comparative analysis of academic performance of student

comparative analysis of academic performance of student in Economics and mathematics

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1  Background of the study

Academic performance has been described as the scholastic standing of a student at a given moment. This scholastic standing could be explained in terms of the grades obtained in a course or groups of courses (Daniels and Schoulen, 1970). Simkins (1981) commented on this scholastic standing and argued that performance is a measure of output and that the main outputs in education are expressed in terms of learning, that is, changes in knowledge, skills and attitudes of individuals as a result of their experiences within the school's system. STAN, (1992) supported this argument and reported that performance is the level of attainment of a person in an examination, that is, how an individual is able to demonstrate his or her abilities in an examination.

Noting this point, Al-Shorayye (1995) regarded a student's performance in an examination as being depended on his cumulative grade point average. His argument supported Entwistle and' Wilson's (1977) assertion that a student's success is generally judged by examination performance while the best criterion of performance is the sum of the student's academic performance in all the subjects taken.

Researchers had deliberated much on performance as a measure of school output (Blaug and Woodhall, 1968; Adeyemi, 1998; Bandele, 2001). Blaug and Woodhall (1968), for instance, argued that the only measure of performance of school leavers is the attainment in GCE examinations. Consequently, they measured output in terms of the number of school leavers weighted by different indices of quality or number of passes and reported that performance in GCE is one relevant criterion of educational quality and that 'academic index' measures output in terms of GCE results.

The pattern of grading students in the Senior Secondary Certificate (SSC) examinations in Nigeria is such that the distinction grade is being represented by A1 to B3. The credit grade is represented by C4 to C6. The ordinary pass grade is represented by D7 and E8 while the failure grade is represented by F9 (Ondo State Ministry of Education, 1994; Ekiti State Ministry of Education, 1997; WAEC, 2006). It needs to be mentioned however, that the distinction and credit grades are the only requisite grades for admissions into Nigerian universities and candidates must have at least credits in five subjects including English Language in order to qualify for admission (JAMB, 2007).

Considering the results in the WASSCE and similar examinations, a fall in performance in public examinations has been reported in many countries (World Bank, 1988; Adeyegbe, 2002; Onipede, 2003). The World Bank (1988), for instance, found that the quality of education especially in Sub-Sahara Africa has eroded markedly while State support has declined in real dollars.

Researchers have identified different factors that could cause students’ failure (Wankowski, 1973; OECD, 1989; Al-Methen and Wilkinson, 1992). Wankowski (1973) for instance, reported that academic failure seems to be associated with the lack of personal confidence, emotional instability and temperamental tendency towards extraversion. Supporting this fact, Al-Methen and Wilkinson (1992) reported that failure in students is due to the lack of confidence in the knowledge they possess

which in turn could affect their level of activity in the classroom. They argued that students’ academic problems arise from personal inadequacies such as low ability; negative self concept, anxiety, maladjustment, environmental influences such as poor classroom conditions, curricular inadequacies, peer groups and the lack of home support. These arguments supported OECD's (1989) remarks that many young people do not learn much in developing countries. Some often leave school before the school leaving age while others are in the habit of attending school irregularly.

Researchers have given other reasons why most candidates find it difficult to pass their examinations (Oke, 1992; Ijaiya, 2000; Oderinde, 2003; Adeyemi, 2007). Among these reasons include having to repeat classes, lack of adequate knowledge in their various subjects, inadequacy of professionally qualified teachers in schools and insufficient facilities. These reasons might perhaps have led to the remarks made by (Odesola, 2001; Adelugba, 2003; Asaolu, 2003) that Ondo State recorded an unprecedented failure in core subjects in the year 2000 senior secondary certificate examinations in the annals of the State.

Therefore, since performance is a measure of school output (Simkins 1981), why the Senior Secondary Certificate (SSC) examinations is major public examinations exposed to by secondary school students in Kwara States, Nigeria, this study intended to examine the performance level of students in the examinations from 2007 to 2011 in Ilorin Metropolis of Kwara State.

1.2 Statement of the problem

Over the years, many educational authorities have sought to find out the reasons for the downward trend in the academic achievement of secondary school students.

The performance of secondary schools' students in Ilorin L.G.A, Nigeria has been a subject of controversy. Some schools of thought were of the view that the performance was improving (Ige, 2001; Afolabi and Adewolu, 1998). Other schools of thought argued that the performance level was dwindling terribly (Onipede, 2003). The problem of this study, therefore, was to determine whether or not any significance differences exist between the performance level of secondary schools' students in senior secondary certificate examination in Ilorin L.G.A of Kwara State, Nigeria?

1.3 Purpose of the study

The general purpose of this study is to make a comparative analysis of academic performance of student in Economics and mathematics from 2007 to 2011 in Ilorin L.G.A of Kwara State. Specifically, the study intend to examine whether:

i.             There is a difference in performance of senior secondary school students in 2007 and 2008

ii.            There is a difference in performance of senior secondary school students in 2009 and 2010

iii.          There is a difference in performance of senior secondary school students in 2010 and 2011

iv.          There is a difference in performance of senior secondary school students in Mathematics and Economics

1.4 Research Questions

The following questions are posed to guide the investigation:

i.             Is there is any difference in performance of senior secondary school students in 2007 and 2008?

ii.            Is there any difference in performance of senior secondary school students in 2009 and 2010?

iii.          Is there any difference in performance of senior secondary school students in 2010 and 2011?

iv.          Is a difference in performance of senior secondary school students in Mathematics and Economics?

1.5 Statement of hypotheses

The following research hypotheses were formulated to answer the research questions:

i.             There is no significant difference in performance of senior secondary school students in 2007 and 2008

ii.            There is no significant difference in performance of senior secondary school students in 2009 and 2010

iii.          There is no significant difference in performance of senior secondary school students in 2010 and 2011

iv.          There is no significant difference in performance of senior secondary school students in Mathematics and Economics

1.6 Significant of the study

It is the researchers view that the findings of the study will be of immense benefits to parent, policy makers, planners of educational program, students.

The administrator may also provide rich or conducive environment that will facilitate healthy study techniques. The study will also be useful to the students because of the various study techniques pinpointed. The students will note other factors that influence their academic performance such as study techniques, level of anxiety and self-concept may now be understood and appreciated as relevant factors.

A study of this nature will help teachers to adopt and use appropriate instructional materials and methods that will stimulate students to develop effective study techniques. The teacher will also have a good understanding of the problems associated with students and therefore guide them towards achieving academic performance.

The study will expose researchers to problems associated with study techniques formation. It will add more information to the existing literature in this area. The study will also stimulate, them to carry out further research.

 1.7 Delimitations of the study

The study was delimited to senior Secondary Schools in student in Ilorin L.G.A of Kwara state. It was also delimited to the variables under study.

1.8 Limitations of the study

This study would have covered the whole of ……… state, but due to financial restrictions, the study was limited to senior Secondary in student.

The psychological state of the students, which include their temperament (joy or Sadness) as at time they were supplying the information in questionnaire might affect their response thus may influence the research result.

 1.9   Definition of terms 

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COMMUNICATION AS AN ESSENTIAL INGREDIENT IN THE QUEST FOR GROWTH AND SURVIVAL OF COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISE

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1   Background to the study

One of the uniqueness of the human person is the ability to objectify his thoughts and ideas through language. With the social evolution of language, especially speech language, man was able to widen the gap between him and the rest of the animal kingdom. Thus, language can be seen as a system of sounds, symbols and words for purposes of communication.

Organizational communication can be broadly defined as communication with one another in the context of an organization (Eisenberg & Goodall, 1997; Shockley-Zalabak, 2006).This type of communication, in turn, includes activities of sending and receiving messages through various layers of authority, using various message systems, and discussing various topics of interest to the group we belong to or the company we work for.

Communication touches every aspect of human activity. Business communication is any communication used to promote a product, service or organization, with the objective of making sale. In business communication, messages are conveyed through various channels of communication, including internet, print (publication), radio, television, outdoor, and word of mouth Alysa (2005).

Communication represents the key to efficiency within an organization, along with motivation and professional competence. All the members of a company spend most of their time communicating in a form or another, no matter their position within the hierarchy of the company. Due to the fact that nowadays the number of employees from services and offices is bigger than the number of production workers, a need for improving communication has been noticed because it is necessary to have a deeper collaboration between work colleagues and the hierarchical levels as teamwork has been spreading. Working in a team can’t be efficient without collaboration between all the members. Moreover, technology changes have brought new trends in the structure and activity of the organizations. That’s why communication practices and technologies have become more and more important for all types of organizations. Furthermore, the role of the manager in the organizational communication process has increased; on one hand, the manager is the one who is dealing with processing internal and external information, and, on the other hand, the manager communicates this information to his / her subordinates (he / she is a disseminator) and to the ones outside the company (he/she is a spokesperson).

In this context, on the road towards an increased efficiency, an organization needs to handle continuously internal and external communication with the aim of improving and perfecting it.

Effective communication processes lie in a background of every company that wants to be successful in a long term (Purves, 2005). Usually with the word communication people understand the interaction with others on everyday basis with the aim of exchanging information. On the organizational level, communication is divided more narrowly in external And internal communication. Internal communication is communication among organization's management and internal stakeholders (Welch, Jackson, 2007), whereas external  communication is the one focusing on the audiences outside the organization (Saunders, 1999). Both  internal and external communications together are being identified as corporate communication.

Linking together the above said, this research will examine communication as an ingredient in the quest for growth and survival of commercial enterprisev in Key  Stone Bank Plc and 7up bottling company Plc.

1.2   Statement of the problem

Business all over the world today is very challenging. To stay profitable in the highly challenging and competitive global market economy, all factors of production, i.e. men, machine and materials, should be wisely managed. Among the factors of production, the human resource constitutes the biggest challenge because unlike other inputs, employee management demands skilful handling of thoughts, feelings and emotions to secure highest productivity. Communication within enterprise plays an important role in this challenge.

Managers have traditionally spent the majority of their time communicating in one form or another (meetings, face to face discussions, memos, letters, e-mails, reports etc.). Today, however, it has become an indispensible part of their work. An effective management of production processes requires greater collaboration and teamwork among workers in different functional groups. Hence, to manage the existing performance of the employees and to motivate them for better performance, efficient communication practices have become more important in all organisations.

This study therefore aim at assessing the extent to which communication act as ingredient in the quest for growth and survival of commercial enterprise: A case study of Key  Stone Bank Plc and 7up bottling company Plc.

1.3   Objective/purpose of the study

        The objective of the is to investigate communication as an essential ingredient in the quest for growth and survival of commercial enterprise in King Stone Bank Plc & 7up bottling company. Specifically, the study is designed to examine the extent to which

i.             Effective communication can enhance the growth and survival of commercial enterprise.

ii.           Internal communication contributes to the growth and survival of commercial enterprise.

iii.         External communication contributes to the growth and survival of commercial enterprise.

1.4   Research questions

        To guide the direction of this study, the following research questions were posed:

i.             How does effective communication enhance the growth and survival of commercial enterprise?

ii.           To what extent does internal communication contribute to the growth and survival of commercial enterprise?

iii.         How does external communication improve the growth and survival of commercial enterprise?

1.5   Statement of hypotheses

        The following hypotheses will be formulated to for the study:

i.             There is no significant relationship between effective communication and the growth/survival of commercial enterprise.

ii.           There is no significant relationship between internal communication and growth/survival of commercial enterprise.

iii.         There is no significant relationship between external communication and growth/survival of commercial enterprise.

1.6   Significance of the study

        It is often imperative to ask what would be the significance of any endeavour, be it academic or otherwise. This is also true of this study. The researcher anticipates that the study shall be of invaluable and great benefits to administrators, the students and general public.

To the administrators, the study shall be of great importance to them since it unravel the role of communication enterprise growth and survival, they would work hard to improve their condition of service and establish good working relations.

        Since the study has its implication on communication both internal and client-communication and enterprise growth, there are certain factors that when fulfilled in working life of staff would improve their productivity. These factors will be highlighted in the study and administrators shall then be prepared to device all means at their disposal to effect business communication that could enhance the growth and survival of commercial enterprise.  

        The findings will also serve as a vehicle and useful guide to future researchers in the field of industrial and labour studies and other disciplines.

1.7   Scope/limitations of the study

The scope of this study is restricted to only Kingstone bank plc and 7up bottling company Plc. The study is also limited to the variables under study.

The major limitation of the study will be the poor attitude of the respondents towards responding to the questionnaire item due to mixed feeling.

        Though time was also a limitation to the study being that the researcher combined the research work with other academic activities.

        Other limitations encountered will be human relations, such as peoples’ indifference and negative attitude towards researches.

1.8   Definition of terms

        To avoid confusion of terminologies, certain terms used in the study are hereby defined.

Communication: This refers to face to face interaction between the management and the employees or employees and the client (customers)

Internal communication: is the transmission of information between organizational members or parts of the organization.

External communication: this is the transmission of information between a business and another person or entity in the company's external environment. Examples of these people and entities include customers, potential customers, suppliers, investors, shareholders, and society at large.

Growth: Growth refers to a positive change in size over a period of time.

Survival: the state of continuing to exist in spite of competition and economy.

Commercial enterprise: the activity of providing goods and services involving financial and commercial and industrial aspects.

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business education programme and economic development

Contribution of Business education programme to the Economic development of Calabar Municipality of Cross River State
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1    Background to the Study
 It is the desire of every society to achieve a sustainable level of economic development. This could be possible through embarking on entrepreneurial activities by the citizens of the society. This is because the public sector cannot single-handedly drive in the desired level of development. Furthermore, the success of a society in entrepreneurship depends on skills (education) acquired by the entrepreneurs. This owes to the fact that education leads to creativity. Education also equips a person with relevant skills which would lead him to better performance in his chosen career.
Education plays a dominant role as an effective instrument for largescale achievement and revolution in all spheres. Purposeful education enables the individual to understand and study the real life situation and to develop an opportunity for creating confidence in the minds of younger generation, and provide a strong base for rational and value oriented and nation building progress (Myers & Harbison, 2001). Technical and vocational courses in higher education play a significant role in this context. Therefore, a close introspection of the trend of technical and vocational courses in higher education is essential, not only for making them attractive, but also in shaping them to be economically and socially relevant in Eritrea (Rena, 2004). Two highly commendable features, industriousness and steadfastness characterize the people of Eritrea. The Government is investing heavily on human resources development in the conviction that among its best resources are its people. Obviously, the courses in technical and vocational education are considered as utility oriented subjects; however they involve heavy cost to the national exchequer of Eritrea (Government of Eritrea, 1996).
The World Bank (2000) acknowledged the importance of technical and higher education for countries not to be left behind in a global economy based on knowledge. Criticizing an analysis that measures the benefits of higher education solely in terms of incremental earnings accruing to individuals, higher education is regarded as ‘simultaneously improves individual’s lives and enriches wider society’ (World Bank, 2000: 37). Further, education is a lifelong process. What a student obtains from the school and college is only a small part of the education that needs for the economic and social life of human being. Thus, both in the case of man who is determined to reach the summit, and the man who wants to make a complete success of his life, additional education is imperative to develop the special skills. Therefore, the education must be constant and continuous programme (Rena, 2005).
Business education is one of the major components of vocational education. In Nigeria, the discipline is offered at both the secondary and tertiary levels of education. According to Abdullahi (2002), Business education is an aspect of total educational programme which provides the recipient with knowledge, skills, understanding and attitude needed to perform well in the business world as a producer or consumer of goods and services. Furthermore, Osuala (2004) is of the opinion that Business education is a broad area of knowledge that deals with a nation’s economic system and also identifies and explains the rate of business contentment and experience that prepare individuals for effective participation as citizens, workers and consumers. Finally, The National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) (2008) defines Business education as an aspect of vocational education that equips people with necessary skills and theoretical knowledge needed for performance in business world either for job occupation or self-employment.
It could be deduced from the definitions above that Business education is an education for and about business. It combines both theoretical and practical knowledge. In the same vein, it exposes the recipient to the economic system of his country and equips him with lifelong skills that would enable him to make reasonable judgement as a producer (entrepreneur), employee or consumer of goods and services. Finally, Aliyu (2013) stated that the purpose of Business education stresses the need for:

1. Specialized instruction to prepare students for career in business.
2. Fundamental instruction to help students assume their economic roles as consumers, workers and citizens.
3. Background instruction to assist students in preparing for professional careers requiring advanced study.

In line with these, Business education which is described as an ‘education for business and about business’ could make a person to perform well as an entrepreneur. This is due to the fact that it equips the recipients with skills which are needed for business success. Furthermore, entrepreneurship focuses on the desire and ability of a person to search for investment opportunities within his environment and also be able to set up and run an enterprise based on the identified opportunities.
Based on the presentation above, it is obvious that Business education could lead to the development of entrepreneurship in Nigeria and indeed all the countries of the world. This owes to the fact that based on the content of Business education; it has the potential of equipping the recipients with skills in Book-keeping/Accounting, Business management, Marketing, Business communication, Records management, etc which are all necessary for the promotion and survival of business enterprises. It is thus against this background that this research looks at the contribution of Business education in the economic development of Calabar Municipality of Cross River State.

1.2    Theoretical framework

          The theories adopted for this study was:
1.2.1    Frederic Bartlett's schemata theory (1886)

• Romiszowski’s skills learning theory (1981)

1.2.3  Entrepreneurial theory

1.2.1    Frederic Bartlett's schemata theory (1886)
          Schemata can be seen as an outline or a plan that was initially introduced into psychology and education by Bartlett in 1886. Bartlett conducted a series of studies on the recall of Native American Folktales, in which he noticed that many of the recalls were not accurate, but involved the replacement of unfamiliar information with something more familiar. The recalls also, included many inferences that went beyond the information given in the original text.
          Bartlett therefore, accounted for these findings by proposing that people have schemata, or unconscious mental structures, that represent an individual's generic knowledge about the world. The basis of this theory is that it is through schemata that old knowledge influences new information. The relevance of this theory to this work is that, students should activate relevant knowledge before application or exhibition of business studies skills.
          Therefore, workers are expected to employ appropriate schemata for effective comprehension. Employer are also expected to try to provide pre-requisite knowledge by initiating instruction from the simple to the complex. More attention should be given to teaching higher order comprehension processes. So, schemata theory in relation to this work focuses attention on the role knowledge plays in acquiring new knowledge and application of the knowledge to acquire entrepreneurial skills.
          This theory assisted the researcher to identify the content areas of the business education curriculum where the workers require a pre-knowledge as a bases to acquiring skills.


1.2.2   Alexander Romiszowski’s skills learning theory (1981)
          Skills refer to the neuro-muscular coordinated activities that lead to expert execution of psychomotor behaviours. This theory was propounded by Romiszowski (1981), who argued that skills schema has four categories namely: cognitive, psychomotor, reactive and interactive; each of these has the productive and the reproductive dimensions. Some examples of the cognitive skills of productive dimensions include the ability to find new solutions to existing problems, invent new procedures, or products, or write creatively. Their reproductive dimensions involve transfer of learning. Ability to speak and write grammatically good and correct sentences is a cognitive skill of reproductive category. Cognitive skills therefore has to do with the processes involved in logical thinking, problem solving, or ability to make judicious decisions based on coordinated factual and pointed information.
          The reactive skills category, on the other hand, has to do with the affective domain: self-control, habit formation, expression of attitudes and feelings. Their productive-and reproductive categories has to do with conditioned habits and personal control. The interactive skills deal with the ability to interrelate with others. Exhibition of acceptable social habits such as pleasant tones, ready smiles, compelling personality, leadership skills and persuasiveness or oracy are of the reproductive category.
          The skills schema sees the component of psychomotor to be concerned with physical activities and perceptual acuity. The reproductive dimensions of this skill component include skills such as running, writing, drawing, typing or changing gears in automobile. The productive dimensions on the other hand require large constructive combination of varied strategic physical skills such as driving, swimming, playing football or sewing. Technical skills required for arts, crafts, designing and general constructions belong to this category too. According to Gagne and Briggs (1979), the psychomotor category or the "motor skills" usually require some form of neuromuscular coordination involving the ability to apply different part of the body, including sometimes the vocal cords and throats.
Learning of skilled activities according to Alexander Romiszowski (1981:226) passes through four stages;
(i)       Perception of options available to the learner.
(ii)      Decision involving planning and choice of actions to be carried out;
(iii)     Action which is willingly and purposefully directed and
(iv)    Evaluation of perceived results, further actions and decisions.          
This theory helps the researcher to identify in the business education curriculum that requires skills development that will make enhance manpower development.


1.2.3 Entrepreneurial Theory (The entrepreneur as innovator)
This theory was propounded by Schumpeter (1954).  The theory states that the entrepreneur was not the risk bearer but the driving force in economic development.  The main idea was that change is not only coming from outside the economic but from within.  The change initiating force from within is the entrepreneur.
The theorist stressed on how the entrepreneur acts, and listed five categories of action that are covered by the concept of innovation:

1. The introduction of new goods or quality of goods.
2. The introduction of a new method of production.
3. The opening of a new market.
4. The utilization of some new source of supply of raw materials or intermediate goods.
5. The carrying out of some new organizational forms of the industries.

          Schumpeter (1954) believed that entrepreneurial traits are not teachable and only a small percentage of individuals within a population has these abilities.  But most important is the fact that the entrepreneur is motivated intrinsicly, and not by profits or luxury.  The behaviour of the entrepreneur can not be measured in ratio, can be irrational and sometimes pathological.  Also he compares the market to a sports game or even a boxing fight in which the entrepreneur has a strong will to succeed, motivated based on his dreams and the will to found his own kingdom.
This theory is relevant to this study because any rural dwellers that are innovative will be able to acquire those skills to help her produce and introduce new goods or quality goods into the market.  The introduction of new product in the market will lead to improvement in livelihood.

1.3    Statement of the Problem
Enabling citizens through education and skill enhancement is more critical today than at any other time. There is fairly well founded concern that in the next decade the country could find itself performing a difficult balancing act: catering to the needs of a significantly growing population while trying to find opportunities for a newly emerging workforce of youth that does not have marketable skills. However, no nation can be exempted from the sufferings of illiteracy and unemployment. The degree of suffering may be different but their existence in an economy is unavoidable and uncontrollable (Rena, 2004). Unless a nation knows the ways to manage this ailment in a proper way, it would crop up as a major problem showing up an economy to the external world as a bad example.
In development rating, Nigeria is classified as a developing nation. With a GDP per capita of $2,700 (2012 estimate), population below poverty line of 45% (2010 estimate) and unemployment rate of 24% (2011 estimate) Nigeria was ranked 151 out of 185 countries in the United Nations Development Index in 2004 (Wikipedia, 2012). According to the same report, Nigeria’s human capital is underdeveloped. The latest value of Human Development Index shows that Nigeria is ranked 156 among 187 countries. The economy is highly inefficient; the services and agricultural sectors account for 32 and 30 percent of employment respectively while manufacturing sector accounts for only 11 percent (Wikipedia, 2012).
The poor showing of Nigeria in development rating is not unconnected with the underdevelopment of her human capital since human capital development is linked to general development - economic, political or social. It then becomes imperative to look at the relationship between education and development, hence the rationale of the studies.

1.4     Purpose of the study
The purpose of this study is to investigate the contribution of Business education programme to the Economic development of Calabar Municipality of Cross River State. Specifically, the study intends to examine whether:

1. Business education skills acquired contribute to unemployment reduction in Nigeria.
2. Business education skills acquired promote entrepreneurship in Nigeria.

• Business education skills acquired reduce poverty in Nigeria.

1.5    Research questions
The following research questions guided the study

1. How does Business education skills acquired contribute to unemployment reduction in Nigeria?
2. To what extent does Business education skills acquired promote entrepreneurship in Nigeria?

• Does Business education skills acquired reduce poverty in Nigeria?

1.6    Hypotheses
The under listed null hypotheses were tested in this study at 0.05 level of significance.

1. There is no significant relationship between Business education skills and unemployment reduction in Nigeria.
2. There is no significant relationship between Business education skills and promotion of entrepreneurship in Nigeria.

• There is no significant relationship between Business education skills and poverty reduction in Nigeria.

1.7     Significance of the study
The study is significant for providing relevant information on the need to improve on higher education towards proper preparation of under graduates for the world of work.
It will also be a sensitisation document to undergraduates and anybody accesses it on the paramount importance of going for entrepreneurship skills development education programmes to acquire relevant skills that will enable one survive in a depressed economy.
The results of the study are also meant to create a high level of awareness among prospective graduates on the relevance of entrepreneurship education.
The study is also significant for articulating the need for education planners and Nigerian tertiary institutions' authorities (private and public) to direct effort at inculcating courses for entrepreneurship development skills into tertiary institutions' curricula and programmes.

1.8    Limitation of the study
          The major limitation of this study will be the poor attitude of the respondents towards responding to the questionnaire item due to mixed feelings. But this will not influence the outcome of the research since the researcher will assure the respondents of their utmost confidentiality of every information provided.
          Another limitation was time factor in  that the researcher had to combine the research with other academic activities.
1.9    Scope of the study
          This study restricted to all business education students in Department of  Business and Vocational studies, University of Calabar, Calabar Municipality of Cross River State. The study is also delimited to the variables under studies.

1.10  Definition of terms
Business education: business education involves teaching students the fundamental theories and processes of business.
Entrepreneurship: Entrepreneurship is the willingness to take risks and develop, organize and manage a business venture in a competitive global marketplace that is constantly evolving.
Poverty: Poverty is general scarcity, dearth, or the state of one who lacks a certain amount of material possessions or money
Unemployment: Unemployment is a phenomenon that occurs when a person who is actively searching for employment is unable to find work
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branding and consumer choice

THE EFFECT OF BRANDING ON CONSUMER CHOICE OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE IN ENUGU METROPOLIS.

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION

• Background to the study

People in our society are so conscious about their status and they prefer to use branded products to show off their status symbol. Brand is considered as implied device through which any business can attain the attraction of people and can enjoy the competitive edge. In our local scenario it also considered as a valuable asset for any business as it can change peoples’ buying behavior. It can play a vital role to expand any business.
Marketing valuable strategies and tools can develop the brand of any product. If brand is managed in effective ways, a business can enjoy maximum number of customers and can build long term profitable relations with customers. Refine quality of products and social responsibilities of any business can positively affect the behaviors of people regarding brand image, satisfaction and loyalty (World Applied Sciences Journal 23 (1):117-122, 2013)
In today’s business environment, companies must work harder than ever before to achieve some degree of differentiation in their products. Many companies have sought to achieve this differentiation by branding their products, simply putting the company’s name on product (Aaker, 1991).
The market is flooded with new and old brands and strength of brand war is increasing day by day. The popularity of a brand is an instrument for survival and success of company in the market. In this respect companies present different packages to customers with the use of different resource weapons in this rivalry war for raising awareness among the customers about the branded product.
In the past, most products went unbranded. Producers and middlemen sold their goods out of barrels, bins, and cases, without any supplier’s identity. The earliest sign of branding were in the efforts of medieval guilds to require crafts people to put trade marks on their products to protect themselves and consumers against inferior quality. Today, branding is such a strong force that hardly anything goes unbranded. A powerful name is said to have consumer franchise. (Adirika, E. O, Ebue, B. C, and Nnolim, D. A, 2001).
Moreover, a realization of the fact that branding as a marketing tool affects other product management decisions, confronts one with the fact that its impact on marketing activities and consumers cannot be overemphasized. Okafor (1995:100), captures the very essence of branding, when he opined that “apart from the herculean task that will be associated with trying to decide what manufacturers’ product to buy from all the unbranded products, other product management decisions based on market segmentation, promotion, product positioning, pricing etc, would have been practically impossible”.
A brand is the identity of a specific product, service, or business. The word brand began simply as a way to tell one person’s cattle from another by means of a hot iron stamp (Scott:2004)).
Powerful brands create meaningful images in the minds of consumers (Keller, K. L., (2001). Creating a strong brand identity builds mind share – one of the strongest competitive advantages imaginable. As a result, customers think of your business first when they think of product category. For example, when one thinks of milk, more likely than not, one thinks of Peak brand. Likewise, when a child wants noodles, the chances are often a choice of Indomie. The reason behind these strong brands – product association is that these companies have built rock solid brand identities.
Marketers consider branding as an integral aspect of the total marketing strategy as well as a vital factor in product planning and development. Sometimes, the way in which a product is perceived by the market by merely hearing the brand name is a good determinant of the product’s success or failure. e.g. Fayrous.
From the foregoing importance of branding, marketers and producers alike are developing increasing interest in this strategy. The Alcoholic Beverage  Industry in Nigeria is not an exception to this increasing adoption of branding as a strategy for winning the heart of consumers.
Alcoholic Beverage  have acquired a household recognition, such great awareness is further manifested in the fact that some people have problem of controlling their in-take of Alcoholic Beverage s on health ground, while others contend with their financial inability to have as many bottles as they really desire. This is attributed largely to the popularity, which Alcoholic Beverages like Star, Gulder, 33 and Stout have acquired in recent times.
Marketers are no longer in doubt as to whether consumers need the products in the marketplace, but are more interested in knowing why consumers prefer one brand of a product to the other. Thus, marketers usually design strategies that will facilitate the marketing or selling of their products.
However, one of the vital elements in the marketing of any product is branding.  Branding is one of the elements in the product planning activities of a firm. A brand is any word, letter, symbol, device, design, term or a combination of any of these that is used by a manufacturer or seller to identify his goods or services and to differentiate them from those of the competitors. (Olakunle K. Olakunori 1999).
The Alcoholic Beverages under study here, Star, Gulder, 33 and Stout are all brand names which are vocalized and also used to distinguish a particular Alcoholic Beverage  from the other.
Branding according to Okpara (2002:160), is the imaginative process of creating a unique, relevant and harmonious name, term, sign, symbol or its combination in order to identify a company’s product and to differentiate them from those of the competitors.
Branding is the activity used to establish Alcoholic Beverage  identity, which is also about providing a means of differentiation
Branding can stir feeling and make connections among consumers. Alcoholic Beverage branding is all about more than a brand, trademark or slogan. It is based on how the drink makes customers or consumers feel.
Today in a competitive market, the question is about the survival of the company in the market. But the answer depends on companies to survive by packaging, design, price, quality, distribution channel and other means. The proper strategic planning is needed to achieve revenue, sales, quality and market share. A good strategy differentiates company brand to other competitor’s brands. The intention to offer marketing package for consumer benefits by a marketer is to win the competition by creating new and decisive.
The competitive nature of the brewery industry has precipitated the need for these firms in the industry to introduce their product in the market through branding.
The importance of branding cannot be overemphasized, especially when one considers the several functions it performs on consumers’ decision and satisfaction. Firms in the Brewery industry, such as Nigerian Breweries Plc, Guinness Breweries Plc, Consolidated Breweries Plc, etc, seem to be typical examples where branding as a marketing device plays an important role.
The fact that all companies aspire to build brands that eventually get etched in the culture of the society and become cultural icon is a sure pointer to the importance of branding (Raj:2007).
While studying the literature, it was found out that there is not much research about branding and consumer choice. Most research is focused on more complicated knowledge structures such as attitude, awareness and brand image as Factors Influencing Consumer Buying Behaviour of Luxury Branded Goods (Khor eng tatt 2010) from University sains Malaysia and a study to indicate the importance of brand awareness in brand choice- A cultural perspective (Fred Posner, 2005) from Kristianstad university. Therefore, this research focuses on brand and how it affects consumer’s choice.

1.2     Statement of problem
Consumers have their attributes and forces behind before and during the process of purchasing branded goods/product. If customers trust a brand quality it makes a positive connection to the brand and customers will have a reason to become a loyal to the brand.
Loyalty and trust of the customers is very important for a company because it reduces the chance of attack from competitors (Aaker, 1996). In this increasable competitive market, companies are attempting to gain better position for them by becoming more customer-oriented (Hartmann, 2007). Companies are facing wider range of competitors who offer a similar product to same customers at different prices (Kotler, 2005). Usually most of products lack differentiation, competitors and potential competitors are also like to copy what the leading company does. Usually we get information and knowledge during our life. This depends on our judgment and beliefs.
In the contemporary marketing environment, it has always been a difficult task to say exactly which factors motivate the consumer to prefer a particular product to another. Most marketers have paid attention to factors which in their own estimation determine consumers’ preference for their products without giving due consideration to factors which in the consumers’ reckoning influence their buying decision. The result is that marketing plan designed for a particular product may fail to attain the desired and targeted result for reasons that consumers are unpredictable in their behaviours, especially with multiple brands such as those of Alcoholic Beverage s.
Consumers of Alcoholic Beverage , in most cases, evaluate the quality of a particular product by the alternatives of its brand name in relation to others. The fact that brand war among the breweries seemed to have moved on to the shape and size of Beer bottles, as is the case of 33 in their promotion recently including the brand name, the filtration and sugar contents, could be considered as a measure of the importance of branding of beer drink.
Branding is one of the elements in the product planning activities of a firm. It has to do with the efforts a firm makes in choosing, developing, projecting and establishing its own brand(s) of products Olakunle (1999).
Branding is used to meet needs, such as the description of products, easy identification of products and services, speeds shopping by assuring consistence quality, but its familiarity level leads to brand rejection, non-recognition, recognition, preference and insistence.
Often, when asked the non-price reason behind ones choice for a particular brand of product over another, most consumers will readily shout “quality”. However, one would accept this answer with a lot of ambivalence, given the fact that it is only on rare occasions that consumers would have what it takes to make an objective quality differentiation among alternative product brands. This category of consumers is highly informed and enlightened and their percentage is quite negligible.
Furthermore, quality status ascribed by consumers to certain product brands are not real but perceived. It is only a fragment of their perception. It therefore follows that those marketers who know how best to manipulate consumer perception and therefore better position their brands in the minds of the consumers will definitely emerge winners in the marketing warfare.
In consideration of these factors, the problems of determinants of brand patronages in consumers’ choice of Alcoholic Beverage s become very pertinent as to elicit the following specific problems:

1. What constitutes the secret behind consumers preference of a particular Alcoholic Beverage in favour of another type?
2. What factors influences consumer choice of a particular brand of Alcoholic Beverage?
3. Could branding be significantly associated with taste or aesthetic values such as bottle designs and colour of labels?

1.3     Objectives of Study
The study attempted to achieve the following objectives, which were to;

1. Ascertain the relationship if any, between branding and consumer patronage.
2. Ascertain the factors of branding that are likely to influence consumers’ choice of Alcoholic Beverages.
3. Ascertain if there is any significant variation in the packaging of different Alcoholic Beverage.
4. Determine if there is any difference among the different brands of Alcoholic Beverage.

1.4     Research Questions
In the light of this research work, the following questions guided us;

1. Does Alcoholic Beverage branding have any significant relationship with consumer patronage?
2. What is the significant effect of Alcoholic branding on the choice of Alcoholic Beverage?
3. Is there any significant variation in the packaging of different Alcoholic Beverage?
4. Is there any difference among the different brands of Alcoholic Beverage s?

1.5     Research Hypotheses
The following hypotheses, stated in their null forms, were tested in the course of this study:
Ho1: The use of branding is not significant in the determinant of customers’ patronage of Alcoholic Beverages.
Ho2: Branding has no significant influence on consumer’s choice of Alcoholic Beverages.
Ho3: There is no significant variation in the packaging of different Alcoholic Beverages.
Ho4: There is no difference among the different brands of Alcoholic Beverages.

1.6     Significance of Study
This study will primarily be of benefit to producers and marketers of different brands of Alcoholic Beverage s. They can with the report of the findings of this research study be in a position to understand the role of branding in consumers’ preference for brands of Alcoholic Beverage . It also reveals some of the latent problems and possible solutions of branding in Nigeria presently. It will help the producers of Alcoholic Beverage  to formulate good brand names and packaging activities.
Also to benefit from this study are researchers who may wish to carry out a study on branding. This is because the study serves as a secondary data to them.
To the consumers, this study would help them understand other factors besides price that influence their purchase decisions.
1.7     Scope of the Study
The area of coverage of this study is the consumers of Alcoholic beverage drink in the Enugu, only consumers of the product under study.
1.8     Limitations of Study
The biggest challenges of this study were:-
Data availability, the ability of a user to access information or resources in a specified location and in the correct format. this is the main problem of using questionnaires as a method of data collection.

Confidentiality of Data, a property of data, usually resulting from legislative measures, which prevents it from unauthorized disclosure. The procedures in place to prevent disclosure of confidential data, including rules applying to staff, aggregation rules when disseminating data, provision of unit records some of the respondents were not providing their true opinions during the interviews because they regard some of the questions as sensitive. However, this group was small and the researcher assumed it did not affect the overall results and conclusions.

1.9     Definition of Terms

The following terms are defined as used in this research work;
Branding: Branding is everything intended to identify and distinguish a product from those of the competitors. It is about providing a means of differentiation and has to do with the efforts a firm makes in choosing, developing, projecting and establishing its own brand(s) of products. It has many designations such as brandname, brandmark, trademark, copyright etc. (Okafor:1995).
Marketing: is essentially concerned with the performance of the activities that helps identify the consumer needs and wants, making them to form the focal point of business. It sets the consumer at a pedestal “consumer the king”. It precedes production. It is pervasive and the life wire and major reason for the existence of the organization. (Keller:2001).
Market: People with ability and willingness to purchase economic goods and services.(Olakunori:1999).
Prospects: These are people who have a need and strong potential interest in a particular product. (Okpara:2002)
Alcoholic Drink: A drink made from Alcoholic without alcohol or a non alcoholic drink.
Consumers: The ultimate users of products (Jeffrey:2000).
Brands: These are names, terms, symbols, signs, design, other features or combination of these used by firms to identify and differentiate their products from that of competitors. It is a relationship in the market triggered by one’s trademarks. (Olakunori:1999).
Trademark: can be a name, word, phrase, logo or combination of these elements and a brand name that is given a legal protection. (Okpara:2002).
Product: Is anything that can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use or consumption, and which might satisfy a want or need. It is a bundle of customers’ expectations rather than of physical dimension. It is also every want or need-satisfying attribute a consumer receives in making an exchange, including psychological as well as physical benefit. (Okpara:2002).
Choice: Is the ability of an individual or consumer to make a selection among product mix (Anyanwu:2000).
Quality: The taste of a product that distinguishes it from another product.
Package: Is the part of a brand that performs both protection and communication functions and comes in various sizes and nature that may have its appeal to the consumer. (Anyanwu:2003)
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Effect of classroom environment on students’ academic performance

Effect of classroom environment on students’ academic performance
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION

• Background of the study

Education is seen by the Federal Republic of Nigeria (2013) in her National policy on Education as an instrument par excellence in affecting national development. The academic progress of children, adolescent and even adult determines the quality and quantity of manpower that will be available for the much desired break-through of Nigeria in science, technology, arts, entertainment, and so on. Education provides the human capital that will initiate, plan, direct and execute the development processes and activities that are critical for economic growth and development of a nation. Nworgu (2006).
Students’ academic performance reflects whether they are receiving education or not. In Nigeria, academic performance, attainment and progress are determined through results from public examinations, such as West African Examination Council (WAEC) National Examination Council (NECO) and Universal Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) Ensuring that students pass major examinations such as those mentioned above is highly dependent on the quality of the school. The quality of a school is the quality of its products. If results of examinations taken by students reflect a high success rate, or most of the product are able to secure admission into higher institutions through a transparent process such as a selection examination, or if most of the products are able to secure gainful employment through open competition, then the school is judged to be “a good school” Egbo (2006).
Classroom environment encompasses a broad range of educational concepts, including the social setting, the psychological environment created through social contexts, and numerous instructional components related to teacher characteristics and behaviors. Positive classroom environments are necessary to facilitate optimally all the adaptive student outcomes, including learning, motivation, school adjustment, and achievement (Eccles, Wigfield, & Schiefele, 2005). Observation and personal interactions with most students show that schools success does not only involve academics.
Classrooms are inherently social places in which students go about their work in the presence of many peers. To understand students’ success at school, therefore, we must attend to how they socialize (interact) with others at school as well as ways that the classroom environment promote different types of social interactions and relationships. The classroom where student receive lesson may have a significant influence on their academic performance. This is because virtually every teacher uses the classroom to communicate his/her lessons.
 The classroom is the heart of any educational system. There is no curriculum or educational planning that is complete without a gradual development of structures that will enhance the implementation process (Ukeje, 2002). Generally, most of the learning activities take place in classroom, which is usually included in the building structure. Within the classroom, seating position is an important aspect that enhances teaching and learning, when students are well seated in the class. Cohen and Manion (2013) points out that a careful attention should be given to the classroom space where seating position of students take place, in order to enhance effective teaching and learning process. Adesina (2009) also observed that one of the potent indices of evaluating educational standards and quality is by the examination of the physical facilities available for learning experiences. Therefore, classroom buildings are necessary before any effective implementation of educational activities can be considered to be effective or otherwise.
In addition, recent reviews have found relationships between the quality of buildings and academic outcomes. These studies have also found that the design criteria and building conditions related to human comfort such as ventilation quality, lighting, acoustical control have posed demonstrable impact on students’ performance in the schools studied (Mcgughey, 2005).
Education is for life and for the living. It is an investment in people which pays untold dividend to the society when that investment is not made or is inadequately made. The society suffers loss; whole science is the bedrock of all technological advancement. The importance of teaching and learning in conjunction with the provision of adequate instructional facilities for education cannot be over-emphasized, hence the dictum that teaching is inseparable from learning but students can learn without teachers. According to Akande (1985), learning can occur through one’s interaction with one environment.
Environment here refers to facilities that are available to facilitate students learning outcome. It includes books, audio-visual, software and hardware of educational technology, so also, size of classroom, seating position and arrangement, availability of tables, chairs, chalkboard, shelves on which instruments for practical are arranged (Farants, 1991 and Faronbi, 1998).
It is worthy to note that most facilities project focus on creating safe, clean and comfortable schools but they do not focus on how they improve learning. The teacher plays a pivotal role in creating conducive learning environments that can enhance students’ cognitive and affective outcome. Many scholars in science education believe that teachers have a crucial role in implementing reforms in schools and classrooms. Paradoxically, they are also viewed as the major obstacles to change due to their traditional beliefs (Levitt 2000, Funda, 2009).
There are important interactions that occur within the learning environments such as learner content, learners-learning habit and teacher-learner. During the learner content interaction, information is passed to inform and saved in long-term memory; as this happens, the students find the need for support which take the form of learner-to-learner and learner-to-teacher. The teacher-learner interactions provide feedback and dialogue between the student and the teacher. The learner-learner interactions facilitate the exchange of information, ideas and dialogue among peers. Implicit in these interactions is that the teacher is an important player in the learning environment whose role is to improve on the quality of the interactions in the content of the learning environment.
In the light of these, therefore, a research work is needed to ascertain the effect of classroom environment on students’ academic performance in Biology with the research bean-light at secondary school students in Akampa Local Government Area of Cross River State.

• Theoretical framework

There are many theories underlying the effect of classroom environment on students’ academic performance in Biology. Therefore, this study would be based on two theories: Classical conditioning and Operant conditioning theory of learning by J. B. Watson (1920) and B. F. Skinner (1974).
1.2.1 Classical conditioning by Ivan Pavlov (1927)
        The proponent of this theory was a Russian psychologist Ivan Pavlov (1927) cited in Ukpong (2000).  The theory lays emphasis on the formation of an association between a conditioned stimulus and a conditioned response through a repeated pairing of a conditioned stimulus (CS) and an unconditioned stimulus (US) in order to strengthen or reinforce the association. In other words, the learner needs to acquire and retain skills in a given teaching – learning situation.
        There are two theoretical explanations of classical conditioning which take their origin from the cognitive and behavioural approaches to psychology (Hillgard, Alkinson and Atkinson (1979) in Ukpong (2000).
        From the cognitive view point, the student is actively involved in the acquisition and sorting out of information which is given by the teacher in the classroom, while from the behaviourist view point, the student is perceived as being passive and the stimulus-response (SR) connections are made and strengthened mechanically.  By repetition of a stimulus that accompanies a given response it ultimately becomes a cause for behaviour that it merely accompanied.
        Based on the above discussion, this theory implies that students can formally acquire skills in the school through a conditioning process presented by the teacher in the classroom.  It also means that the Biology teacher should reinforce the students immediately in every correct response made by them.  This helps to keep them assured of their positive effort and since learning is an active process, Biology students learn better when they participate responsibly in the learning process.  Therefore, the teacher’s style of teaching is important in eliciting the correct response from students.
1.2.2        Operant conditioning theory of learning
        The proponents of this approach to the understanding of learning are J. B. Watson (1920) and B. F. Skinner (1974), cited in Ukpong (2000).
        This theory is sometimes referred to as stimulus-learning or the behaviourist theory of learning.  Skinner believed that while some responses are voluntary; others are not.  Operant behaviour relies on the principle of reinforcement which increases the likelihood or probability of a response.  Reinforcement is either positive or negative depending on how it is introduced. It is positive when it increases the frequency of occurrence of desired behaviour. It is negative when it involves the withdrawal of a pleasant stimulus to reduce repetition of unwanted stimulus.
        The conditioning theories of learning have implications for this study.  The theories can be applied to the teaching of Biology.  Before a student can acquire skills and retain what has been taught by the biology teacher, that student is required to frequently practice so as not to forget.  When students are taught by well-qualified and experienced teachers, there will be an appropriate response and desired behaviour by students that will produce and improve academic performance.  Also, students of Biology should be taught by teachers who are ready to apply a more result-oriented teaching style.

• Statement of the problem

Students’ academic performance has been a thing of concern to many scholars, parents, teachers, counselors, psychologist, school administrator and policy makers. It is a common knowledge that output of secondary schools students in terms of result from public examinations is poor and need more attention.
Government effort to bring quality to bear in teaching and learning through the Inspectorate Division of the Ministry of Education which is charged with the responsibility of ensuring minimum standard of education has proved abortive.
Different reasons have been given for students under achievement or poor academic performance schools. While some people attribute these to ineffective and poor planning on the part of the students, others attribute it to lack of basic school facilities and so on. Students under achievement or poor performance has also been blamed on students activities. Students more often than not engage themselves with activities that add little or no value to their academic development. When students spend little or no time on their studies, it is bound to affect their academic performance.
The extent to which the goal of secondary education is attained in any nation would certainly depend on the level of importance that is attached to the program of study by the government in place and the agencies that are responsible for providing educational training of her people in order to achieve educational advancement.
Regrettably, the situation of the classroom learning environment in some schools in recent times is considered to be relatively poor, for examples in schools there is clear and inadequate  chalk board, absence of ceiling (abettors), some roofing sheets not in place, windows and doors removed, inadequate physical facilities, overcrowded classrooms obsolete teaching techniques among others, a situation which the researcher regarded as hazardous to healthy living of the students.
From the above observation the question that arises is how does classroom environment in terms of classroom physical structure, classroom seating position, teacher-student interaction and student-student interaction influence students’ academic performance in Biology? This is the problem which this study seeks to find solution. 

• Purpose of the study

The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of classroom environment on students’ academic performance in Biology in secondary schools in Akamkpa Local Government Area of Cross River State.
Specifically, the study sought to find out whether:

1. Classroom physical structure and fittings has any significant effect on their academic performance in biology.
2. Classroom seating position of students has any significant effect on their academic performance in biology.
3. Teachers-students interactions within the classroom environment have any effect on their academic performance in biology.
4. Student-student interactions has any significant effect on their academic performance in biology.

• Research questions

The following research questions are formulated to guide the researcher in the study;

1. To what extent does classroom physical structure and fittings influences students’ academic performance in Biology?
2. To what extent does classroom seating position of students influence their academic performance in Biology?
3. To what extent does teacher-student interactions within the classroom environment influence students’ academic performance in Biology?
4. To what extent does student-student interactions within the classroom environment influence students’ academic performance in Biology?

• Research hypotheses

To guide this study, the following hypotheses were formulated:

1. There is no significant difference in the mean scores between classroom physical structure and fittings and students’ academic performance in Biology.
2. There is no significant difference in the mean scores between classroom seating position of students and their performance in Biology.
3. There is no significant correlation in the mean scores between teacher-student interactions within the classroom environment and students academic performance in Biology.
4. There is no significant correlation between student-student interactions within the classroom environment and students academic performance in Biology.

• Significance of the study

The result of this study may be of great benefit to teachers, students, parents, and the government. The findings of the study may be of great importance to the teacher as this will enable them device a means of increasing students’/pupils’ interest in Social Studies as a means of encouraging them to improve upon their academic performance. This study may also make students to understand that their academic performance both in school and public examinations to some extent lies in their hands. Therefore they should be committed to their studies.
Parents and the society at large would understand that the academic performance of students embodies so many variables including them so all the blames should not be on the teachers alone if their children do not achieve academically up to their expectation. For the students to achieve very well in school both the parents and the society should provide an enabling environment for the students’.
This study would contribute to existing literature on classroom environment and students’ academic performance in Social Studies with the aim of improving the quality of academic performance. Finally, the recommendations based on the results if implemented would help to bring about innovations in institutions and improvement in students’ academic performance.
The result generated from this study may contribute to knowledge by providing empirical data on the environmental factors that influence the students’ academic performance.

• Assumption of the study

This research work is based on the following assumptions:

1. The sample of the study is a representative of the entire population of the study.
2. The questionnaire is expressed in the language the students will understand.
3. The variables of the study are measureable
4. The finding from this result will generalized based on the provision tested in the study

• scope of the study

The study was limited to all government secondary schools in Akamkpa Local Government Area of Cross River State. The study is also delimited to the variables under study.

• Limitation of the study

Every empirical research carried out has its weakness and short comings, which are beyond the control of the researchers. In this study, they include:

1. Time factor was one of the basis limitation for the study as the researcher as she was combining the work with other semester work.
2. Finance was another limitation as the researcher could not covered all the schools in the Local Government Areas.
3. The environmental factor was another limitation because of the nature the environment was unable to cover all the communities in the area.
4. The attitude of the respondents towards the filling of the instruments also post a problem as those of them were not willing to response to the items.
   • Definition of terms

Education: Education is an instrument for national development and social change. It is vital for the promotion of a progressive and united Nigeria.
School environment: is a place where classrooms are located
Classroom: This is a room in the school environment where Biology classes are held.
Student: these are all SS2 stud3ents offering Biology.
Teaching: is the impartation of knowledge from one party to another through guided instruction and practice by the Biology teacher.
Interaction: this refers to the level of communication between student-student, student-teacher and student environment.
Physical structure: this refers to items such chalkboard, classroom environment, field, etc
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