EDUCATIONAL VALUES OF UTILIZING INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS IN THE TEACHING AND LEARNING OF ECONOMICS IN NIGERIA SECONDARY SCHOOLS

Abstract

The job of the teacher is to transmit educational contents to learners seamlessly. This can be done better when the teacher utilises instructional materials. Instructional materials are aids used by teachers during the teaching and learning process that help students assimilate the educational content. Unfortunately, there is a paucity of these instructional materials in schools today. Where they are available, they are either in short supply or are grossly inadequate. Many scholars have attributed the poor performances of students to several varied factors. Prominent among such factors is the non-utilisation of relevant instructional materials. This study adopts a descriptive approach to analysing the educational value of utilising instructional materials in the teaching and learning of economics in secondary schools in Nigeria. Thus, utilising instructional materials would enhance the teaching and learning process on the one hand and improve students’ performances on the other. It concludes that stakeholders in the education sector should, as a matter of importance, place more priority on the provision of relevant instructional materials to make the teaching and learning process more real, and where such materials are unavailable, improvisation of such materials could be done by teachers when possible.