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Action Research by Ben B.K. Ayawli (2008) - Improving The Performance of HND SMS 2 Students of Sunyani Polytechnic in Database Application Programs (MS Access)
Action Research by Ben B.K. Ayawli (2008) - Improving The Performance of HND SMS 2 Students of Sunyani Polytechnic in Database Application Programs (MS Access)
Action Research by Ben B.K. Ayawli (2008) - Improving The Performance of HND SMS 2 Students of Sunyani Polytechnic in Database Application Programs (MS Access)
JULY, 2008
a
UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION, WINNEBA
BY
(104020022)
JULY, 2008
b
DECLARATION
CANDIDATE’S DECLARATION
I hereby declare that this project work is the result of my own original research
except for the references from other people’s work, which have been cited and
acknowledged accordingly, and that no part of it has been presented for another award
……………………………………….. ……………………………………
SUPERVISOR’S DECLARATION
I hereby declare that the preparation and presentation of this project work was
supervised in accordance with the guidelines on supervision of project work laid down
………………………………………… …………….…………………………
c
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This work would not have been successful without the support and co-
work.
painstakingly spent his precious time reading and correcting the entire
Sunyani Polytechnic, for their personal interest in the project work and the
Nicholas, Amuzu Prince, Hassanatu Gomda, Jakie and all the 2007/2008
i
interns, National Service Personnels of Sunyani Polytechnic and all those who
ii
DEDICATION
I dedicate this project work to God Almighty for His guidance and
iii
ABSTRACT
May, 2008. The aim of the study was to assist second year HND SMS students in
application program. This study became necessary because most HND SMS
researcher:
ii. How can the effective use of learning resources improve teaching
iii. How can students be well equipped with the required skills in MS
v. To what extent will the use of group work help improve students’
Because the course is offered by second year HND SMS students, the
researcher considered the third year SMS students who have just completed the
iv
course numbering 35. The second year HND SMS students were the main target
interview, group projects, pre-test and post-test. Data collection was done during
the diagnostic stage of the intervention to help identify the problem and also after
The findings of the study revealed that, teaching methods and techniques
used by the instructors were not effective enough to make MS Access and other
misconception of learners about the course and finally led to their poor
performance of the students has improved drastically from about 10% to over
60%.
poor attitude and perception was due to the teaching methods and techniques
used and how the teaching and learning support materials were used by both
use of motivation and group projects should be used during the teaching and
course.
v
TABLE OF CONTENT
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.......................................................................................a
DEDICATION ......................................................................................................iii
ABSTRACT .........................................................................................................iv
TABLE OF CONTENT.........................................................................................vi
Delimitation ....................................................................................................................... 7
vi
The Effect of Teaching Methods and Techniques on Learning ........................... 13
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………….......20
vii
CHAPTER FIVE: RESULTS OF THE STUDY ...................................................42
Analysis of response from students during the post intervention stage ............. 65
RECOMMENDATION ...................................................................................67
Conclusions .................................................................................................................... 68
Recommendations ........................................................................................................ 69
REFERENCES ...................................................................................................72
viii
LIST OF APPENDICES
ix
LIST OF TABLES
package installed...................................................................................47
programs. ..............................................................................................48
x
Table 10: Frequencies and Percentages of Students’ response as to whether
whether they use teaching and learning materials in their teaching. .....50
they can open and enter data into an existing MS Access database..53
xi
Table 19: Frequencies and Percentages of Students’ response as to whether
they think more practical work will make them like MS Access and/or
they like the way Microsoft Access and/or other computer application
they prefer...........................................................................................59
xii
Table 28: Frequencies and Percentages of Students’ response as to whether
Table 29: Frequency distribution of HND SMS 2 and HND SMS 3 Pre-Test and
xiii
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Entering field names, defining data types and field properties ............35
xiv
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTUON
the Catering industry Part I and Part II and Business Studied (Accounting and
Secretarial option). It was upgraded into Polytechnic in January, 1997 and was
mandated to provide career-focused education and training at the tertiary level with
The computer is known to have gone a long way to improve efficiency in all
1
It is also strongly believed that, computer skills are a must for everybody
who wants to be part of today’s world. It is therefore the reason for its inclusion in
processing, databases, production planning and many others. Instead of the use of
pens and papers for dealing with customer orders, compiling wages and salaries of
to make data keeping and retrieval more easy and convenient. Whenever you
have a hunk of data that is likely to grow, and you need to extract meaningful
information from it, a database program is probably the best tool for the job (Afari,
1997).
The computer literacy course for students offering Higher National Diploma
(Microsoft Access) course is taken by the second year students in the fourth
semester.
secretaries and hence will be greeted with the use of electronic database
management system in keeping, analyzing and retrieving data at their work places.
2
Database is used in many applications, spanning virtually the entire range of
users find them convenient, though many electronic mail programs and personal
performed poorly and have the problem in creating tables, entering data, querying
and generating reports using Microsoft Access database. It must however be noted
Access) in the Polytechnics and other tertiary institutions existed over the years, no
research has been conducted into the problem despite the bright motive for the
Statistics available has proven beyond every reasonable doubt that, about
seventy percent of HND SMS graduates from the Polytechnic cannot design a
database system for their department or organization that they find themselves to
work after completion. This poor performance in the subject area would in no doubt
background that a study into the problem has become very paramount to find
solution to salvage the situation so as to achieve the aim at which the course is
introduced.
3
Statement of the Problem
Sunyani Polytechnic, it is rather surprising that very few empirical research has
It was identified from a documentary search and an interview that, for the
past two years, no student had grade “A+”. It was also realized that fifty percent of
about MS Access and ineffective use of teaching and learning resources might be
In view of the situation, the main problem of this study was whether the use
of motivation, group learning, demonstration and activity method and the effective
demonstration and activity method and effective use of learning resources to assist
4
obtained the views of students and course instructors of the subject area with
respect to poor performance of students in the subject area (MS Access). It also
towards the subject and ways of making the learning of database more interesting
to enhance students’ performance. It also sought to find out whether the views of
course instructors and students can be coordinated to find solution to the poor
Research Questions
1. What can be done to change the attitude and perception of students and
(MS Access)?
2. How can the effective use of learning resources improve teaching and
3. How can students be well equipped with the required skills in database
5. To what extent will the use of group project work help improve students’
5
6. How can database application programs (MS Access) be made more
Sunyani Polytechnic is important in several reasons. First, this study will enable
(MS Access) so that they can design and administer a database program in the
organisation they will be working after completing the HND program. Second, the
study will boost the confidence of HND SMS students in database designing and
administration and bury students misconceptions that database programs are for
IT experts. Also, this research will help improve students’ grades in the subject and
thereby give them the opportunity to further their education. Moreover, the study
help improve students’ performance in database (MS Access). This will help the
teachers to vary their teaching methods to ensure effective teaching and learning.
Again, the study will make it imperative for students to identify the causes of their
poor performance in the study of the course and also identify the solutions to this
problem. Finally, the study shall serve as a guide or handy material for other
Data collection for this study was limited to second and third years of
Sunyani Polytechnic, a population of one hundred and nine (109) due to time and
6
financial constraints. This procedure therefore decreased the generalisation of
the findings. The study would therefore not be generalizable to all HND SMS
students because it does not reflect the entire corpus of past students who went
through the same course before 2006/2007 academic year and HND SMS
Delimitation
application program (MS Access) as a course. However, this study was narrowed
down in scope due to financial and time constraints. It therefore confined itself to
only HND SMS students of Sunyani Polytechnic. This means that for a more
complete study, the views of other stakeholders in other Polytechnic will have to
be considered.
7
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter reviews on what other people have said about the topic under
consideration. This chapter reviews related literature under the following sub
headings: the concept of database, the concept of Microsoft Access, the concept
information needs of one or more users. The term originated within the computer
industry, though its meaning has been broadened by popular use, such that the
can consult it to answer questions". For a better retrieval and sorting, each record
8
application program. Strictly speaking the term refers to the collection of related
The earliest known use of the term 'database' was in June 1963, when the
a single word become common in Europe in the early 1970's and by the end of
comparable term, had been used in the Washington post newspaper as early as
1966).
sixty's. A pioneer in the field was Charles Bachman. Bachman's early papers
show that his aim was to make more effective use of the new data access on
storage devices.
3. It has a schema.
9
According to Ricks, Swafford and Gaw (1992), before data can be entered
into a database, the database must be planned and created. Planning the
database involves deciding the data to be contained in the database, naming the
fields needed, deciding the types of fields for each item of data and selecting the
width and decimal positions (in the case of a numeric field) for each field. The
width of the field is determined by the longest piece of data to be stored in that
field.
According to Dobler and Burt (2003), when data records are computerized,
important to integrate the system carefully with the purchasing operating system
information easily and quickly”. A database is a collection of data that exists and is
(RDBMS).
program that enables you to enter, store, analyze, and present data”. For end
10
users and software developers alike, Access provides easy-to-use yet powerful
(DBMS). In fact, Access offers scalable never before seen in desktop database
software to meet needs ranging from simple to complex. At the desktop level,
Access can help you manage your personal information or collect data for a
research study. At the corporate and enterprise level, Access can retrieve and
summarize data stored on servers located throughout the world. Access also
enables you to create and publish dynamic Web-based forms and reports for
The primary object in a database for collecting and storing data is called
table. Tables are organized into rows and columns similar to an electronic
address) is called a record and is stored as a horizontal row. Each record in a table
behavior that occurs through experience. This however means that learning
During the 1870’s the Great Harvard psychologist, William James felt that
learning, essentially during childhood shapes and directs our lives. It is very
important for students to have at least basic knowledge in what they learn in school
11
in order to build upon it. Farrant (2000) sees learning as the process by which we
acquire and retain attitude, knowledge, understanding, skills and capabilities that
First, the cognitive domain refers to knowledge and knowing the ‘how’ and
the ‘why’ thus the thinking skills. To be able to create database applications, one
should be knowledgeable about the features, terms and the calculation formulas
used in database (MS Access). One also needs to have the knowledge of how to
designed.
Second, the psychomotor domain deals with skill that is concerned with
physical dexterity. For example keyboarding and designing and use of database
application programs. The task in database design and use require the use of
physical and creative skills, which need to be practiced. According to Blege (1986),
acquisition of skills, attitudes and values can best be done by practice, involving
demonstration, and group project work methods. Learners can be more conversant
with the creation and use of database application program (MS Access) through
regular practice.
The third domain and the one often neglected is the Affective domain. This
is concerned with attitudes – the need to create and use database (MS Access)
12
programs. Also, the development of the attitude to practice database (MS Access)
program is important.
According to them, there are some methods of teaching that have been
used for many years and we have decided to call them “Traditionally time tested
methods” because they have stood the test of time. These methods can be used
them all the time. This writes identified these methods to include the lecture
et al (1982) explain teaching techniques as the way one handles the different
using the “Discussion method”, the way the teacher asks questions to trigger off
participation indicates one’s own techniques. They assert “there are some
important activities in the classroom that are almost always used in every day
lessons”. These are review, drill, practice, assignment and questioning. Because
they are always used, they are taken for granted and no deliberate effort is made
to prepare them. We fail to realize that the success of teaching and learning
13
process depends to a considerable extent on how well we perform these
activities (P.39).
method of teaching, in which sight rather than hearing is the major means of
because most people more easily remember what they see than what they only
hear or read. At its simplest, it may involve only showing an actual object, model,
picture or diagram.
carried out by the teacher while the students closely observe the techniques and
procedure”.
by the teacher of how the skills are being demonstrated. The students are allowed
to ask questions to clarify points they did not understand as the demonstration
goes on. The student will then be allowed to practice the new skills while teacher
Effective teaching and learning can be achieved if teachers make use of learning
14
resources. The importance of teaching and learning aids is obvious as supported
by many authorities.
Amankra (1993) states that most schools lack teaching and learning
resources and even where they are available, teachers do not often use them
effectively. Thus lack of teaching and learning resources is one of the problems
adequate instructions; however, teachers can even do better when they are
Written or Spoken words are very useful in most learning situations, but
there are concepts which the teacher can transmit more effectively using
variety of teaching methods. They may also help promote intellectual curiosity,
contribute to longer retention of learning and clarify principles outside the range
Coppen (1971) stress that, “There are sound educational reasons for
supporting the use of teaching materials and exploiting them as fully as possible
for the benefit of the pupils. The children the teacher teaches are diverse. Even
where they are taught in groups roughly homogeneous with respect to ability, the
15
child are different. The more varied the form of presentation, the greater the
likelihood that the needs of each individual will be met and the greater number
children learn by doing and observing and this calls for real life situations in the
classroom.
addition, materials are capable of directing students’ interest and promoting their
and learning resources are capable of widening students’ horizon and range of
Group Learning
verbally, occupy certain roles with respect to one another and co-operate to
16
Researchers studying the use of cooperate learning have arrived at positive
results. In one study, the use of learning partners and peer monitors resulted in
(Steinhorst, 1995).
settings and developed more positive attitude towards the study of skills (Kroll,
Secretaryship and Management students will perform well in the creation and use
of database when they are involved in a project to design a database system for
studies use heterogeneous groups with high ability, medium ability and low ability
students’ membership (Slavin, 1980). Other studies use a narrow range of ability
in groups. Keeler (1995) concluded that mixed ability groups are preferred over
17
upon the individual’s responses to all objects and situation with which it is related.
situation.
Boateng (1998) went further to say that attitude embodied the result of
information processing and in turn affect the way a person conceives and judges
the world. Attitude influences the individual ultimate results. Attitude therefore has
situation arises the opinion and the feelings that the individuals form about the
situation determines the end result. Some people dismiss attitude as unimportant
by saying that it is just ones opinion. But attitude can be a matter of life and death
(Santrock, 2001).
and examinations. Family attitudes can have adverse effect on the student learning
the creation and use of database (MS Access). This means that if there is lack of
encouragement and provision of required materials for the study of the program
from the family to the student, the attitude of the students towards the subject may
be negative.
Annor (1995) says the culture of a society defines what the curriculum of the
school should be. This implies that a student’s appetite for a subject would be
dwindled away if his culture doesn’t cherish it. In supporting the socio-economic
status as a factor that affects students’ attitudes to learning. Rogers (1986) says
18
that poor unemployed parents will not have enough money to buy materials and to
spend on activities to further children’s development and also to foster the skills,
subjects and courses without taking into consideration of their abilities, aptitudes
and interest in the field or course. No doubt, the fact that a student can do well in a
certain subject usually increases his interest in it and an initial interest stimulates
The above statements clearly attest to the fact that, attitude plays a vital role
examine students’ attitude towards the study of a particular subject using the
the students’ state with regards to his or her attitude towards the study of the
subject.
Manino (2004), Dobler and Burt (2003) and other authors made it clear
Manipulate and retrieve information easily and quickly”, Afari (1997). Farrant
(2000) and other authors attest to the fact that, learning must include the
19
stated by Nacino-Brown et al (1982), the choice of teaching methods and
techniques can affect teaching and learning either positively or negatively. The
use of teaching and learning resources was seen by Amankra (1993), Bloom et
teaching and learning. Olaitan and Agusiobo (1982), see demonstration method
According to Kroll (1991), students develop more positive attitude towards the
study of skills in cooperative group. Mixed ability groups are preferred over
homogenous ability group by Keeler (1995). Rokeach (1948) and other writers
Conclusion
The overview of the concept of database was traced from the 1960’s. It
was identified that database application program is relevant for the socio-
Access database was introduced as a course for HND SMS students in Sunyani
Polytechnic. The aim for the introduction is to help ensure easy and effective
handling of data. Despite the importance attached to the study and use of
database, the above sample literature seems to point to apparent lack of studies
in the above research questions. Under the research question one on the
20
solution to change students’ negative perception about database, there was lack
of research into learners’ misconception about the subject. Under the research
question two, on the effective use of learning resources to improve teaching and
learning of MS Access database the sample literature above shows that there
was no research into it. There was also obvious lack of research into the use of
21
CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
For every research work, there exist a specific way of carrying out the
research. This chapter describes: the research design of the investigation, the
Research Design
In order to find facts and to describe the conditions that exist in the
assessment type of research design was used. The evaluation method was also
Assessment and evaluation types of research design was used for the
study and was modeled after the orientation of a survey conducted by the
purpose of the study was to find ways and means to improve the performance of
prompted the researcher to conduct this study vis-à-vis the method employed so
22
learning of database application program (MS Access) among second year HND
towards the theory and practical work lessons in database application program
(MS Access) created a huge vacuum for the researcher to study into the interest
Diploma in Business Studies (DBS) and Business Studies (BS) and a Higher
At the time of study, the department had a population of 1,481 students. Out of
students numbered 224. Out of the 224 SMS students, 106 were first years, 74
Application II (MS Access) was the target for the research because they were the
class from which the problem was perceived, evidence gathered and causes
ascertained. Thirty five (35) HND SMS third year students were also included in
data collection to ensure effective data analysis since they have already taken
number of students involved in this research was 109. Six Computer instructors
23
were also involved because they deal directly with the students and can therefore
perspective analysis, and to provide adequate supporting data, the framework for
collection refers to the use one data collection technique to cross-check the
results from another technique. In the process of the study, the following
research instruments were used to collect data to source for information, assess
the progress of the students as interventions were implemented and also assess
1. Participant observation
2. Unstructured Interview
3. Class exercise
4. Questionnaires
5. Analysis of documents
Observation
24
because, the students became accustomed to the researcher’s presence as a
result of the cordial relationship establish between them hence making the
normally bias the information they offer about themselves. Even when bias
b) There would be the need for the researcher to determine the extent to
which the presence of the researcher would change the situation being
observed.
also observed vis-à-vis students response and participation during teaching and
out how the interest of students in database application program (MS Access)
25
Interview
Interviews as research method are unique in the sense that it involves the
not to create any tension among the instructors and students and to ensure
Students were also interviewed to assess their views about their inability to
Questionnaires
It may include factual questions that ask about the characteristics of things
26
During the diagnostic stage, questionnaires (Appendix A1) were given to
students to provide some facts in order to assess the interest and progress of
Questionnaires (Appendix A2) were also given to six instructors who teach
Class Exercise
Class exercises were given to students during the diagnostic stage to help
the researcher identify the problem of the students in the subject area. It was
Class Test
A pre-test and a post-test were conducted during the diagnostic stage and
27
Pre-Test
During the stage of diagnosing the problem, Pre-test was designed and
used to find out the strength and weaknesses of the students in database
Post-Test
in database application program (MS Access). This was to assess their skills of
creating tables, query a database, create and design forms and generating
reports.
Analysis of Documents
sources;
Data Analysis
collected. Each question was analyzed and the number of respondents who gave
particular response was recorded. Tables and charts were used to analyze the
questions answered by respondents and results from the pre and post-test
28
CHAPTER FOUR
This aspect of the research outlines the various practical activities that
were carried out to achieve the aims and objectives of the research work. The
method used was group projects, demonstration and activity method and
The database design was divided into seven sub-topics including: The
forms, creating reports and presentation of group projects. During the first week
the steps in creating a database was discussed in 120 minutes. The second sub-
topic (Opening and manipulating existing database) was treated in week two also
in 120 minutes. Creating of database tables was done in the third week for 150
queries was tackled in week four and five respectively for 150 minutes on
Wednesday and Saturday. In week six creating of forms was treated for 150
minutes. Creating of reports was done in week seven also in 150 minutes. In
groups students were ask to identify an organization and try to design a database
using MS Access to help them in managing data in that organization. The eighth
and ninth weeks were used for group project and presentation of projects results.
29
Week One
The various database objects including tables, queries, forms, reports, macros
and modules were discussed. To equip learners on what must be done before
The first step in designing a database is to determine its purpose and how
it is to be used. At this step, the database designer has to discuss with people
who will use the database. Brainstorm about the questions the database is
supposed to answer. The designer has to sketch out the forms, reports that the
be stored in the database and the subject each fact belongs will be identified
Each field is a fact about a particular subject. For example, you might
need to store the following facts about customers: company name, address, city,
state, and phone number. Separate fields need to be created for each of these
30
facts. When determining which fields are needed, the following design principles
3. Don't create fields for data that consists of lists of multiple items.
Each table should contain information about one subject. List of fields will
provide clues to the tables needed. For example, if you have a HireDate field, its
table for Customers, a table for Products, and a table for Orders.
When deciding which table each field belongs to, the following design
31
2. Don't add the field to a table if it will result in the same information
Step 5: Identify the Field or Fields with Unique Values in Each Record
tables— for example, to connect a customer with all the customer's orders—
each table in your database must include a field or set of fields that uniquely
identifies each individual record in the table. Such a field is called a primary key.
Now that you've divided your information into tables and identified primary
key fields, you need a way to tell Microsoft Access how to bring related
After you have designed the tables, fields, and relationships you need, it's
time to study the design and detect any flaws that might remain. It is easier to
change your database design now than it will be after you have filled the tables
with data.
the tables, and enter enough sample data in your tables so you can test your
design. To test the relationships in your database, see if you can create queries
to get the answers you want. Create rough drafts of your forms and reports and
see if they show the results you expect. Look for unnecessary duplications of
32
Step 8: Enter Data and Create Other Database Objects
When you are satisfied that the table structures meet the design principles
described, then it is time to go ahead and add all your existing data to the tables.
You can then create other database objects— queries, forms, reports, data
Week Two
Microsoft Access and also how to open existing database files. After opening the
database files, learners were assisted through demonstration and activity method
to open database objects (Tables, Queries, Forms and Reports). Learners were
Week Three
Using demonstration and activity method, learners were taken through the
33
In the case of using wizard, the learners were taken through the
Creating a table at datasheet view is the most simplest. With this, upon
displayed and the only thing to do is to double click on the default field names
(Field1, Field2, etc.) and then type the expected field name after which the table
is saved with the appropriate name by the designer. Learners were taken through
creating tables compared to the other two methods. To create table using this
method, the designer needs to be conversant and define appropriate data types
for each field. The designer has to enter the names of the database fields and
define the data types and then enter statements at the description column which
is displayed at the status bar when the table is run in datasheet view. The data
defined by the designer. The field properties that need to be defined include Field
size, Format, Input Mask, Caption, Default value, Validation Rule, Validation
Text, Required, Allow Zero Length, Indexed, Unicode Compression and Smart
Tags.
34
Learners were taken through the above processes using demonstration
and activity method to create a table in design view as shown in Figure 1 below.
After entering the field names and setting field properties, learners were also
taken through the process of creating a primary key. After assigning the primary
key, learners were guided to save the table and run to view the table in datasheet
Figure 1: Entering field names, defining data types and field properties in design view
35
Week Four
Using the tables created in week three, learners were taken through the
process of establishing relationships between tables so that data in the tables can
there is the need to assign primary keys. Using demonstration and activity
method, learners were taken through the three types of relationship that can be
established among database tables. The types of relationship learners were taken
many relationship.
when you want to separate data from the main table, perhaps for security
separate from his or her name and address. Figure 3 below illustrates a one-to-
one relationship.
36
Students were made to understand using activity method that, one-to-
in table A can be related to one or more records in table B, but a single record in
describes the situation between the Instructors and Sections tables (One
instructor may teach one or more sections) and between the Courses and
to one or more records in table B, and a single Record in table B can be related
to one or more records in table A. A third linking table, sometimes called a join at
junction table, is used to negotiate the connection by storing the primary keys
Instructors and Courses tables, with Sections acting as the linking table. For
example, instructors may teach one or more courses and, going the other way;
37
Figure 5: A One-to-many relationship between Instructors and Courses tables
Week Five
queries using demonstration and activity method. The students were helped to
use the following options provided by Microsoft Access to create simple queries:
queries and the use of aggregate functions like Sum, Avg, Min, Max and Count at
design view. The IIF functions were also discussed based on conditions. Using
the Sum function, students were helped by the researcher to calculate sums of
fields. Also the calculation of averages of fields using the Avg function, obtaining
the minimum and the maximum fields using the Min and Max functions
38
specifications using the Count aggregate function was also treated using
demonstration and activity method. Students were taken through the use of the
Week Six
Using the tables and the queries created during the previous weeks,
students were taken through an activity method to create forms by using wizard.
The researcher also helped students on how to edit created forms in design view.
Week Seven
provided in the created tables and queries using the option create report by using
wizard.
39
Presentation of Group Projects
and were tasked to identify an organization of their choice and identify the
assistance to students at the course of their projects. Two weeks after the
class where they gave the reason for their choice of organizations, the old
system of data management in the organizations, and why they think their new
Students were allowed to ask the various groups questions as they present their
The purpose of this group projects was to help assess the practical and
It was also used to ensure team work among group members in solving
Moreover, it was used to help students understand the main reason why
they should like and learn database application program (MS Access).
Also, the group project was used to help students eliminate the
misconception that database related subjects are difficult and that it is reserved
40
Present at this demonstration session was the Information Technology
lecturer and mentor of the researcher Mr. Cosmos A. Gershon. The following
effectively put into use to ensure effective teaching and learning. Some of these
access, projector and a white board. By the help of some of these existing
resources, the researcher was able to use other teaching and learning resources
he prepared which can only be used on condition that some resources exists. For
instance due to the presence of electronic projector, the researcher prepared and
the resources that cannot be sent into the classroom or were not available.
facilitate the demonstration and activity methods used in the teaching and
learning process.
to effectively use demonstration and activity method to present his lessons which
41
CHAPTER FIVE
program. The population covered only the HND SMS second and third year
students numbering one hundred and nine and six instructors that teach
computer related courses. Although the target group for the research intervention
was HND SMS 2 students of Sunyani Polytechnic, the HND SMS 3 were given
implement the intervention designs. They were included because; they have just
only the HND SMS 2 students were interviewed during the post intervention
stage. Pre-test was also administered to both HND SMS 2 and HND SMS 3
groups but only the HND SMS 2 (intervention target ) group was considered
during Post-test. The average age of the students was 24 years and that of
This section takes a critical look at the data collected from the HND SMS
(second and third years) students and 6 instructors who teach Information
42
It represents the data statistically arrived at through questionnaires,
interviews, observations, post-test and pre-test during the study .The data have
result. The questionnaires given to students and instructors and the interviews
granted to students have been analyzed below and some of the outcomes have
been presented in tabular form else where in the chapter. Also the results from
the pre-test and post-test are presented in the form of tables and a graph. The
results of the study have been broken into the following sections.
1. Analysis of the response from students and instructors during the pre
intervention stage.
Intervention Stage
Literacy to help collect data to facilitate this research. The responses from the
Research Question 1
What can be done to change the attitude and perception of students and
Access)?
43
Table 1: Frequencies and Percentages of Age range of Students
18 – 20 10 13.5 6 17.1
21 – 23 46 62.2 10 28.6
Table 1 shows that, the majority of the respondents in HND SMS two are
between the ages of 21 and 23 years representing 62.2% whereas that of HND
SMS three is 24 years and above representing 54.3%. Since the intervention will
be concentrated on HND SMS Two students, the 21 – 23 years age group should
Table 2 indicates that majority of the respondents are female (81.1% for
HND SMS 2 respondents and 85.7% for SMS 3 respondents). According Risberg
44
that when tutoring you have to instruct female students 'how to fly' and male
No 53 71.6 20 57.1
From Table 3, it is evident that, the greater proportion of the students does
not like Microsoft Access because 71.6% of the HND SMS Two respondents and
57.1% of the HND SMS Three respondents chose “No” as their response when
asked whether they like MS Access or not. Majority of the students who choose
the “No” option stated that the course (MS Access) is very difficult and that it is
meant for IT specialist or Computer science students. This result emphasize the
situations. Also according to Boateng (1998), attitude affects the way a person
45
It appears in Table 4 that, the greatest proportion of the students (59.5%
of HND SMS 2 respondents and 71.4% HND SMS 3 respondents) would not
No 44 59.5 25 71.4
No 36 48.6 15 42.9
respondents (51.4% and 57.1% of HND SMS 2 and HND SMS 3 respectively)
responded that they would encourage their siblings to learn MS Access database
despite the fact that as indicated in Table 4, majority would not have registered
46
Research Question 2
How can the effective use of learning resources improve teaching and
No 68 91.9 24 68.6
the HND SMS three respondents representing 91.9% and 68.6% respectively do
Yes 13 76.5
No 4 23.5
Total 17 100.0
47
As indicated in Table 7, 13 respondents who have computers representing
appears that not all the students who have computers can practice Microsoft
Access because the application program is not installed on their computers. For
may have several implications. It may happen that the students do not know the
need for such programs or they have no access to the program to be installed on
their computers. It may also happen that, they do not know anything about this
program hence may not even know whether it has been installed on their
computers or not.
No 72 97.3 4 11.4
Table 9: Students’ response as to whether teaching and learning materials were used in
teaching MS Access and other computer application programs
48
As indicated in Table 8, the majority of the HND SMS Three students have
HND SMS Two students do not have reading materials representing 88%. Most
of the reading materials posses by the HND SMS Three students were handouts
were not much used in the teaching of Microsoft Access or other computer
85.1% responded that teaching and learning supporting materials were not used
by their instructors in their teaching. Moreover, 74.3% of the HND SMS Three
were not used during the teaching and learning process of MS Access or other
mentioned some of the teaching and supporting materials as computer and the
white board.
No 64 86.5 25 71.4
49
Table 10 has a direct reflection on Table 9 in the sense that, just as
supporting materials were not used during the teaching and learning process,
Table 10 also indicated that the majority of the students (86.5% of HND SMS
Two and 71.4% of HND SMS Three students) do not understand the teaching
Yes 1 16.7
No 5 83.3
Total 6 100.0
Yes 6 100.0
No 0 0.0
Total 6 100.0
50
16.7% of instructors has his academic qualification in computer related field. The
instructors are the major human resources needed to facilitate teaching and
learning among students and the quality of the human resources may affect
Contrary to the view of the students whether their instructors make use of
instructors responded as shown in Table 12 that they use teaching and leaning
materials during the teaching and learning process. When asked to state some of
the teaching and learning supporting materials used, they mentioned computer
Research Question 3
How can students be well equipped with the required skills in database
Table 13: Frequencies and Percentages of Students’ response as to whether they have
ever launched or used MS Access
No 70 94.6 4 11.4
From Table 13, it is evident that the majority of the HND SMS three
students (88.6%) have ever launched or used MS Access before because they
51
have already studied MS Access application program as a course when they
were in the second year. Considering the HND SMS two students, it appears that
before. It is expected that all the HND SMS three students should have ever
launched or used MS Access before but it may happen that the 11.4% of the
students who responded of not launched or used MS Access before did not
No 52 70.3 24 68.6
As shown in Table 14, 70.3% of the HND SMS Two and 68.6% of the
HND SMS Three respondents responded that they do not do any practical work
Thorndike’s second law of learning (Law of exercise) which states that “the
strength of the bond between the stimulus situation and the response through
forgetting when practice is discontinued (the Law of disuse)” learners are likely to
forget what they learn when they do not continue to practice what they have
learnt.
52
Table 15: Frequencies and Percentages of Students’ response as to whether they can
open and enter data into an existing MS Access database
No 71 70.3 14 40.0
As indicated in Table 15, despite the fact that HND SMS Three students
have already studied MS Access as a course, 40% of them responded that they
the HND SMS Two respondents (70.3%) responded that they have not launch
they have not yet learnt it as a course and also lack the background knowledge
in MS Access database.
Table 16: Frequencies and Percentages of Students’ response as to whether they can
create tables in MS Access
53
As shown in Table 16, 70.3% of the HND SMS 2 and 65.7% HND SMS 3
database tables.
Table 17: Frequencies and Percentages of Students’ response as to whether they can
create simple queries in MS Access
No 73 98.6 27 77.1
According to the result in Table 17, 98.6% of HND SMS Two and 77.1% of
HND SMS Three respondents responded that, they cannot create simple
queries. Comparing results in Table 16 and Table 17, it can be identified that the
rate of skills in creating database objects has reduced (From 34.3% to 22.9% for
HND SMS Three and 29.7% to 1.4% for HND SMS Two students) drastically.
Table 18: Frequencies and Percentages of Students’ response as to whether they can
create simple forms in MS Access
No 73 98.6 23 65.7
54
As depicted from Table 18, only 1 respondent representing 1.4% of HND
SMS Two students and 12 HND SMS Three respondents representing 34.3%
Table 19: Frequencies and Percentages of Students’ response as to whether they can
create simple Reports in MS Access
No 73 98.6 28 80.0
only 1.4% of the HND SMS Two and 20% of the HND SMS Three respondents
Theory 2 1.9
Practical 59 54.1
Both 48 44.0
55
Research question 4
44% chose Both Theory and Practical and only 1.9% of the respondents chose
they are interested in. This result affirm the view of Bloom et all (1956) that
children learn by doing and observing and this calls for real life situations in the
classroom.
Table 21: Frequencies and Percentages of Students’ response as to whether they think
more practical work will make them like MS Access and/or other computer
application programs
No 1 0.9
According to Table 21, it is clear that almost all except 0.9% of the
respondents think that more practical work will make them like MS Access and/or
56
Table 22: Frequencies and Percentages of Students’ response as to whether they like
the way Microsoft Access and/or other computer application programs are taught
Yes 16 14.7
No 93 85.3
responded that they do not like the way MS Access and/or other computer
application programs are taught. However, 14.7% of the respondents affirm that
they like the way MS Access and/or other computer application programs are
taught.
Yes 26 23.9
No 83 76.1
With respect to Table 23, 76.1% of the respondents are of the view that,
demonstration methods are not used by their instructors during the teaching and
learning process. However, 23.9% are of the view that demonstration methods
57
are used by their instructors. According to Olaitan and Ogusiobo (1982),
they see than they hear or read”. Comparing the view of this writer and the result
Others 0 0.0
Total 6 100.0
use special techniques to ensure effective learning. From Table 24, 5 instructors
representing 83.3% responded using the Lecture method in their teaching and
learning process. Only one of the respondents responded for using Discussion
58
Research question 5
To what extent will the use of group project work help improve students’
Table 25: Frequencies and Percentages of Students’ choice of type of learning they
prefer
Group 96 88.1
Individual 13 11.9
Individual 5 83.3.
Group 0 0.0
Both 1 16.7
Total 6 100.0
and class test”. He also indicated that, most students preferred co-operative
59
supports Steinhorst (1995) view. However 13 of the respondents representing
From Table 26, it appears that instructors hardly use the group method of
learning but prefer the use of individual method of giving assignments or projects
to learners. From Table 26, 83.3% of the instructors prefer using individual
method, 16.7% use both individual and group method. However, none of the
Research question 6
How can database application programs (MS Access) be made more
Yes 6 100.0
No 0 0.0
Total 6 100.0
that they motivate their students. One of Abraham Maslow’s (1987) most famous
concepts is that of self-actualization, which means that we use our abilities to the
that they should and can fulfill their promise, they are then on the path of self-
actualization.
60
Table 28: Frequencies and Percentages of Students’ response as to whether their
teachers use any form of motivation during teaching
Yes 41 37.6
No 68 62.4
motivation, Table 28 shows that the view of the students on the use of motivation
by their instructors is different and very low. Only 37.6% of the students claim
that their instructors use motivation during learning as against 62.4 who claim
motivation is the force that determines how much effort an individual puts into his
learning. He uses an analogue of a jet airliner to explain that we can see how it
will fly faster if it uses all its engines at full power. If one or more of the engines
breaks down, or if the pilot uses his engines at only half power, the plane will not
perform efficiently and may even crash, so it is with the child’s learning. If for
some reason, his motivation is limited, he will not put as much energy and
enthusiasm into his learning as when he is strongly motivated and the resulting
learning will be slow and inefficient. Annoh (1997), Coombs (1995), Kasambira
(1993) and Blege (1986) all points out that without motivation, there cannot be
any effective learning because motivation is a factor which makes the learner
anxious to learn.
61
Analysis of Pre-Test and Post-Test Results
Table 29: Frequency distribution of HND SMS 2 and HND SMS 3 Pre-Test and Post-
Test results in MS Access database application program
Both the Pre-test and the Post-test were marked out of 20 marks. The Both the
Figure 7: A Bar Chart showing the relation between Pre-Test and Post-Test results
Figure 8: A Bar Chart showing the relation between Pre-Test and Post-Test results
70
60
50
40
Frequency
30
20
10
0
1-5 6 - 10 11 - 15 16 - 20
Marks
62
Both the Pre-test and the Post-test were marked out of 20 marks. The
Pre-test was administered to the HND SMS 2 and HND SMS 3 students during
the pre-intervention stage. Despite the fact that, the target group for this research
is HND SMS 2, the HND SMS 3 students were involved during the pre-
intervention stage because they are the class who had just studied MS Access
application program (ie. 2006/2007 academic year). They were included in the
Pre-test administration in order to help gather data about their experience and
performance during the study of the course. The HND SMS 2 students were also
involved in the Pre-test administration because they are the target group and
data about their performance is required before the intervention stage of this
research for analysis purposes. Contrary to the administration of the Pre-test, the
Post-test was administered to only the target group (HND SMS 2 students) who
SMS 2 students (61) representing 82.4% got the lowest range of marks (1 – 5) as
against 42.9% of the HND SMS 3 students and none of the testees got a mark
within the highest range of marks (16 -20). From the raw scores, 30 HND SMS 2
students got 4 marks representing the modal mark while 10 HND students got 7
marks representing the modal mark for HND SMS 3 group. This results
comparison is clear because the third years have taken the course during the
past semester while the second years were yet to take the course. The
performance of both groups in the Pre-test can be describe as poor since more
63
than 50% of the testees (both HND SMS 3 and HND SMS 2) got below half of
from the graph in Figure 6 that, the performance of the target group (SMS 2) in
the Post-test have far exceeded their performance in the Pre-test. 82.4% of the
students got more than half of the total mark (20) in the Post-test despite the fact
that the difficulty level of the test item of the Post-test was raised a little bit.
Moreover, comparing the performance of the SMS 3 students during the Pre-test
and SMS 2 students during the Post-test , it vividly show in Table 29 and the
graph in Figure 6 that the performance of the SMS 2 students had improved
drastically. The HND SMS 3 students who had gone through the course
recorded 5.7% of students who got more than half of the total mark in the Pre-
test as against 82.4% of the HND SMS 2 students who got more than half of the
total mark (20) in the Post-test. Also, none of the SMS 2 students (the target
group) got more than half of the total mark in the Pre-test but as much as 82.4%
of them got more than half of the total mark in the Post-test. Comparing the Pre-
test and Post-test scores as shown in the graph in Figure 6 and Table 29 above,
1. This change can be said to have been brought about as a result of:
2. The motivational strategy used in the form of activity and inspirational talk.
64
4. The effective use of demonstration and activity method in performing the
When the students were asked if they like and enjoy MS Access
application program, the response from them was positive. About 95% of the
respondents responded that they would opt for MS Access if it were optional.
Students were also asked what they think made them to like and perform
way the lesson was delivered (the use of demonstration and activity method) and
the motivation including the project work made them to enjoy learning MS
Access. The respondents also added that they understood the teaching and
would advice their siblings and those they know to learn MS Access.
65
From the responses given by the students and the performance in the
Post-test as indicated in Figure 6 and Table 29, it can be concluded that the
66
CHAPTER SIX
this area.l
Summary of Findings
Results of the study indicated that more than 65% of the respondents
would not have registered for the course (MS Access database application
the course. However, over 51% of the respondents responded positively when
About 80% of the students do not have computers and not all the students
computers. Only 2.7% of the target group has reading materials on MS Access
Less than 30% of the respondents could not create database objects
Over 90% of the respondents support the use of practical lessons during
teaching and learning and 99% of the students agreed that the use of practical
67
However, over 83% of the instructors use lecture method of teaching MS Access
As much as 88% of the HND SMS students prefer the use of group
However, over 83% of the instructors use individual assignments and projects
Over 60% of the respondents attest to fact that, instructors hardly use
performance of students has improved drastically from about 10% to over 60%.
Conclusions
Students’ performance in MS Access was found to be very low. The study tried to
due to the way the subject is handled by instructors since majority of the
68
respondents accepted to encourage their siblings to take the course but they
Moreover, the lack and the insufficient use of teaching and learning
support materials by instructors and students is a major factor for students poor
management problems in the real world situation since they could not create
performance in the course. The use of demonstration and activity method has
been found to be appropriate since it makes the teaching of the course more
application program.
Recommendations
findings:
69
Secondly, teachers and students should make maximum use of teaching
computers installed with Microsoft Office software package and also MS Access
instructors should try to make maximum use of the available teaching and
students to use to help the students move at their own pace even with the
absence of an instructor.
should be encouraged such that learners would have a practical feel of the use
will also bring about development of team work and give the opportunity to the
weaker learners to learn from their colleagues. Group projects will also bring
The researcher suggests that, future researchers in this field should consider
field trips as a measure of intervention to still good perception and the real
70
Moreover, to ensure validity in data collection, students from other polytechnics
71
REFERENCES
Afari, M.K (1997). Microsoft Access Made Simple. Accra: The Advert Press.
Publishing Ltd. .
Ghana, Legon.
Coulthard, G.J and Clifford, S.H (2004). Microsoft Office Access 2003. New
72
Farrant, J.S. (1980). Principles and Practice of Education. England: Longman
Group Ltd.
Publishers Ltd.
<http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6920/8/10>
73
Royzo, I et al (1981). Multi- Media Instructional Material in UNESCO.
74
APPENDICES
Why ………………………………………………………………………….
Why? ………………………………………………………………………
7. Can you open and enter data into an existing MS Access database?
Yes [ ] No [ ]
75
9. Can you create simple queries in MS Access? Yes [ ] No [ ]
12. Do you think more practical work will make you like MS Access?
Yes [ ] No [ ]
16. Do you like the way MS Access is taught by your tutors? Yes [ ] No [ ]
used. ……………………………………………………………………………
18. Do you understand the teaching and learning materials your instructors
[ ] No [ ]
If no why?…………………………………………………………….
21. Do your tutors use any form of motivation during lessons on MS Access?
Yes [ ] No [ ]
76
22. Which of the following type of learning would you prefer?
Group [ ] Individual [ ]
77
APPENDIX B: Questionnaires for Computer Literacy instructors
1. Age range: 20 – 25 [ ] 26 – 30 [ ] 31 – 35 [ ]
36 – 40 [ ] 40 and above [ ]
11 – 15 [ ] 16 – 20 [ ] Above 20 [ ]
program? Yes [ ] No [ ]
Yes [ ] No [ ]
Other ………………………………………………….
78
9. Do you motivate your learners? Yes [ ] No [ ]
79
APPENDIX C: Pre-Intervention Test
SUNYANI POLYTECHNIC
PRE-INTERVENTION TEST
DURATION: 30 minutes
Section “A” (5 Marks) - Choose and write the correct option on the paper
provided
4. Which of the following buttons does not appear in the objects bar?
80
5. Which data type would you use to store a phone number?
8. Apart from creating a database table using the “create table in design
view”, state other two (2) options that can be used to create a table.
[4 marks]
81
APPENDIX D: Expected Responses to the Pre- Intervention Test
1. D. Query
2. B. Field
3. D. Report
4. C. Program
5. D. Text
d. Follow the cascading menu and select and click Microsoft Office Access
2003
82
APPENDIX E: Post Intervention Test
SUNYANI POLYTECHNIC
POST-INTERVENTION TEST
DURATION: 30 minutes
1. The process of dividing related data into separate tables in order to reduce
2. Which database object do you use to display information from one record
at a time?
83
Section “B” (17 Marks)
a record. 2 Marks
B. Identify two (2) data storage types that can be defined in a table
structure. 2 Marks
data handling in their company. State the first three steps you will follow to
3. A. Outline the steps to create a table using Create table by entering data
option. 3 Marks
4. Study the figures below carefully and answer the questions that follow:
84
Figure 1: Table showing academic records of students
TotalScore. 2 Marks
the grades of the students as Grade using the following grading system:
80 – 100 = A
75 – 79 = B+
70 – 74 = B
65– 69 = C+
60 – 64 = C
55 – 59 = D+
50 – 54 = D
85
APPENDIX F: Expected Responses for the Post-Test
Section “A”
1. False
2. B. Form
3. B. Count
Section “B”
Question 1
record. [2 Marks]
a field and each row represents a record. The diagram below illustrates
A field
Record
BB
86
Question 2
Question Three
A. The steps to create a database using Create table by entering data option
1. Launch MS Access
3 Marks.
2. Click on New database option and save the database
5. From the datasheet that opens, double click on the fields (Field1,
6. Click on the save button to and save the table with a name.
Validation Rule is used to control how users enter data into your database.
For example, you can limit the data that a user can enter into a field by
defining a validation rule for that field. If the data that a user enters into the
87
field breaks the rule, Access will display a message telling the user what
kind of entries is allowed. Validation rules allow you to define a rule to limit
what will be accepted. For example, you could define ">=10 And <=100" as
the validation rule for a Number field to allow only values from 10 to 100 to
be entered.
Question Four
Total:[ClassScore]+[ExamScore] or
2 Marks
Total:[ExamScore]+[ClassScore]
Grade
88
APPENDIX G: Samples of pre-test scripts
89
Lowest Mark recorded by SMS 3 testees in a Pre-test
90
Highest Mark recorded by SMS 2 testees in a Pre-test
91
Highest Mark recorded by HND SMS 3 testees in a Pre-test
92
APPENDIX H: Samples of Post-test scripts
93
Lowest Mark recorded by testees in a Post-test
94
95