students facilitate each other’s efforts
to learn through exchanging resources, help, motivation, and points of view.
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Ballantine and Larres (2007) noted that as part of the cooperative learning
condition, students are required to interact verbally with one another on learning
tasks, exchange opinions, explain things, teach others and present their
understanding;
iv. Interpersonal and small-group skills: this means that students must be taught social
skills for high quality cooperation. To achieve this, Killen (2007), noted that social
and interpersonal skills, such as listening attentively, questioning cooperatively
and negotiating respectfully need be taught; and
v. Group processing: which exists when group members discuss how well they are
achieving their goals and maintaining their working relationships. Yamarik (2007),
opined that group processing helps to improve the effectiveness of the members in
contributing to the shared efforts to achieve the group’s goals via reflection on the
learning process.
It is worth noting at this juncture that working individually hinders students from getting
meaningful contributions from their peers who are better informed due to differences in knowledge,
skills and experiences. The social interdependency theory by Levin (1948) as developed by Deutsch
(1949) posited that when there is positive relationship between the goals to be achieved by two or
more individuals it is better to stimulate their natural desire to share ideas and do things together in
order to achieve their goals. Stimulating their natural desire to share ideas and do things together can
be promoted through assigning students to work in small groups cooperatively. However, when
students are made to work independently through individualized methods, the social impulses of
sharing meaningful knowledge, skills and experiences to assist each others learning is mostly
affected. This is because they tend to compete to claim who attained the goal rather than cooperate to
help each other to attain the goal leaving no one behind.
Johnson and Johnson (2009) noted that as at 2009 more than 1,200 researches had been
conducted on cooperative learning, and a significant amount of those studies focused on the effects of
cooperative learning on academic performance in comparisons to the more conventional,
individualistic or competitive instructional methods. While most of the researches stressed that
cooperative learning has positive effects on students’ academic performance among other outcomes
(Gillies 2003). Some researchers’ opinion (Baines, Blatchford, and Kutnick, 2003; Veenman, Van
Benthum, Bootsma, Van Dieren, and Van der Kemp, 2002) about the roles of each participant in a
cooperative learning situation diminished it positive effects. These authors noted that some students
often sit in the groups without being actively involved in the real collaborative tasks.
Business plan writing is among the repertoire of abilities that every graduate of business
education programme should develop before graduation in order to be an effective business
entrepreneur. In fact, at the Colleges of education level, business plan which is sometimes seen as a
product of feasibility report (Abdulkarim & Diepiriye, 2012), is taught as a topic of general
entrepreneurship course GSE 224 and departmental entrepreneurship course BEA 320 (National
Commission for Colleges of Education, 2012). Business plan according to Zuckerman (2004) is a
comprehensive written report of the goals of a business, and includes discussion of the business
concept, operational plan, marketing plan, financial issues, organizational issues, and legal
requirements of a business. Hormozi, Sutton, McMinn and Lucio (2002) emphasized the need for
every business entrepreneur to use business plans to enhance the chances of survival and success of
their business ventures.
Mason and Stark (2004) noted that teaching and learning business plan writing enables
business students to analyze different future scenarios that related to a proposed or existing business.
The authors noted the future scenarios to include: financial future and funding issues, identification of
associated risks in a particular line of business, sales issues, human resource issues, profitability
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Benchmark Journals INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB),
eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo
issues, growth issues, and legal issues. If Leibensteins theory of entrepreneurship which states that
entrepreneurship is a function of opportunity recognition and exploitation is any thing to go by, every
business entrepreneur must be able to write a bankable business plan for the purpose of convincing
investors to invest in the business idea.
Many graduates who have innovative business ideas for startups need business plan to be able
to access loans from various financial institutions, as well as to measure their performance from time
to time. Hence, the need help graduates to learn how to write a business plan cannot be
overemphasized. However, this cannot be achieved through direct instructional strategies such as
lecture and discussion. More innovative approaches to the teaching and learning of business plan
writing are needed to help our students, especially Business education students who will need to write
one at every point of initiating a business or expanding existing one.
Statement of the Problem
Presently, Business education students in Federal College of Education (Tech.), Omoku learn
business plan writing through individualized methods such as lecturing and teacher’s demonstration.
These methods called upon all the students in intact classroom to attend lecture, read their notes
simultaneously and learn to write business plan individually without formally depending on shared
knowledge, skills and experiences from peers. Therefore, the students tend to compete to claim
performing better in writing of the business plan rather than helping each other to learn how to write
one. Unfortunately, majority of the graduates from this programme in recent years specifically 2015
till date have been returning back to the College seeking help on how to write a comprehensive
business plan to enable them access fund from Bank of Industry (BOI). This means that they lack the
capacity to write good bankable business plan to meet the requirement for accessing startup capitals
from BOI at single digit interest rate from more than N10 billion Youth Entrepreneurial Support
(YES) project of the present administration of President Muhammadu Buhari like those of his
predecessors. Hence, the needs to adopt and utilize instructional approach that will enable them
develop the capacity to write bankable business plan for their entrepreneurial venture cannot be
underestimated.
It the light of the above, since cooperative learning approach is said to guarantee shared
knowledge, skills and experience in such manner that facilitates the accomplishment of learning
objectives and goals, it is necessary to examine its effect in assisting our students to learn business
plan writing. However, the nature of the cooperative learning group composition may also affect the
results. Therefore, it is important to compare the cooperative learning groups in terms of their ability
levels in order to have a holistic understanding of the effect of this learning approach. It is for these
reasons that this study examines the effect of cooperative learning approach on students’ performance
in business plan writing in Federal College of Education (Tech.), Omoku, Rivers State. Specifically,
the study seeks to:
1. Determine the difference in students’ mean scores in business plan writing when taught with
cooperative learning approach as against individualized learning approach.
1. Determine the difference in students’ mean score in business plan writing on the basis of
homogenous ability grouping as against heterogeneous abilities grouping when taught with
cooperative learning approach.
Vol. 8(1) 2017 Page 90
Benchmark Journals INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB),
eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo
Research Questions
The following research questions were formulated to guide the study:
1. What is the difference in students’ mean scores in business plan writing when taught with
cooperative learning approach as against individualized learning approach?
2. What is the difference in students’ mean score in business plan writing on the basis of
homogeneous ability group as against heterogeneous abilities grouping when taught with
cooperative learning approach?
Null Hypotheses:
The following null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 at level of significant:
There is no significant difference in the students’ mean score in business plan writing when taught
with cooperative learning approach as against individualized learning approach..
There is no significant difference between the mean score of students in high achievers’ group as
against middle achievers combined with low achievers abilities group in business plan writing when
taught with cooperative learning approach.
Theoretical Framework
Social learning theory by Vygotsky (1962)
Vygotsky (1962) social learning theory stated that we learn through our interactions and
communication with others. He noted that students learn through the cultural lens by interacting with
their peers, teachers, and other experts. Consequently, he suggested that teachers should create a
learning environment that maximizes the learner's ability to interact and share ideas with other
through discussion, collaboration, and feedback following the rules, skills, and abilities shaped by our
social context.
This theory suggests the fact that group diversity contributes positively to the learning
process. This is because students in group are opened to different interpretations, explanations or
answers about what they are learning as provided by the different members of the group which in turn
forces them to “re-think” their own perceptions about the learning material. In the light of the above
discourse, social learning theory encourages cooperative learning approach which is seen as the
process of learning where students actively develop and enlarge their knowledge through observation,
reflection, experimentation, discovery, and especially through social interaction. This theory is
significant to the present study because it supports heterogeneous group formation, mutual help and
assistance, exchange of needed resources, effective communication, mutual influence and trust which
are variables of cooperative learning approach. Therefore, in cooperative learning situation, it is
believed that learners do not only focus on increasing their own productivity and achievement but
complimenting each others performance and achievements by appreciating each others efforts.
Method
Design of the Study
Quasi-experimental design using the post-test, non-randomized control group was used for
this study. This research design is deemed appropriate for the study because the study would use
intact classes, therefore the researcher cannot randomly select the subjects of the study in order not to
introduce bias in the selection of students from the two classes to be used.
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Benchmark Journals INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL BENCHMARK (IJEB),
eISSN: 2489-0170 pISSN:2489-4162 University of Uyo
Population, Sample and Sampling Technique
The population of the study consisted of 132 NCE III Business Education students who
studied Entrepreneurship in Business Education II BEA 320 during the 2015/2016 academic session.
The population is made up of two intact classes of 62 office technology and management option
students and 70 accounting option students. The entire population of the two intact classes was used
for the study. Therefore, the sample of the study was made up 62 students in the control group and 70
students in the experimental group (Source: Class Attendance, 2015/2016).
Instrumentation
Two sets of instruments were developed by the researcher for the purpose of this study. These
are: a “Test Guide for Writing Bankable Business Plan (TGWBBP)” to be given to both the
experimental group and the control group. The TGWBBP contains guidelines for writing a business
plan. It specified the specific important information that is required to be provided in the business
plan. The second instrument is “Business Plan Assessment Sheet (BPAS)” for marking the Business
plan submitted by participants. It is inform of a checklist that covers all the specific important
information that needs to be provided in a bankable business plan. It is divided into eight sub-heads
with five important specific items to be assessed. Therefore, the BPAS contains 40 items to be
assessed on the basis of 1 mark for clearly stated information and 0 for not clearly stated information
(See Appendix A and B for the Instruments).
The content and face validity of the two instruments were ascertained by two lecturers from
the University of Uyo, Akwa-Ibom State. One of the lecturers was from Department of Measurement
and Evaluation and the other from Department of Vocational Education (Business Education Unit).
The test-retest method and Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) was used to obtained a
reliability index of 0.76 from the data obtained from the business plans submitted by 20 NCE II
Business Education students (OTME option) who were not part of the current study. .
Research Procedures
The researchers who were the lecturers implementing entrepreneurship in Business education
II BEA 320 during the 2015/2016 academic session taught the entire class how to write business plan
using lecture and demonstration method for two weeks. The researchers divided one of the intact
classes into groups of five students and each group was asked to collaborate in writing bankable
business plan for starting small scale production business in line with the TGWBBP. The other intact
class students were asked individually to write bankable business plan in line with the TGWBBP for
starting small scale production business. The two groups’ business plans were marked using the
BPAS assessment and the scores were compared. The researcher further grouped the cooperative
learning class students based on their Homogeneity and Heterogeneity ability in line with their
performance in BED 220 entrepreneurship in Business Education and compared their results. The
data collected were analyzed using mean and independent t-test using IBM Statistical Package for
Social Sciences (SPSS) version.
Results of Research Questions and Hypothesis Testing
Research Question 1: What is the difference in students’ performance in business plan writing when
exposed to cooperative learning activity as against the individualized learning activity?
Vol. 8(1) 2017 Page 92
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International Journal of Educational Benchmark (IJEB) - Vol. 8, Issue 1, July/September 2017
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The “International Journal of Educational Benchmark” (IJEB), is a multidisciplinary, double-blind, peer reviewed, open access journal, publishing original academic articles that deal with issues of international relevance in educational theory, methodology and practice. The journal has a distinguished editorial board with extensive academic records, helping to ensure that high academic quality benchmarks and scientific standards are maintained. IJEB publishes theoretical and empirical and theoretical papers. IJEB seeks to acquaint a wide spectrum of readers with the quality research being done in various educational institutions, research bodies and intellectual institutions. IJEB therefore welcomes wide comparative and transnational studies, essays, research papers that are addressing this community’s qualitative and quantitative concerns. Importance and preference will be given to those articles that address and contribute to important disciplinary and interdisciplinary queries, clarifications, problem statements and controversies. The journal publishes original research articles on a wide range of topics of contemporary relevance in the broad fields of Arts, Education and Humanities.
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