Abstract
The aim of this study is to evaluate the relationship between instructional materials and student acdemic performance in public junior secondary schools in Ovia North East Local Government. To achieve the purpose of this study, four research questions were raised.
The method adopted for this study was descriptive survey design. The population of the study comprised of all 25 public Junior secondary schools in Ovia North East Local Government, Edo State with the total of 4,784 students. From the population of 25 public schools, thirty percent were selected which gave the total of 61 as sample size. Thirty percent of students from each school were purposively selected from each sampled school. Two Research I nstrument were created for data collection; the first was the Indices of Instructional Material Questional (IMQ) and the second a checklist for the Student Academic Performance (SAP). The Research Instrument was validated by the researcher’s supervisor and two other experts in the field.
The findings revealed that a significant majority of students (93.55%) in the area have a high perception of the meaning, use, and effectiveness of various instructional materials, including blackboards, textbooks, realia, projectors, and charts. This indicates that students are well aware of these materials and find them beneficial for learning. The study also found out that there is no significant difference in the relationship between instructional materials and academic performance based on whether the school is in a rural or urban location. Both rural and urban students benefit equally from the use of instructional materials. The study recoemmended among many others that; Educational Authorities and Policymakers should allocate more resources towards the provision and maintenance of instructional materials in schools. Ensuring that every school, regardless of its location, has access to high-quality instructional materials is crucial and also provide regular training programs for teachers on the effective use of instructional materials. This will help maximize the impact of these resources on student learning.
