Abstract:

No less than 1.6 million candidates are denied access to University Education in Nigeria every year through University Matriculation Examination (UME). The principal reason for this is the inability of candidates to secure qualifying grades in the UME and screening tests mounted by Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and the respective Universities. The resort to alternative access to University Education through pre-degree programmes has not improved the situation much. Thus improved grades for academic advancement remained a big challenge to both teachers and students as the students obtain below qualifying Grade Point Average (GPA). The study investigated the effect of the use of local experiences, paradigms, models and examples; and regular assessment of learner’s learning background in the classroom on the academic performance of pre-degree students. Using quasi experimental design as a methodology, 600 pre-degree students were selected for the study through simple random sampling technique. The subjects were also randomly allocated equally to two groups: A and B. Group A was exposed to local experiences, usage of local paradigms, models and examples, and regular assessment of individuals learning background as the teaching –learning interaction in the classroom progressed while group B was exposed to the traditional theoretical classroom method of teaching where a teacher only dishes out facts to the students. The instrumentation was a 20 - item teacher - made multiple choice test on ‘the nature and acquisition of language’. The instrument has a test - retest reliability co-efficient of 0.7. The two groups were taught and tested accordingly. The scores generated were analyzed. The data analysis technique adopted was co-variance analysis. The result showed that using local experience to explain the nature of language aroused greater interest of learners than using textbook explanations; using indigenous paradigms, models or local examples to clarify points and illustrate concepts facilitated greater understanding than foreign paradigms, models and examples; and regular assessment of learning background of students as the lesson progressed yielded higher appreciation by students than the usual assessment of entry behaviour at the start of lesson. The overall result indicated that the use of local experiences and illustrations and the regular assessment of students’ learning background yielded higher grades from students than the traditional classroom teaching methods. The study recommends locally based learning experiences, paradigms, models and examples and establishment of student’s learning background in achieving higher academic grades from students.

Keywords:

Local Experiences and paradigms learning background and Academic Performance.