ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of utilization of instructional materials on the academic performance of secondary school students in Basic science in Urnuahia North Local Government Area (LGA) of Abia State. A survey research design was used for the study. The study was guided by four research questions. The population of the study consisted of all Junior Secondary School Students, particularly those in Basic two and three in all the Public/Government and Mission secondary schools in Umuahia North LGA, numbering three thousand four hundred and ninety eight (3498). A simple random sampling technique was used to select a sample of five hundred and fifty (550) students from the population. The instrument for data collection was the questionnaire captioned: "Influence of Utilization of Instructional Materials on the Academic performance of Basic Science Students (IUIMAPBSS) Questionnaire. The instrument was validated by two experts in Measurement and Evaluation and one in Guidance and Counseling all of the College of Science and Technology Education of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike. The reliability of the instrument was determined using test-retest method which yielded a Pearson Product Moment of 0.87 and 0.82 which attested to its suitability. After the administration of the questionnaire, the results of the responses were analyzed and the result shows that there is a low level of availably of instructional materials needed for the teaching and learning of Basic Science. It was also discovered that utilization of instructional materials positively influences the academic performances of students to a high extent, among others. Based on the findings, the following recommendations among others were made; that teachers and students should own up the responsibility of providing the instructional materials needed for Basic Science lessons. The Government on the other hand should do well to complement the efforts of teachers and students in providing needed instructional materials for teaching and learning. In addition, adequate training should be given to teachers on the indispensability of instructional materials in lesson presentation.