Abstract:
This study was carried out to empirically determine whether students who become aware of instructional objectives of agricultural science instruction perform significantly better in a post test on subject matter covered by the objectives than students who are unaware of the instructional objectives. Five research questions were developed and answered in consonance with the purposes of the study. Five null hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance and 1 and 350 degrees of freedom. Quasi-experimental design was adopted for the study using non equivalent control groups design involving pre-test, post-test design. The instrument used for data collection was Agricultural Science Achievement Test (ASAT) and lesson plan. Findings from the study indicated that there was no significant difference in the mean pretest score between the experimental and control groups. This implies that the two groups had the same initial academic abilities. Students who had prior knowledge of specific objectives of agricultural science scored higher in post-test than those who had no prior knowledge of specific objectives. The treatment therefore, had a positive effect on the experimental group result in an increased academic gain. It was therefore recommended that Nigerian Educational Research and Development council (NERDC) should consider review of curriculum for agricultural science with a view to always expose students to specific objectives before agricultural science instruction. Workshops conferences and seminars should be organized by Ministries of Education and related government agencies to enlighten agricultural science teachers and improve their knowledge on how to expose students to specific objectives before instruction.
