USE RHYMES AND SONGS TO ENHANCE THE TEACHING AND LEARNING OF SCIENCE IN JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS

TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE – – – – – – – – – I
DECLARATION – – – – – – – – II
APPROVAL PAGE – – – – – – – – III
DEDICATION – – – – – – – – IV
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT – – – – – – V
TABLE OF CONTENTS – – – – – – VI
ABSTRACT – – – – – – – – VIII

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1. BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY – – – – – 1
1.2. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM – – – – – 5
1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY – – – – – – 6
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS – – – – – – 6
1.5 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS – – – – – – 7
1.6. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY – – – – – 7
1.7. SCOPE/DELIMITATION OF THE STUDY – – – – 8

CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1. THE CONCEPT OF SCIENCE – – – – – 9
2.2 MOTIVATION AND ENGAGEMENT IN EDUCATION – – 12
2.3 EDUCATION THEORY OF MUSIC – – – – – 13
2.4 SCIENCE SONGS – – – – – – – 14
2.5 THE USE OF MUSIC IN SCIENCE EDUCATION – – – 16
2.6 CONCEPT OF ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE – – – 19
2.7 MUSIC AND THE BRAIN – – – – – – 23
2.8 BENEFITS OF MUSIC IN THE CLASSROOM – – – 25
2.9 SUMMARY OF LITERATURE REVIEW – – – – 28

CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 RESEARCH DESIGN – – – – – – – 29
3.2 POPULATION – – – – – – – – 29
3.3 SAMPLE AND SAMPLING TECHNIQUE – – – – 30
3.4 RESEARCH INSTRUMENT – – – – – – 30
3.5 VALIDITY OF THE INSTRUMENT – – – – – 31
3.7 PROCEDURE FOR DATA COLLECTION – – – – 31
3.8 METHOD OF DATA ANALYSIS – – – – – 32

CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA
4.0. INTRODUCTION – – – – – – – 34
4.1. PRESENTATION OF STUDENTS’ RESULTS – – – 34
4.2 TESTING OF HYPOTHESIS – – – – – – 36
4.3 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS – – – – – – 37

CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION, RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDIES
5.0 INTRODUCTION – – – – – – – 39
5.1 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS – – – – – – 39
5.2 CONCLUSION – – – – – – – – 40
5.3 RECOMMENDATIONS – – – – – – 40
REFERENCES – – – – – – – 41
APPENDIXES – – – – – – – 47

Abstract
This study was carried out in order to determine the effects of using science songs and rhymes to teach Basic Science to students at Junior Secondary School level in Pankshin LGA of plateau state. The quasi-experimental research design was used. The population of the study consist of all the students in Pankshin. The sample of the study consist of 60 J.S.S 2 students in Trinity Missionary College and Government College Pankshin. The instrument for data collection was the test. The students were given a pretest before they were taught with rhymes and songs. After the teaching exercise, the post test was given. The method of data analysis was mean scores and hypothesis for testing hypothesis. The researchers discovered that there is a significant difference in the mean achievement scores of students in the pre-test and post test. This is because students after they were taught using Rhymes and Songsperformed better than when they were not exposed to the method. This can be seen where the pre-test scores of the students stood at 4.50 while their post-test scoresstood at 10.25 which is a remarkable achievement. In the light of the findings, the following were recommended among others: the use of Rhymes and Songs should be made an integral part of teacher education programme in the teacher training college and colleges of education, so that those teachers in training would be exposed to Rhymes and Songs which can be used to teach science, science teachers in secondary schools should adopt the Rhymes and Songs method in teaching and learning of sciences.

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.3. BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Music is the heartbeat of every child. Today, most students carry their favorite tunes to school on MP3 players. Even though music is a part of everyday life for most young people, it can engage and help students learn some scientific concepts at secondary level. Songs can transfer knowledge and elicit emotion, and have the potentials to enable students understand some basic concept in the field of science. Songsor lyrics can be used to transmit information to children easily.Music can elicit memories, and melodies can activate recall of thoughts and ideas (Jensen, 2000; Jourdain, 1997). There is an entire genre of science-content-based music, rich in content and available for teaching science concepts. Jensen (2005) summarizes why educators should include music in the curriculum: its social nature, emotional impact, ability to carry a message, accessibility and relevance. Lyrics, rich with information and embedded in music are more likely to be remembered. ‘Songs, specific melodies, rhymes, and tones all have the potential to engage content learning in this way’ (Jensen, 2000). Recommendations for implementation of science-content music into the curriculum include using songs at any point in the learning process as either the focus of a lesson or to supplement it by enhancing and enriching learning (Bennett, 2002; Crowther, 2006; Jensen, 2005).
Because there is a limited amount of research in this area, a definition of science-contentmusic must be generated from other sources, including the songs themselves. One example of a song written by a science music composer comes from Professor Boggs (2005), who sings ‘Hey Avogadro’ about gas laws which includes the following in the song’s chorus:

Verses
Hey Avogadro – give me a mole – I need
Just enough gas to fill a cubical hole
It’s got twenty two point four liters inside
But for temperature and pressure you got to be my guide
Avogadro
You got the number you see
You sayin’ P V equals n R T
Thanks Avogadro (you got it)
You know a hot gas is gonna wanna expand
That’s why the volume and the temperature
they go hand in hand
But now the pressure goes up
when you shrink the volume down
It’s called an inverse proportion –
It’s kind of turned around
I know that R – has got ya confused
It’s just a number we pulled cause of the units we used
Don’t got to learn it – you can find it in a book
Or you could put it in your memory
so you don’t have to look
I’m heatin’ up that gas in a box of fixed size
The problem is I don’t want my pressure to rise
What do I do? The only number left is n
I gotta lose some gas – that baby’s got to vent.
Each molecule of gas is like a little rubber ball
Bouncin’ back and forth, puttin’ pressure on the walls
The temperature will tell how fast they gotta move
And if you do the Newton math you get the Avogadro groove
Hey Avogadro – give me a mole – I need
Just enough gas to fill a cubical hole
It’s got twenty two point four liters inside
But for temperature and pressure you got to be my guide
Avogadro
You got the number you see
You sayin’ P V equals n R T
Thanks Avogadro
Six point oh two two e x p twenty three
These lyrics illustrate that science-based music can be rich in content and concepts.The lyrics presented here are provided to illustrate the science concepts that can be included in songs, rather than to suggest how they might be used for learning. Some songs involve changing lyrics to familiar tunes, while some songwriters compose melodies to fit original lyrics. Songs for learning are generally written to a catchy beat, and are often musically composed for ‘musical imagery repetition’, a term coined by Bennett (2002) to refer to songs that get stuck in the head. Devices used in science-content songs to gain the attention of the student often include metaphor, rhyme, imagery and humor. Based on the examples given and resources available, science-content music can be defined as a genre of songs, either existing tunes rewritten with new lyrics or original musical compositions, designed to teach and explain science-related concepts through verse, with a well-defined melody and/or rhymes.
As students lose their early love of science when it becomes a subject to memorize at school with its complicated formulas and difficult vocabulary (Angier, 2007), science teachers face many challenges in that students are unmotivated in science from an early age (Swarat, Ortony, & Revelle, 2012). This lack of motivation and interest in science could result in societies having difficulty in filling Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) careers (Wyss, Heulskamp, & Siebert, 2012). The U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics projects that Asia and many other countries are growing in STEM talent while United States student interest in STEM careers is not increasing (National Governors Association, 2012). Thus, Jackson and Ash (2012) pointed out that it was critical to find a way for teachers to motivate their young children to learn science and improve science achievement.
Young children tend to love science. From asking questions about the world to engaging in hands;on inquiry, kids see science as fun, sweaty, messy, and awe; inspiring. Yet too many students lose their early love of science around intermediate school, when science becomes an exercise in memorization, jargon, and feeling dumb (Angier, 2007). One way to keep science fun and relevant is to bring student culture, particularly music, into the classroom (Emdin, 2010b). Whether they are written by outside organizations, teachers, or students, songs can aid with memorization, hook kids into a unit, and serve as study tools. When done well, songs remind students of the joy and adrenaline of scientific pursuit, inspiring further study.
There is a varied literature exploring the benefits of music in education. Reported benefits include improving classroom atmosphere, facilitating learning and remembering of facts, affective engagement, improving student motivation and inquiry, and enhancing student; teacher relationships. There is a growing literature focusing specifically on content; based music in the service of science education. Many of these papers have been published within the last few months (Cirigliano, 2012; Crowther, 2012b; Governor, Hall, & Jackson, 2012) and most call for researchers to move beyond the anecdotal tales of benefit into more rigorously organized randomized trials into the use of science songs.
Science education in Junior Secondary school is the act of engaging hands-on pre-school science experiences for children aged 12-15. Each science class at this age is an interactive, age-appropriate exploration of a specific science topic. Exploring topics such as dinosaurs, air, light, colour, water, weather and worms, each themed program is designed to captivate the curious nature of young learners. Children enjoy engaging demonstrations, perform simple experiments and will discover how science can help us better understand the world around us. This can be done with the aid or help of models.
It is in the light of the above discussion that this research seeks to determine the use of music in enhancing the teaching and learning of science at Junior secondary schools level.
1.2. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Since the existence of science education in Nigeria, there has been an alarming rate of failure in science subjects. This rate of failure could be attributed to the poor foundation at the Junior secondary school level. To Abua (2011) when the foundation of a learner in science education is poor, that individual might end up shying away from the subject or perform poorly as a result at the senior secondary school.
For learning to be made concrete, the learner has to comprehend and make sense of what he or she is learning. Therefore, many teachers at the junior secondary school level teach the learners science education without caring about the right instructional materials or suitable teaching method for their age thereby making learning abstract instead of concrete. It is with this fact in mind that the researchers intend to use songs and rhymes in teaching Basic Science in Junior Secondary School in Pankshin Local Government Area of Plateau State. This is to ascertain whether students’ interest at this level of study can be awoken.
The researchers have the assumption that using this method and strategy can enhance the learning of science at the junior secondary school level. This is going to be carried out with the aim of providing a lasting solution to the stated problems.
1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The main purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of a using science songs and rhymes to teach Basic Science to students at Junior Secondary School level in pankshin LGA of plateau state.
Other specific objectives are:
1. To determine the performance of students taught Basic science with science songs and rhymes.
2. To compare the performance of students before and after they were taught with science songs and rhymes.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
In order to have a sense of direction, the following questions have been formulated which will serve as a guide in the course of the study:
1. what is the performance of students taught Basic science with science songs and rhymes?
2. what is the difference in the performance of students before and after they were taught with science songs and rhymes?
1.5 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS
H0: There is no significant difference in the performance of students before and after they were exposed to science Rhymes and Songs.
1.6. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The significance of this study cannot be underemphasized, especially now that every society which seeks to develop, has science education at its forefront. The study shall be of importance to the teachers, curriculum planners and government; not forgetting the Junior secondary students who are at the centre of the research.
To the teachers, they will come to know the fact that making learning concrete is very important. This can be done with the use of a science songs and rhymes as it will enable the students acquire unforgettable knowledge.
Curriculum planners, whose duty is to design the curriculum, will emphasize the use of a science songs and rhymes as an important part of science teaching and learning at the junior secondary level.
To the government, who pull the purse strings, after acquiring the knowledge of how effective science songs and rhymes are in the teaching of science, they will make available different devices for recording and playing science songs and rhymes not just at the junior secondary school level, but even at the senior level.
Finally, the students at the junior secondary school shall benefit from this research as they will have a good and solid foundation of science which will enhance their performance later in the course of their study.
1.7. SCOPE/DELIMITATION OF THE STUDY
The study shall cover effectiveness of a science songs and rhymes in teaching Basic science to students in Junior Secondary Schools. The study is restricted to some selected Junior Secondary schools in Pankshin Local Government Area of Plateau State. However, despite being limited to the selected local government, the findings of this study can be generalized to other parts of the state and country at large.