ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF FIELD STUDY APPROACHES ON STUDENTS' ENVIRONMENTAL AND RESOURCE LITERACY IN KAFANCHAN, NIGERIA

Barnabas Nehemiah, Dr. James Koske, Dr. Gladys Gathuru

Abstract


This research looked into how effectively a field study approach may improve secondary school students' familiarity with their local environment and its resources in Kafanchan, Nigeria. The study was guided by two objectives, from which research questions and hypotheses were derived and statistically tested at the p ≤ .05 level. Participants were chosen from both public and private institutions, and the study used a quasi-experimental design based on a pre- and post-test with an unequal control group. There were 129 geography students drawn from four distinct classes at four different institutions using a proportional stratified random sampling technique. Participants were evaluated using a series of multiple-choice questions. Lawshe's approach was used to calculate the content validity ratio (CVR= 0.99), and the Cronbach alpha method was used to ensure the instrument was consistent. Participants' knowledge of the environment, available resources, and environmental issues were summarized using percentages and mean scores, and a two-sample t-test was used to determine whether there was a statistically significant difference between the two groups. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups before treatment (p =.64831 at .05), but the results showed that the control group had a greater rate of success on the knowledge exam (41.5% > 29.7%). Furthermore, remarkable outcomes were attained following treatment; there was a statistically significant difference between the treatment group and the control group in terms of pass rate (p =.00001 at .05), with the former having a higher pass rate (81.3% > 52.3%).  Participants' literacy of the environment, its resources, and related issues improved greatly because of their participation in field studies, suggesting that this instructional strategy is effective. The best method to increase students' understanding of their environments is to ensure that their teachers employ the most effective pragmatic learning strategies.


Keywords


Environment and Resources, Environmental Problems and Field Study Strategy

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