DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF ECONOMICS ACHIEVEMENT TEST FOR SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS.

ABSTRACT

This research work was intended to develop and validate an Economics Achievement Test.  Related literature to this study showed that Economics in the Senior Secondary Schools is aimed at bringing about desirable behavioural changes which may be overt or covert. Such behavioural changes which are the products of the objectives of the teaching/learning situations need to  be quantified and qualified.   This  cannot be attained without proper evaluation.   The study area was Enugu Education Zone of Enugu State from where Six Secondary Schools offering Economics were randomly selected from twenty-six secondary schools in Enugu Education Zone.  One thousand and twenty five SS II students were sampled from the selected schools.  The researcher postulated four research questions and two hypotheses to guide the study. Based on the research questions and hypotheses, the design and methodology, a table of specification was constructed and used. And a 50-items test was developed based on the level of cognitive ability measured by the test and the draft EAT was validated by experts.  The  data  obtained  were  analyzed  using  mean  and  standard deviation, Kudder-Richardson (KR-20) reliability method. From the results of the analysis, it was found out that: the developed Economics achievement test instrument for Senior Secondary schools has high psychometric properties in terms of facility and discrimination index; the instrument has high reliability index; there was significant difference between the achievement of male and that of female students in Economics at the senior secondary school level in favour of the male students; there was a significant difference in  mean achievement between students  in  schools  located  in urban areas and those in rural areas in favour of urban students.  Based on the  findings, recommendations were made and summary and conclusion drawn.   The recommendations include the following: the developed Economics achievement test instrument should be used by Economics teachers;  the  items  of  the  EAT  developed  should  serve  as  template  to develop other achievement instrument in Economics; while using the developed EAT, the influence of gender has to be noted; the influence of school location has to be given adequate considerations when using the EAT.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

In Nigeria today, there is high demand for education because of its effective contributions to the nation’s overall development.   Subsequently, many subjects are studied at different levels of institutions in Nigeria toward realizing the goal of education as an instrument for effective national development.  At the secondary school level, one of the  subjects  that  are  studied  is  Economics.  The  importance  and  applications  of Economics as a major pre-requisite for the attainment of national development have been recognized worldwide. For instance, Arnold (1994) reported that in America, investments in educational research and development in Economics amounted to billions of dollars in

1994 alone.

In Nigeria, as well as in most developing countries, Economics is considered as an important subject and is taught in the senior secondary school level.   Economics occupies a very important position in the life of man and society.     It  is a subject concerned with the efficient utilization or management of limited productive resources for the purpose of attaining the maximum satisfaction of human wants (Ochuba, 1994). For Anyaele (2003), Economics is a social science which studies human behaviour as a relationship between ends and scarce means which have alternative uses. Given these definitions, there is need to add that Economics as a science helps man to understand and manage his scarce resources in order to meet his numerous wants.

In order to achieve goals or objectives of Economics at Secondary school, the teaching and learning of Economics have to be properly done at the secondary school not just for those intending to pursue a career in economics, but also more generally as a part of educational foundation which every student should have before leaving school.  This will  equip  the  student  in  the  fundamental areas  of  intellectual,  vocational,  cultural development and national interest.   Notwithstanding the role of Secondary School Economics study to national development, the teaching and learning of economics in Senior Secondary Schools in Nigeria is still replete with problems. Both students and teachers of economics encounter difficulties in the teaching and learning of the subject. On the part of teachers, Onah (2006) argues that most Economics teachers did not major in Economics and so find it difficult to teach the difficult concepts and thus making it difficult for students to cope with.  On the other hand, Ochuba (1994) pointed out that many  students  perceive  economics as  very  easy  subject  and  thus,  may  not  take  it seriously.  This problem could be one of the main causes of poor performance of students in Economics in Senior Secondary School external examinations. As reported by WAEC Chief Examiner (2009), students’ performance is on a decline compared to previous years results in the subject. There is therefore the desire to raise the academic achievement of students in the subject through improved teaching and learning.

To improve the teaching and learning of economics in Secondary Schools, Obika (1990) observed that there is difference between the way economics and other subjects are taught.  Obika (1990) suggested that efforts should be made to teach Economics in an interesting and lively manner to enable students achieve maximum benefits.   One important aspect which should guide any useful and effective teaching and learning of

Economics, according to  Obika (1990)  is  the  determination of the  extent  to  which learning objectives are achieved.  It is probably in realization of how well the learners have attained the objectives of instruction, as well as in using such information for curriculum  development  that  emphasis  is  laid  on  educational  evaluation  (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2006).   In an attempt  to introduce a  more realistic  system of evaluation, the government directed that educational assessment shall be liberalized by their being based in whole or part on continuous assessment of the progress of the individual.

In general, assessment, in the form of achievement test, serves the purposes of identifying the learners’ extent of mastery of knowledge and skills, as well as contribute to effective teaching of a subject.  This implies that achievement test should be used for guiding the teaching process for enhanced learning to occur. Iwuji (1990), defined an achievement test as an instrument given at the end of teaching-learning programme.  The author explained that achievement test is used to find out how much a student is able to achieve in a course he/she has been taught. Also Nwagu (1992) explained that achievement test is a systematic and purposeful quantification of learning outcomes.  It involves the determination of the degree of attainment of individuals on tasks, courses or programmes to which the individuals were exposed.

Often, teachers ask questions before, during or after their lessons to ascertain how much information, issues and skills concerning the instructional theme the students have learnt. Teachers also organize tests weekly, termly or yearly to assess the students in terms of achievement in the various content areas of instruction. The result of testing provides the teacher and the students with some feedback on the students’ progress in the

subject. This would enable a teacher to decide whether to carry on with lessons as planned certain areas for specific groups of students. Mehrens and Lehman in Ovute (2010) stated that achievement tests accomplish two major objectives namely; to discriminate among individuals according to their degrees of achievements. This form of testing is known as the norm-referenced testing, and is designed to rank students in order of achievement from high to low so that decisions based on relative achievement can be made with greater confidence. The second objective of achievement test has to do with the determination of the extent to which an individual has been able to reach the set standards. This form of testing, according to Nworgu (2006), is called criterion reference testing.  In this study, the form of test being considered is the norm-reference test which is an instrument for evaluation of learning outcome in schools.

In norm-referenced achievement test, a number of properties are required to make such  a  test  appropriate  and  acceptable.  These  properties  are  the  test  validity  and reliability.  It is agreed among educationalists and measurement experts that one of the most important considerations in test evaluation is the degree of validity of the test.  Ali (1998) stated that the validity of a test is the degree of accuracy with which the test measures what  it  is intended to measure. Similarly,  Onunkwo (2002) explained that validity of an instrument means the degree of qualities, abilities, skills, traits, information it was designed to measure.  A valid test ensures that questions are set from all parts of the syllabus. This emphasizes the need to ensure adequate coverage of both subject matter area and the instructional objectives which the students’ learning centred on Eze (1992) explained that a table of specification used to ensure a systematic coverage of the entire course content and instructional objectives.

Another psychometric property of a test instrument is its reliability. Eze (1992) defined reliability of a test as the degree of constituency or stability, which the test exhibits.    The  author  further  explained that  reliability is  concerned with  how  far  a particular test  result  represents the  testee  in the  attribute  being  measured, and  how reproducible such test results are when the measurement is repeated on different occasions. For Nwagu (1991), test reliability indicates the extent to which individual differences in scores are attributed to chance errors of measurement, and the extent to which they are attributable to true differences in the characteristics under consideration. The calculation of reliability of a test yields coefficient which ranges from zero to one. The acceptable level of reliability for an instrument is dependent upon the decision to be made about the attribute being measured which is based on the results of the instrument. There is a general concern among authors that reliability coefficient is required of tests with which decisions are made about individuals than tests for group decision (Mehrens

& Lehmann; Kelly; Smith & Wright in Abonyi (2011). For group decision, a reliability coefficient of about 0.65 is recommended (Abonyi, 2011).

Considering the fact that achievement in school subjects such as Economics is positively related to technique of evaluation as measuring instrument contribute to effective teaching and learning, any meaningful attempt at the improvement of students’ performance should take cognizance of valid and reliable testing instrument. As a potent factor in learning, the proper assessment of students’ achievement becomes a sine-qua- non in the efforts towards improving performance in school subjects like Economics. A corollary to this is that proper assessment of achievement hinges on the availability of instruments with known and satisfactory psychometric characteristics.  However, there is

none-existence of valid  and  reliable  instruments which would  yield  dependable and authentic results of students’ achievement. Also due to changes in curricular objectives, contents, Pedagogical/strategies, there are the  need for designing instrument to measure students’ achievement in the subject. This calls for the need to develop and validate an instrument for measuring students’ achievement in Economics.

Statement of the Problem

The present senior secondary school curricula demand that variety of assessments be carried out in the course of instruction to guide effective teaching. Sequel to this and the  relatively scanty number of instruments for  measuring students’ achievement  in Economics at Secondary School level, teachers of the subject have continued to develop instruments for measuring students’ achievement in the subject.  Observations show that those teacher-developed testing instruments are generally of doubtful psychometric features since no serious attention might have been paid to their development and validation.  For such instruments, either face validation or possibly construct validation was employed.  In other words, most of the Economic teachers in secondary schools do not seem to possess the competencies required in instrument development and validation. This means that for Economics teachers to use valid and reliable tests, experts in test development have to develop them, other otherwise the objective of our education system may not be achieved.

Consequently, there is need to develop and validate an instrument for measuring students’ achievement in Economics. The problem of the study therefore to develop and

validate an instrument (test) to measure Senior Secondary School Student’s achievement in Economics?

Purpose of the Study

The  general purpose  of the  study  is  to  develop  and  validate  an  Economics Achievement Test (EAT) for Senior Secondary Schools in Enugu State.  Specifically, the study intends to:

1.        develop an Economics Achievement test.

2.         establish the validity of the instrument (EAT) in terms of facility discrimination, distractor indices.

3.        determine the reliability coefficient of the instrument developed.

4.        find  out  the  influence of school location  on the  achievement  of students  in

Economics using EAT.

5.         ascertain the influence of gender on the achievement of students in Economics using EAT.

Research Questions

The study will be guided by the following research questions:

1.         What is the validity of the items of Economics achievement test (EAT) in terms of item facility, discrimination and distraction?

2.        What is the reliability co-efficient of Economics achievement test (EAT).

3.        What  is  the  influence of school location on the  achievement of students on

Economics as measured by EAT?

4.         What is the influence of gender on the achievement of students on Economics as measured by EAT?

Significance of the Study

The instrument to be developed will be useful to the Economics Teachers, the Economics Students, researchers and curriculum planners, when found to be valid and reliable.

The results of the study in the form of instrument developed will contribute to practical data base in literature.   The instrument to be developed will add to existing literature on instrument developed for measuring achievement in school subjects such as Economics.

The Economics teachers will find the  instrument useful. Those teachers who cannot develop valid and reliable achievement tests in Economics can make use of EAT either in whole, part or modified. This conserves the teacher’s time and ensure that valid and reliable assessment is carried out.  The teachers could use EAT to obtain necessary information on relative standing of the students.  The information may serve as a useful feedback to the teacher regarding the effectiveness or otherwise of the instruction.

The students of Economics will also find the instrument useful.  It will serve as study guide to the students in learning Economics as the test items are derived from the Senior Secondary School Economics Curriculum.

The instrument to be developed will serve as reference material to the future researchers in the area of test development or other subjects in secondary school system. Both  the  validation  and  reliability  analysis  procedures  will  be  helpful  to  future researchers in developing other instruments in Economics and other subjects.

Lastly, the curriculum planners will find the instrument useful.   It will help to identify areas of difficulties in the curriculum and the curriculum planners may use such information in modifying the curriculum through improved instructional materials.

Scope of the Study

The study will be carried out in Enugu Education zone of Enugu State. The study is  limited to the development and validation of an instrument for measuring Senior Secondary School Student’s achievement in Economics. The Senor Secondary School II (SS II) will be used since they are not external examination candidates and have also covered adequate contents of Economics Curriculum. The  Senior  Secondary School Economics Curriculum contents will be used in developing the instrument.

Hypotheses

The following null hypotheses to be tested at 0.05 level of significance have been formulated as further guide to the study.

1.         There will be no significant difference between students in the rural and urban areas in the mean achievement score in Economics test as measured by the EAT. 2.         There will be no significant difference between male and female students in the mean achievement score in Economics test as measured by EAT.

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