9. Effects of demographic determinants of semantic-mappings and know-want-learn strategies on pupils academic performance in Irepodun Local Government Area of Kwara State

Abstract

One of the major problems confronting young Learners in primary schools in Nigeria is poor academic performance in Literacy because there is a large percentage of young children who cannot learn using literacy as tool for learning, in this 21st century in which there is an increased demand for learners who are proficient in writing language. This study examined Effects of demographic determinants of semantic-mappings and Know-Want-Learn strategies on pupil’s academic performance in Irepodun Local Government area of Kwara State. Two research hypotheses was formulated to guide this research.  A quasi-experimental design was used for the study. The population for the study comprised of all the public primary schools pupils in Irepodun Local Government Area of Kwara State. The sample of 132 pupils were randomly selected across Forty-Eight (48) public primary schools in Irepodun Local Government of Kwara State. Three instruments and instructional guide were used to elicit information from the respondents, reliability level of the instrument was 0.76 which was arrived at with the use of Cronbach alpha. The data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics of frequency count, percentage, mean and standard deviation and inferential statistics of Analysis of Co-variance (ANCOVA) at 0.05 level of significance. The findings indicate that gender and school type has effects on academic performance of the pupils. It was concluded that semantic-mapping and Know-What-Learn strategies are effective in teaching Literacy. It was recommended that teachers should make sure that there will be no gender discriminations in schools in order to motivate all pupils during teaching and learning process and that the school authorities should provide age appropriate learning environment to enhance appropriate teaching strategy for literacy