Texila International Journal of

Management
Special Edition Apr 2019

THE IMPACT OF USING INTEGRATIVE APPROACH IN SCIENCE TEACHING ON THE

ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF STUDENTS IN INTEGRATED SCIENCE IN SENIOR
HIGH SCHOOL

Article by Mohammed Issaka

Texila American University
E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

This study investigated the impact of using integrative approach in science teaching on the academic

performance of students in integrated science against the traditional method in senior high schools in

some selected senior high schools in the Obuasi Municipality.

The sample for the study was 53 students in SHS two from Christ the King Catholic Senior High

School and Obuasi Secondary Technical in the Obuasi Municipality. The sample were obtained

through random sample technique.

The experimental group received instructions in integrated science using integrative teaching approach

whereas the control group were taught with the traditional method.

The data were collected through the use of pretest- posttest research design and were analyze according

to the research question for the study. The research question for the study was: what is the impact of

integrative teaching strategy on the academic performance of students in integrated science in senior

high school.

The results from the study indicates that the students in the experimental group performed

better than the students in the control group.

 DOI: 10.21522/TIJMG.2015.SE.19.01.Art023
ISSN: 2520-310X

Keywords: Integrative approach, students’ performance

Introduction
Background to the Study

Integrated science is a key subject in the Ghana educational curriculum. The aim of it is

production of scientific literate who will rely on scientific knowledge to explain the problem

they face in the real life and also to make inform choices in life. It is a core subject which

means that before a student can continue his/her education to the tertiary level he/she must pass

the integrated science. It is quite sad that students perform very badly at the end of the three

years examination organized by WAEC. Many concern citizens have come out to express

about the canker and make a lot of suggestions as how the menace can be eradicated. One of

the issue they did not address in their presentation is the method used by the teacher in teaching

the subject.

The Kothari commission report (1960) as cited in Singh (2010 “If science is poorly taught and

badly learnt, it is little more than burdening the mind with dead information and it could

degenerate even into new superstitions”. This assertion of the commission caution science

teachers to select a suitable method in teaching integrated science.

Integrated science is not just a subject taught in school. It is part of our daily life so if we want

children to make sense of what we teach them we need to teach to reflect in the real world. it

however very sad teachers lack the skills of creation connections between the subject and the

real world this make therefore make science abstract and ambiguous hence students could not

understand what is taught in class and therefore perform badly in science. Educators came up

an integrative strategy of teaching science which give the students the opportunity to relate

what is what in the school to the real world. (Ebrahim, Budoor & Wefky2013) agree that integrative
 Texila International Journal of
Management
Special
approach in teaching has positive effects on student’s attitude towards science Edition
and this might Apr
have2019

positive effect on their performance too. Therefore the researcher tried finding out the effect of using

integrative approach in teaching on the academic performance of students in integrated science.

Statement of the Problem

Integrated science is one of the core subjects in Senior High School. This means that before

students can get admission to the tertiary institutions, they need to pass the subject. It is

however very sad to note that many of these students failed the subject miserably. West Africa

Examination reports 2018 attest to this fact. Teachers play key role in the educational success of

their students, for instance if the teacher did not use appropriate method in teaching the

students, students get confuse and develop hate for the subject. When this happens it affect

their performance in the subject. Over the years several methods had suggested by educators in

teaching science one of these methods is integrative approach in teaching, therefore the

reaching to use this method in teaching the subject and find out its effects on students’

performance in integrated science.

1.3 Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study is to find out the effect of using integrative teaching strategy in

teaching integrated science on the students’ academic performance in integrated science in

Senior High Schools in the Obuasi Municipality.

1.4 Research Question

1. What are the effects of using integrative approach in integrated science teaching on the

students’ academic performance in science in Senior High School?

 Significance of the study

The study can also help improve students’ academic performance in science through showing

high motivation and better understanding of what is taught in class.

It may also help Teachers see the need to use integrative approach in teaching integrated

science.

It may be useful to the educational training institutions the need to train teachers who will be
able to use integrative approach in teaching science

Study location
The study was conducted at Christ the King Catholic Senior High. The students used for the
study were in form two class.
Literature review

The previous studies that I reviewed point out that integrative approached in teaching science has

positive effect on students’ attitude towards science (Yassin, Najim & Wefky, 2013). This can also

results in corresponding increase in their academic performance this is because students are

likely to study subjects they have interest in them. Integrating science help connect students to

real live so they are able to understand what they are taught in the class. This because science

does no longer seem abstracts to them. Opara (2011) The stressed that the use of the integrated

approach to science teaching arouse out of the need to make science teaching more meaningful

and relevant to the students. Clayton et al. (2010) as cited in Kaur (2019) opined that, often by the

time the students reach high school they had already concluded that school has little connection to

their current lives and even less to offer in preparing them for the future. The classroom teacher has

the sole responsibility of correcting this erroneous ideas that students have about science through

using methods strategies they adopt to make students feel that science is part of their daily lives and

that there is the need to pay much attention to it like other subjects. Kaur (2019) opined that the school

has a prime responsibility to mirror the societal contexts into their classroom experiences through

multidisciplinary integration of topics both within and across disciplines.

 Researchers reviewed for this study point out that there are positive effects on the students’
achievement when they are involved in integrated curriculum. (Backer & Park, 2011) accomplished a
study to determine the effects of integration approaches among STEM subjects on students’
achievement. The researchers applied this study on elementary school level and college level by
modifying the instructional strategies to fit the integration of 4 subjects which are science, technology,
engineering and mathematics (STEM). The researchers found that the integrative approaches among
STEM subjects have positive effects on the students’ achievement. The effects of integrative approach
showed the largest effects on the students’ in elementary school level. This study serves our study
because it indicates the effects of integration on the students’ achievement which may cause positive
effects on the students’ attitude toward learning science.
Many researches confirm that integrative approach can ensure the engagement of diverse students
in the classroom. (Adamson, Secada, Maerten-Rivera & Lee, 2011) constructed a study to investigate
the impact of a hands-on science curriculum which integrates mathematics and supports English
language development on third grade students’ achievement. This study applied on two groups,
experimental school and control school. The outcome of this study is that the students at the treatment
school perform better than students at the control school. The results provide evidence that an
integrated approach to mathematics and science instruction can benefit diverse student groups. The
connection between this study and our study is that we have applied our study on a classroom which
contains diverse learners.
Previous researches have shown that Implementing Integrative approach in schools is an effective
method of teaching because it shows positive effects on students’ achievements. However, it has many
barriers and one of the wide spread barrier is time consuming. (Arrdondo & Rusinski, 1998) conducted
a study on elementary and secondary school in US. The purpose of the study was to determine how the
uses of integrated curricula change over time and to explore the

Research methodology
Research design
This study was designed in form of a case study. A case study was being adopted because it
allowed for the collection of data in a particular business environment and gave a detailed description
about a phenomenon. The study used both qualitative and quantitative techniques with the help of
semi structured questionnaires for data collection. This approach helped to get many views from both
written materials and those on the ground to enable the researcher come up with concrete conclusions
and recommendations. Phenomenological approach was also be used to gain a deeper understanding
of the experiences of individual businesses. This helped the researcher understand how participants
experienced some phenomenon and how they described an extent of the situation since participants
had lived the experience as opposed to third party experience.
Target population
The study targeted maramba market in Livingstone District of Southern Province; all small
medium enterprises businesses were also taken on.
Sample size
The total sample size of this research was sixty (60) participants who comprised of three (3) Big
business owners, thirty (30) small business owners, (27) twenty-seven consumers who form part of
the community where the business take place.
Sampling procedure
The study used multistage sampling technique. The researcher used purposive sampling method to
select the big business owners, small business owner and the category of consumers. Simple random
sampling technique was used to select the small business owners from the market place.
Instruments for data collection
The researcher carefully prepared two different types of semi-structured questionnaires for
members of big business, small business owners and consumers. The other questionnaire was
specifically prepared to gather data from the general members of the community. In addition to that,
the researcher prepared an observation schedule which he used for conducting observations in the
market that took part in the research.
Data analysis techniques
Data collected was analyzed through Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20
software and used excel to generate figures and tables. Qualitative data was analyzed following
emerging themes and sub themes.
Findings and discussion
Figure 3.1 below indicates respondents’ view on whether investigation in the’ perception on
internal and external environment had a major role to play in the implementation of small business
enterprises. The analysis indicates, thirty-two giving a percentage of 53% of the respondents who
strongly agreed while twenty-four representing 40% agreed that small medium business perception on
business environment played a major role in the implementation of business plan. On the other hand,
four respondents representing 7% disagreed to the statement. The results meant that a majority 93% of
the respondents supported the assertion that small medium business perception had a major role to
play in the implementation of business.

Figure 3.1. Small Medium Enterprises’ Perception on internal and external business environment plays a major
role in determining the Implementation of business
The study established that the current status of external and internal business environment is
worrying. However, the analysis of the research results revealed that the introduction of small
medium enterprises by the government through the Ministry of Commerce trade and industry (MCTI)
in the market was expected to result in changing the negative attitudes held by administrators in the
business sectors, some of the business owners, traders of other products, the community and
manufacturers. Change of attitude by administrators was expected to result in more budgetary
allocation to growing more entrepreneurs. More budgetary allocation to the sector meant empowering
the people with more finances which would enable the sector to acquire enough products, improving
and developing of wellbeing of the economy in order to facilitate growth domestic products.
The findings of the current research were consistent with the state of doing business in the United
Kingdom (UK). Ways of doing business as small business in England is regarded as a valuable and a
necessary element respected and adequately budgeted for (Green, 2005) [7]. In this regard Green, (2005)
[7]
found that small medium enterprise’ perceptions of internal external environment had a great
influence on the implementation of business in the market place. A positive perception and adequate
support towards it was also expected to reduce the gap that exists between major and minor business
owners and those of other tradition business since an improvement in the participation in economic
activities by the business community would tremendously improve their performance in all aspects of
business, the situation which would be appreciated by all the stakeholders in the Ministry of
Commerce Trade and Industry.
The current study has established that the current status of internal and external business
environment in market places is such that there exists a gap between major and minor business
owners and those doing fine usually undermine the achievements of the small ones and this situation
limits the growth of business sector. The current study was however consistent with Hardman (2008)
[8]
who noted negative attitudes amongst business owners and said small business enterprise was
regarded a lower status, peripheral way of doing business, as non-constructive and vocationally non-
productive, lacking in business value and merely as a compensatory economic activity.
In this regard, the current study emphasized the importance of according internal and external
business environment small medium enterprise a status comparable to that of big or major businesses
equal environment despite the situations. Such consideration is an important condition for the success
of business introduced in market.
The study revealed that if administrators and small medium enterprises’ perception of internal and
external business environment could be changed toward helping newcomers on the market, in return
the consumers would be more excited and see small businesses grow all altogether. The study also
established that both internal and external business environment usually faced great difficulty in
getting business operating permission from commerce trade and industry offices to allow them to take
part in economic activities especially those performed within and outside the market. The study
revealed that at the market under study, a skilled and talented business woman in business always
hesitated to accompany the other big business owners because they looked at her as still young in the
business and lacks the ideas. This scenario indicates that among business owners who are doing well
currently hold negative perceptions towards internal and external business environment.

Figure 3.2. Business owners accounting for internal and external business environment
In response, as figure 3.2 above indicates, it was discovered that twenty two participants of sixty
comprising of business administrators and major and minor business owners representing 37%
strongly agreed to the assertion that only a few small business enterprises implemented their business
despite the external and internal shocks on the market, while thirty four representing 57% agreed and
only four out of sixty representing 6% of the respondents strongly disagreed to the assertion. This
meant that a majority 47 respondents out sixty culminating into 94% were in support of the statement
that most small medium enterprises adopted other business pathways and sort.
The current study realistically established that out of the total number of small business enterprises
that took part in the survey, only one enterprise implemented her own business despite shocks on the
market. Therefore, the current study established that negative attitude towards internal and external
business environment mainly by the business administration and major business owners, who are
responsible for choosing the direction to be implemented in market, were the major cause of dropping
in the business. Respondents were again asked to state what they considered most for them to choose
to implement both internal and external business environment as important factors for their business
in the market.
 What the school considerd for implementing the
other vocational pathway other than PE and Sport
100

100
80
47
60
60
40 17 28 17 20
20 10 10 12
0

FrequencyPercent

Figure 3.3. Reasons for implementing other vocational pathways

In response to this, ten of the sixty respondents culminating into 16% indicated that they
considered teacher’s interest in the subject for them to implement the vocational pathways in their
schools, twenty eight out of sixty representing 46% of the respondents indicated that they considered
the value of the subject under implementation, ten of the sixty respondents culminating into 17%
indicated that it was an administrative order for them to implement a particular pathway while the
remaining twelve giving a representation of 20% of the respondents responded that they followed
pupils’ interest. However, a majority of 46% of the respondents indicated that they considered the
value of the subject for them to implement a particular pathway. The fact that physical education was
less implemented in secondary schools as compared to other subjects meant that administrators,
teachers including pupils considered physical education and sport to be of less value than other
subjects.
The current study advanced other reasons for only a few schools having implemented Physical
Education and Sport. They included the lack of adequate sports infrastructure and equipment in all the
schools under study, inadequate trained teachers of Physical education and Sport and the negative
perception by most teachers and administrators that it was expensive to implement Physical education
and sport as compared to other subjects on the school curriculum. One of the schools felt that a hilly
terrain at their schools would not support the implementation of physical education and sport and they
automatically considered implementing other subjects in place of physical education and sport. It was
however, surprising to note that some schools thought that physical education and sport was still
unexaminable subject and indicated that the absence of examinations would make it difficult for most
schools to implement Physical Education and Sport.
When asked to comment on whether the introduction of examinations in physical education and
sport in secondary schools would raise the status of physical education, a majority of respondents
thought that the presence of national examinations in secondary school physical education and sport
would boost the status and value of the subject. It was sad however, to note that though the
respondents felt that examinations in physical education and sport would boost the status of the
subject, only one school out of the three successfully implemented the subject.
The inferiority of physical education as an academic subject is worrying. The current study
revealed that pupils, administrators and teachers who took part in the study considered physical
education and sport as an inferior subject as compared to other vocational pathways. When asked to
comment on the perception that learners who took physical education and sport as a subject were
looked down upon by pupils taking other subjects, twelve out of the sixty respondents who took part
in the study culminating into 20% strongly agreed that pupils who took physical education and sport
as a subject were indeed looked down upon by fellow students who took other subjects, thirty two
respondents representing 53% agreed, while sixteen respondents representing 27% of the total sixty
respondents disagreed to the statement. From this analysis, the results indicate that a majority of 73%
respondents supported the statement that pupils taking physical education and sport were looked down
upon by pupils taking other subjects.
Figure 3.5. Physical Education and sport is considered inferior
One pupil was heard saying physical education was meant for the academically underperforming
students to be kept in school. The perception that most pupils and people hold about physical
education is that, it is not an intellectual subject hence, befitting those students with academic
performance challenges. The study also established that parents and pupils had fears about pupils
taking physical education and sport not easily accessing good jobs in future. This study established
that people have a perception that, it would be very difficult for pupils taking physical education and
sport to access good jobs after completing school. The current study was however not consistent with
the study conducted by Green (2005) [7]. In England which established that, pupils had a lot of
employment opportunities in physical education presented to them in the post school environment.
Therefore, physical education and sport in our context and that of England are not the same and
this calls for the authority to use appropriate measures of contextualising the subject in order to
address issues taking place in our context.
Negative perception towards physical education and sport by most administrators, subject teachers
and pupils was one of the areas that hampered the successful implementation of physical education
and sport in most secondary schools.
Figure 3.4. Most teachers and pupils have a negative attitude towards physical education
After conducting an analysis, out of the sixty respondents ten representing 17% strongly agreed,
that most teachers and pupils had a negative attitude towards physical education and sportwhile thirty
culminating into 47% agreed to the assertion. However, twelve representing 20% of the respondents
disagreed and another ten representing 17% of the sixty respondents strongly disagreed to the
assertion that most teachers and pupils had a negative attitude towards physical education and sport.
The study however, established that a majority of forty respondents culminating into 64% of the
respondents perceived that most teachers and pupils had a negative attitude towards physical
education and sport. The study revealed negative perceptions of most pupils and teachers towards
examinations in secondary school physical education and sport possibly due to the low status of
physical education in most secondary schools and the perceived lack of employment opportunities for
physical education students after completing school. Most pupil respondents who indicated positive
attitudes towards examinations in secondary school physical education seemed to be good at sport and
thought this would be a way of continuing their education and getting qualified in something they
deem to be their strengths.
However, pupil respondents who showed negative perceptions towards examinations in secondary
school physical education tend to be the children that are highly academic and as a result tend to
pursue more of a scientific area and those students who were not very good at physical education in
the first place. Students’ participation in physical education and sport has a lot of benefits, for
instance; athletes enjoy the increase in physical fitness, introduction to a healthy lifestyle and also to a
life-long sport or a career in sport. Despite the advantages outlined, respondents reported low levels of
interest to participate in physical education and sport lessons as they thought the subject was not
important in their lives. The current study has further revealed that, teachers trained in physical
education did not actually teach the subject in their schools but taught other subjects instead. The
reasons advanced for this situation were that administrators and physical education teachers had a
negative perception towards physical education and that such schools never implemented physical
education pathways hence teachers taught other subjects.
This attitude, resulted in pupils concentrating more on other school subjects which they perceived
would contribute to their overall mark in the academic subjects. The situation suggests that
examinations in secondary school physical education were very important in contributing to the
overall raise of the status of physical education and sport in secondary schools which would in turn
influence a greater level of participation in both physical education and extra curricula activities by
both teachers and pupils.
Conclusions and Recommendations
In the light of the analysis and discussion of the teachers’ perception towards examinations in
secondary school physical education and sport, this research report has established that most teachers
of physical education and sport emphasized the need for examinations in the subject which are
expected to produce a positive change of attitude towards physical education and sport especially on
teachers of other subjects, administrators especially those specialized in other subjects other than
physical education and sport and parents as well as the society at large.
Teachers of physical education and sport felt that the introduction of examinations in secondary
school physical education and sport would highly motivate students to participate in both physical
education and sport as a subject and as sporting activities in secondary schools. The current study
established that it is the perception held by administrators and teachers that affected the decision to
either implement physical education and sport or implement other vocational pathways in their
institutions. The study concluded that teachers' perception played a major role in determining the
implementation of physical education and sport in secondary schools. The study established that only
one secondary school out of the three secondary schools implemented physical education and sport as
their vocational pathway subject while the rest decided to implement other subjects. The study has
also revealed that administrators, teachers and pupils reported that learners who took physical
education and sport in their classes were looked down upon by learners taking other subjects. Reasons
given for such a perception were that, it was difficult for pupils taking physical education to find good
jobs after finishing school and that the subject was considered an extracurricular activity and not an
academic subject. To add on, this research has established that most physical education and sport
trained teachers taught other subjects other than physical education and Sport in their schools. This
scenario indicates that physical education and sport was less implemented in most secondary schools.
The study has however made the following recommendations: 1. The Ministry of General
Education for instance, Senior Education Standards Officers Expressive Arts (SESO) should review
and audit school facilities to ensure students have access to the necessary equipment to meet the
requirements of examinations in secondary physical education. 2. The Ministry of General Education
and teachers should conduct sensitization campaigns to help correct the perception that physical
education and sport is a co-curricular and non-essential subject. 3. School administrations should fully
support the Expressive Arts Departments by increasing funding to enable them buy and improve
physical education and sport equipment and infrastructure to effectively implement examinations in
physical education and sport in secondary schools. 4. The government should deploy more teachers of
physical education and sport to secondary schools. 5. Physical education teachers should be appraised
and supervised by qualified physical education personnel since working under a Head of Department
(HOD) specialized in other subjects other than physical education impacts negatively on prestige and
professional development.
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