Published Paper Details:

The main purpose of this study was to investigate how perceived availability and utilization of instructional materials relate to students' academic performance in secondary school Home Economics in Calabar municipality of Cross River State, Nigeria. Specifically, the sub-sets of the research independent variable (instructional materials) include audio, audio-visual, and visual; the dependent variable (students' academic performance) was the Home Economic Achievement test. To realize the purpose of the study, six research questions and four hypotheses were postulated to guide the study. A related literature review was done in line with the study variables. The correlational research design was adopted for the study. The study population comprised all public secondary school students in Calabar municipality. However, 249 junior secondary school students were selected as samples for the study through stratified and simple random sampling techniques. Three research instruments namely: instructional materials availability checklist, instructional materials usage checklist, and Home Economics achievement test were utilized for data collection. Data gathered were subjected to statistical analysis using Pearson Product Moment Correlation and Multiple regression analysis. The research questions and hypotheses were subjected to statistical testing at 0.05 alpha levels. The results of the data analysis are: there is a significant relationship between perceived utilization of visual instructional materials and students' academic performance in secondary school Home Economics in Calabar Municipality; there is a significant relationship between perceived utilization of audio-visual instructional materials and students' academic performance in secondary school Home Economics in Calabar Municipality; there is no significant relationship between perceived utilization of audio instructional materials and students' academic performance in secondary school Home Economics in Calabar Municipality; and perceived utilization of audio, audio-visual and visual instructional materials are significant joint predictors of students' academic performance in secondary school Home Economics in Calabar Municipality. Following the findings of the study, it was concluded that availability and utilization of instructional materials are important variables to boost students' academic performance in secondary school Home Economics and other subjects. It is therefore recommended that education policymakers, the heads of secondary schools, the Home Economic teachers, the students, and the society at large should make sure quality instructional materials are provided for effective teaching/learning, and both teachers and students should have access to quality instructional materials to achieve expected educational goals.