Editorial Board Joel Babalola Editor-in-Chief S.O. Adedeji Editor Remi Longe Member Mobolaji Ogunsanya DaYQAjayi " Ayo Akinwumiju " D.A. Olaniyan " Adebola O. Jaiyeoba " Martins Fabunmi " "

International Board J.T. Okedara, Donald Warwick, University of Ihadan, Havard University, . Cambridge, U.S.A.

Michael Omolewa, James Quarshie, University of University of Cape Nigeria. Coast, Ghana.

Ayotunde Yoloye, James Dunn, University oflbadan, Comell University, lbadan. Itaca, U.S.A. .

John Nwankwo, United Nations Dev. Prog., Monrovia, .

Printed and bound in Nigeria by: Molukom Press & Co. Tel 08042110189

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CONTENTS

Impact of socio-personal factors on the psychological adjustment patterns of civil service retirees in Oyo State, Nigeria - Salami, 1- 14 S.O.& Oduntan, H.O.

Status and characteristics of perpetrators of sexual harassment of female under aduates: Implications for policy and counselling. 15 - 26 Osinowo, H.O.

Assessing cost efficiency in Nigerian universities - the departmental output rating (DOR) as a tool for measurement. 27 - 35 Obilade O. O.

Economic glo alization and labour management relations: A critique- Kester, K. O. 37-46 Differential validity of psychological tests: Implications for educational management in Nigeria - Falua, S.O. 47- 57 Health information needs of the visually impaired in urban centres: A cas study of byo State, Nigeria. - M. S. Emiola & O. 59 - 68 E. L. Eguavoen

Strategies for helping communities to organize for development programmes- Egenti, M. N. 69 - 82

The impact of teacher information consciousness on student academic performance - Bello, S. A. 83-94

Data generation and utilization for effective national economic management: roles, problems and way forward - Patience O. 95 - 116 Awopegba

Analysis of u iversity autonomy in Nigeria - Akinwumi F.S & Olaniyan D.A. 117 - i29

The state of the social work profession in Nigeria - 'Bayo Akinola 131- 144 Towards effective financial management in Nigeria's secondary education in the 21st century - Afolabi, F. O. 145 - 154

Multilateral bargaining approach towards effective dispute resolution in the public sector: The experience of Federal 155- 174 universities in Nigeria, 1990-1996 Peter Brai Abu

Language: An effective tool for management - A.O Umoru-Onuka 175 -183

Maintenance of school plant: A vital strategy of achieving efficiency in the universal basic education scheme - Oladipo, S.A. 185 - 195 African Journal of Educational Management-Vol. 9 No. 2; 83-94.Dec. 2001

THE IMPACT OF TEACHER INFORMATION CONSCIOUSNESS ON STUDENT ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

Bello, S. A. Department of Educational Administration, Faculty of Education, , Akoka-Lagos.

A·bstract

Communication is imperative for organizational functioning. Without adequate communication a social organization cannot junction appropriately. Like other social organization colleges and universities have dire need for effective communication: They require systematic means of collecting, organizing, and sharing information. . Effective communication is a function of high level of information consciousness. This' study set out to determine the nature and significance of teacher information consciousness and its relationship to study academic performance of schools ill the Ibadan Municipality cf Oyo State. To this end, a two-part 60 -item teacher information consciousness and student academic performance (TICSAPQ) was constructed and administered in 16 randomly selected secondary schools in Ibadan Municipality using 110 teachers. The cores from the TICSAPQ provided the data for the study. Both the standardized (Z) function and Pearson Product Moment Correlation were used to' test five directional hypotheses related to the problems of the study. The result showed that there is a positive significant relationship between teacher information consciousness and student academic performance. The researcher therefore suggested that the Ibadan Municipality of Oyo State needs to develop a comprehensive personnel information that will supply teachers with information needed to get their jobs done effectively. . 84 Bello, S. A.

Introduction

One of the perennial problems of educators has been the quality of education; if there is any question in which the Nigerian public has expressed very strong reservations it is the need for' improvement of student academic performance. Some people blame the poor performance of students on the school principals and teachers, some on the governments, some on the parents while others still blame it on the students. Opeke (1982) opined that a well-planned and organized system of information is a pre-requisite for effective decisio -rnaking. Consequently . the possession and the use of appropriate information insure high level of student academic performance. The desirability of information consciousness is further explained by Nwankwo (1985) thus: . "Information gives its possessor power and influence over and above the authority he may be legally vested with. In any organization power that is the ability to get things done - flows into the hands of those . who have the most up-to-date information". The focus of this study therefore is to examine the impact of teacher information consciousness on student academic performance. t I ~ Statement of the Problem

The school as a social system requires a lot of information generated within and outside its walls and disseminated to arouse t e consciousness of the target areas. The achievement of effective information flow according to Denyer (1980), depends to a large extent on its being sent to the right persons, at the right time by the right method. Therefore, in this tier of information consciousness, teachers in Nigeria secondary schools and Oyo State in particular are expected to be more conscious of information for the over all achievement of the educational objectives. . If information consciousness is a prerequisite for acquisition and management of information and consequently the efficiency of teaching i the schools, then there is urgent need to determine to what extent the --...-..•.•... I The Impact a/Teacher Information Consciousness on Student Academic Performance 85

teacher's consciousness about relevant teaching information is related to the performance of is students .. The problem of this study therefore includes finding out the following:-

1. What are the sources of information for the secondary school teachers in Oyo State? 2. Is the degree of timeliness of information adequate for good decision? ' 3. Are the teachers conscious of how they make use of information in classroom decision making? 4. What is the reliability as well as accuracy of information available for classroom decision making? 5. What is the relationship between teacher information consciousness and student academic performance? .

Research Hyp theses

1. The major sources of information for secondary school teachers will be perceived as mostly from the central Schools Board. 2.. The degree of timeliness of information will be perceived as signific ntly inadequate. 3. The adequacy of information utility will be perceived as significantly low. 4. The reliability and accuracy of information will be perceived as significantly inadequate. 5. There ill be a positive significant relationship between teacher information consciousness and student academic performance.

Research Design

The design for the present study may be referred to as descriptive survey, carried out "ex-post facto". Ex-post-facto research according to Kerlinger (175). '. Is a systematic empirical enquiry in which the scientist does not have a direct control of independent 'variable because their. 86 Bello. S. A. manifestations have already occurred or because they in heartily not. manipulable. Inferences about relations among variables are made without direct intervention from concomitant vari .tions of independent and dependent variable. This study aimed at using representative. samples from the population to describe the characteristics and relati nship between teacher information consciousness, which is the independent variable and student academic performance, which is the dependent variable.

Research Procedure or Methodology

To investigate the hypotheses of this study, the procedure adopted for the investigation can be classified into six stages (Tughman 1973)

o Selection of subjects or sample o Preparation of research instruments o Validation of research instruments o Testing the reliability or research' instruments o Administration of the instruments o Method of data analysis.

The Study Sample

The research sample comprised 16 secondary schools and 110 teachers in Ibadan Municipality of Oyo State. The procedure for selection of the schools was first, a stratification of the schools according to age in terms of year o'r establishment, that is, new and old schools. Then sixteen' schools were randomly selected from each of the strata-eight new schools and eight old se ools.

The Instrument

One main questionnaire instrument was. use) namely: Teacher Information Consciousness and Student Academic Performance Questionnaire (TICSAPQ). The TICSAPQ "was a two-part.. 30 item The Impact of Teacher Information Consciousness on Student Academic Performance 87

instrument designed to determine how far student academic performance is related to information consciousness.

Method Of.Data· Analysis

The major statistical analysis used in this study included the following:

(a) The simple to thus: -X x 100 EX 1

This was used to sum up the scores and convert' them to percentages in order to determine the degree of perception.

(b) The Z-score, sometimes referred to as the Z function, follows the linear transformation method using the equation. z - SDI (X_Xl) + x' SD

Where SDI = arbitrary standard deviation = la X = computed" " from scores X - arbitrary mean = 50

Thus if Z Z 50 Z is regarded as significant but if Z < 50, Z is regarded as not significant.

(c) The Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient was used for determining to what' extent two paired measures eo-vary in the populltion under study ..

Analysis of the Results

HOI. The major sources of information for secondary school teachers will be perceived as mostly' from the Central School Board. 88 BeLlo, S. A.

Table 1. Sources of Information

SINo. ITEM Mean z- Ig~l- % Sig. Score Score ficance

1. Federal Ministry of 2.48 44.5 NS Education 3.31' 50.3 S 2. State Ministry of Education 3.58 53.4 S

3. Central School Board 2.83 50.5 S

4. Inspectors of Education 2.14 38.6 NS 5. Institutions of Higher Learning. 2.71 48.4 NS 36.360/0 6. West African Examination Council 2.06 37.2 NS

7. JAMB. 2.35 42.2 NS

8. NERDC. 2.48 44.5 NS

9. Publishers 3.09 55.0 S

la. Professional Colleagues 2.32 41.7 NS

11. Student Relations

Z = 50 Significant Z < 50 not significant ZS = 4 - 36.360/0 ZNS = 7 = 63.640/0 -, P < .05 The Impact of Teacher Information Consciousness on Student-Academic Performance 89

Table 1 above shows that, the rating of the sources of information is generally 10 ". However, the Z-score for the Central Schools Board 'is significantly high 63.4 hence the hypothesis.was therefore accepted.

H02. The degree of timeliness information will be perceived .as significantly inadequate.

Table 2. The ~)egreeof Timeliness ofIrtformation

...... SINO ITBM Mean Z-Score Signi- % Sig. Score ficance

12..before making decision 3.75 66.4 .s

13. at the point of making decision 2.08 37.6 NS 33.3%

14. after taking some of the decision l.59 29.1 NS

ZS = 1 = 33.30/0, ZNS = 2 66.7% P < .05

Table 2 above shows the scores on the degree of timeliness of information ill schools. Acco ding to the table 33.30/0 of the items were rated as. significant while 66:7% were rated as not significant. However the Zsscore for item No. 12 which is themost adequate time to collect information for 'decision making had the highest Z-score (66.4). Hypothesis 2 was therefore rejected.

H03: .The A .equacy of Information Utility will be perceived as significantly low. 90 Bello. S. A.

Table 3. Adequacy of Information Utility

SINO ITEM. Mean z- Signi- % Score Score ficance Sig. 28. Net necessarily all the information required 2.67 47.8 NS

29. At least minimum amount of information required 2.83 50.5 S 33.3% , 30. At times I use more than information required 2.60 46.6 NS

ZS = 1 = 33.3%, ZNS = 2 66.70/0 P < .05

Table 3 above .presents the scores en the nature of information utility among teachers. . According to. the table, item 29 (At least minimum amount of , information required) was rated very high. Z-Score 50.5. Since item 29 is the most adequate amount of information that should be used' in order to. make decision, hypothesis 3 was therefore rejected.

H04: The reliability and accuracy of information available for classroom decision making will be perceived as significantly inadequate.

Table 4. The Perception of Reliability and Accuracy of Information

SINO ITEM Mean Z- Signi- %·Sig. 'f. '\.1. " • Score Score ficance 20. recorded must be properly maintained always 13.78 66.9 S 100% 21 ..records must be periodically 3.31 updated. 58.8 S

ZS = 2 = 100% ZNS 0 P< .05 The Impact of Teacher Irformation Consciousness on Student ••icademic Performance 91

Table 4 above shows the scores on the 'reliability and accuracy of information. According to the table 1000/0 of the items on the reliability and accuracy of information used by teachers in schools were rated as significant. ~ pothesis 4 was therefore rejected.

HOs There will be a positive significant relationship between teacher information consciousness and student academic performance.

Table 5. The Relationship between Teacher Information Consciousness and Student Academic Performance

: No. of , Item EX EY EXY EX2 Ey2 d.f r p .. 30 30- 75.2 82.42 229.4 225.3 230.3 2=28 0.96 <.05

X: represent items on Teacher Information Consciousness Y: represent items on Student Academic Performance r = n XY - ( X)( Y) (nEX2 - (EX)2) (nEy2 - (Ey)2) r = 0.96

Table 5 above shows that there is a relationship between teacher information consciousness and student academic performance. . The relationship is positive and very significant (0.96) Hypothesis 5 was therefore accepted.

Discussion 0 Findings

The finding of this study that the major source of information was thrr ..rgh Central Schools Board was not surprising Tt is the Central Schools E .ird that coordinates the activities of the po" .primary institutions within ...he state. It is the-efore necessary for teacher ) be conscious of the dicta of 92 Bello. S. A.

the Central Schools Board. The defect of such situation is that teaching learning activity in schools will be diversely affected due to 'Iack of improper information flow from central schools Board to teachers in the schools. It was rather surprising that not much useful information on education emanated from the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB). JAMB had the least score (Z-score 37.2). Where as ordinary publishers when compared with the JAMB had a better score (Z. - score 44.5). The information from publishers could be heavily biased in favour .of the products. They were attempting to promote. Their publications might not necessarily be in the right form nor be the best available. Surprisingly, most of the teachers used this study were those teaching SSS (senior classes). These re the people one would expect that one of their best sources of information to be JA1v1B,so that they would be able to assist their students more effectively regarding choice of courses and universities particularly when preparing for JAMB Examination. The importance of this finding is that teachers in post primary institutions should be highly enlightened on the importance-of JAMB as a good source of information. Another major significant finding of this study was that there was a very high positive correlation between the eacher information consciousness and student academic performance. T implication of this study to educational administrators is that efforts to improve student academic performance should be .therefore be made without considering how to improve teachers' efficiency, when teache s are adequately exposed to useful sources of information and management information system in the school is sufficiently developed for teacher to efficiently process, store, retrieve and disseminate information. Then students are livelier. to receive updated information on current trends in education as well as useful hints on how to improve their academic performances. Moreover, the study also supports the fact that adequate maintenance and retrieval of records would enhance good teaching- learning activity in the school. . Where records are not effectively 'kept and could .not be easily retrieved teaching-learning activity would be deficient. The l iupact ofTeacher lrformatton-Consctousness on Student Academic Perfonnance 93

Recommendations

Ellis (1971) stated that it is necessary that goals of the educational systems be achieved, so that the society does not suffer and national development left retarded. In the light of this, the following recommendations should therefore be considered. 1. ,The Ibadan Municipality of Oyo State needs to 'develop a comprehensive personnel information system, not necessarily a computer-based one that will supply teacher with information needed to get their jobs done effectively. 2 There is a need for a continuous information flow betweenJAMB and the school system. While the school system need to know what exists , in the Universities through JAMB, JAMB also needs information about student from the school system. ' 3. Even though the level of information consciousness in Ibadan Municipality of Oyo State is high enough, the teachers can equally raise the level of the standard in order to motivate and maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of their students. This will result in high level of productivity in the accomplishment and achievement of the organizational goals. This can be achieved if all the necessary possible sources of information are well developed.

Conclusion

In order to improve the efficiency of the school system, teachers and educators in general have the important responsibilities of: 1. Determining what information needs to be obtained 2. Obtaining accurate information ' 3. Imparting the information in readily understood terms to the persons responsible for making decisions (Bello 1987). The importance of information consciousness in educatio~aI organization cannot be over emphasized. In this regard, Bajah (1977) also asserted that: The 36th session of the UNESCO-IBE International Corference on Education has defined five underlying principles we should apply to educational information systems. Bello, S. A. 94 '.•.···1 "

(i) Recognition of the information component in the decision making process, (ii) Cooperative not working (iii) Standardization -inthe intere.stsof economy and compatibility. (iv) Professionalization within the larger 'frame work of information/library science. (v) International cooperation to facilitate. The transfer of educational expenence.

References

Bajah,· S.T. (1977). "The Importance of Information Flow in Improvement of Educational Systems'" Journal of the SCience Teachers ·Association of Nigeria, 15(3), August 1977.

Bello, A. (1987). "Teacher Information Consciousness and Student Academic Performance". Unpublished MEd Thesis. Department of Educational Management, UJ. Ibadan.

D.enyer, J.C. (1980). Office Management, Estover Plymouth, Mcdonald and Evans Ltd., P. 187.

,Ellis, P.J.' (1971). Information Services for Academic Administration. " California. Jossey Bass Inc. P. 8.

. Kerlinger, F.N., (1975). Foundations of Behavioural Research (2nd Ed.), New York: Harper and Row Publishers. P. 379.

, Nwankwo, J.I. (1985). Fundamental of Management Information System. Ibadan: Ibadan Spectrum Books Ltd. P.3

Opeke, R.O. (1982). "Management Information for Decision Making in Education". Unpublished MEd Thesis, University ofIbadan, Ibadan. P. 11.

Tushman, M. and Nadler, D. (1973). "Information Processing as Integrating Concept in Organizational Design". Academy of Management Review 21 (3). Pp. 613-624. . -, I ~----.