Effects Of Reward And Punishments On Students’ Academic Performance In Civic Education In Secondary Schools

INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background Of The Study
The means through which a teacher can maintain class discipline in secondary schools is through reward and punishment. Ilogu (2004), described punishment as the act of inflicting penalty for an offence or fault. Punishment is chastisement or castigation for an offence or fault. Punishment and reinforcement are two concepts used in educational context to maintain a good discipline in the classroom, and the school at large. Psychologists have systematically investigated the effect of number of reinforcement variables on the course of learning. While Reward is that which is given in return for performance or service.
Reinforcement is compensation. It is the fruit of men’s labour or work. Often, the term reward is used as a synonym for positive reinforcement. The greater the amount of reinforcement the more rapid the rate of learning. Punishment and reinforcement can be of good advantage to the teacher, in the sense that they promote good discipline in the school. One aim of maintaining discipline in school is to teach the child that there is moral orderliness in the world, and that certain behaviour and performance call for praise (reinforcement) and some call for blame (punishment).
For the child, reinforcement and punishment are both essential for regulation of good performance. One important aspect of the child development is that he becomes responsive to social praises and blame (reward and punishment). This implies that in the process of growth of the child, social control is necessary as to enable him or her acquire positive habits necessary for growth and development of character and ethical standards. As punishment is effective in producing submission, so reinforcement are used to produce desirable behaviour which leads to good performance in learning in schools. Punishment makes the child realises his mistakes and so avoid it in future. It makes the child to respect the authority. Punishment for wrong doing is part of a child’s training, this gives room to good performance in their academic activities. The student should be encouraged to cultivate the habit of self discipline rather than authoritarian methods of controlling their performance (Nwanna, 1975). To be of any use to the child, both punishment and reinforcement must be understood and deserved by the child being punished or rewarded or else according to Awoniyi (1985) the child will be confused, he may not even value it and so make jest of it, thereby making it loose its usefulness which it is intended.
Although reinforcement should be more employed than punishment, yet they both serve the same purpose of maintaining good discipline in the classroom. Punishment serves as a warning, so that a particular act that leads to poor performance should not be repeated by the child. Reinforcement on the other hand is meant to build up pleasant memories for acting desirably, which can lead to good performance which a child will some how like to maintain if possible in his learning.
For punishment and reinforcement to work effectively, they must be used together. While punishment is a warning or corrective measure reward is a sign of approval of a good performance in the school or classroom. They exist in close relationship. The problem of classroom situation towards learning activities which can lead to good performance is largely solved through punishment and reinforcement. Hence, the need to justify and straighten out its use for effectiveness in maintaining good performance in schools.

1.2 Statement Of The Problem
The value of discipline in a person’s life and growth cannot be overstated. students, by their very nature, make errors, and it is not uncommon to discover students in school who engage in aberrant conduct that may result in punishment. Both school instructors and parents have a responsibility to play in ensuring that any incidences of indiscipline are dealt with appropriately through the use of various discipline methods. The primary goal for this study was to see how Nigerian teachers and parents deal with these issues through the use of reward and punishment.
In their study, Houghton, Merrett, and Wheldall (2018) discovered that children believed praise and reward were suitable for excellent behavior and good performance, and that the quantity of praise and blame they got in school was approximately correct. In terms of both their work and their behavior, the vast majority of students stated they valued their professors’ opinions above those of their classmates. A letter sent from school to parents was thought to be particularly powerful for both praising and punishing their children’s outstanding performance and behavior. This emphasizes the significance of tight cooperation between the family and the school. These findings closely resemble those of a comparable poll of secondary school students. This study therefore sought to examine the effects of reward and punishments on students’ academic performance in civic education in secondary schools in Oye LGA, Ekiti State.

1.3 Objective Of The Study
The main objective of this study is to investigate the effects of reward and punishments on students’ academic performance in civic education in secondary schools in Oye LGA, Ekiti State, specifically the study intends to:
1. Ascertain whether there is a significant relationship between reward and punishments, and students’ academic performance in Oye LGA, Ekiti State.
2. Investigate the effect of reward on the academic performance of students in Civic Education in Oye LGA, Ekiti State.
3. Investigate the effect of punishment on the academic performance of students in Civic Education in Oye LGA, Ekiti State.

1.4 Research Questions
a. Is there a significant relationship between reward and punishments, and students’ academic performance in Oye LGA, Ekiti State?
b. What is the effect of reward on the academic performance of students in Civic Education in Oye LGA, Ekiti State?
c. What is the effect of punishment on the academic performance of students in Civic Education in Oye LGA, Ekiti State?

1.5 Research Hypothesis
Ho: There is no significant relationship between reward, punishments and students’ academic performance in civic education.
Ha: There is a significant relationship between reward, punishments and students’ academic performance in civic education.

1.6 Significance Of The Study
This study will help to lay more emphasis on the effective use of reward and punishment by policy makers. Those who plan the curriculum in the primary schools will be well equipped with the effects of reward and punishment in our primary schools. it will also be of great benefit to the teachers, parents and to the ministry of education because it will provide them useful information about the roles of reward and punishment as a means of enhancing learning in our society at large. Empirically, the study will add to the body of existing literature and serve a s reference material to scholars and student who wishes to conduct further studies on related topic.

1.7 Scope Of The Study
The scope of this study borders on the effects of reward and punishments on students’ academic performance in civic education. Geographically, the study will be delimited to some selected junior secondary schools in Oye LGA, Ekiti State.

1.8 Limitation of the Study
Like in every human endeavour, the researcher encountered slight constraints while carrying out the study. Insufficient funds tend to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature, or information and in the process of data collection, which is why the researcher resorted to a limited choice of sample size. More so, the researcher simultaneously engaged in this study with other academic work. As a result, the amount of time spent on research will be reduced.
Moreover, the case study method utilized in the study posed some challenges to the investigator including the possibility of biases and poor judgment of issues. However, the investigator relied on respect for the general principles of procedures, justice, fairness, objectivity in observation and recording, and weighing of evidence to overcome the challenges.

1.9 Definition of Terms
Reward: Is a satisfaction of needs for a whole series of responses/an act of appreciation a job well done.
Punishment: According to Ilogu (2004) punishment is defined as the presentation of any annoying (aversive) stimulus as a result of the performance of a response.
Reinforcement: According to Hilgard and Atkinson (1972), reinforcement is defined as any event that increases the probability of a response.
Positive Reinforcement: Ilogu (2004), positive reinforcement is defined as a presentation of a reinforcing stimulus so as to increase or maintain the rate of response or frequency of behaviour.

1.10 Organizations of the Study
The study is categorized into five chapters. The first chapter presents the background of the study, statement of the problem, objective of the study, research questions and hypothesis, the significance of the study, scope/limitations of the study, and definition of terms. The chapter two covers the review of literature with emphasis on conceptual framework, theoretical framework, and empirical review. Likewise, the chapter three which is the research methodology, specifically covers the research design, population of the study, sample size determination, sample size, and selection technique and procedure, research instrument and administration, method of data collection, method of data analysis, validity and reliability of the study, and ethical consideration. The second to last chapter being the chapter four presents the data presentation and analysis, while the last chapter(chapter five) contains the summary, conclusion and recommendation.