Investigating Students Attitude Towards the Learning of Geography in Senior High Schools. A Survey of the Cape Coast Metropolis

Abstract

This study investigates the attitude of Senior High School students towards the teaching and learning of geography in the Cape Coast Metropolis. To achieve this, a quantitative approach using descriptive survey design was employed. A sample of 120 students studying geography were selected from four (4) Senior High Schools in the Cape Coast Metropolis. The study employed purposive and simple random sampling procedure to select respondents from the schools for the study. Questionnaire (close-ended) were used, and data were coded and analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22.0 to produce inferential (means and standard deviation). The study revealed that students perceive geography as difficult to learn and understand because the geography subject involves a lot of drawings and terminologies, etcetera. It was again, unraveled that students have positive attitude towards the teaching and learning of geography. The findings of the study revealed that reading materials such as textbooks, handouts etc. are used by the geography teachers in teaching. It was therefore, recommended that teachers in the various schools should motivate their students to take geography lessons seriously and study it well, as it could be of relevance to them in the near future. Government and other stakeholders should provide schools with modern teaching and learning resources so as to help teachers to explain very well Geography concepts to the understanding of their students.

Keywords: Geography, Students, Cape Coast, Attitude, Teaching, Learning

DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-34-01

Publication date: December 31^st 2020