ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPACT OF TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF STUDENTS IN SOCIAL STUDIES AT BENUE STATE UNIVERSITY, MAKURDI

ABSTRACT The study investigated the assessment of the impact of teacher professional development on the academic performance of students in Social Studies at Benue State University, Makurdi. Four research questions guided the study while four hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. Descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised 22,773 students in 8 Faculties. A sample size of 456 undergraduates was selected from Benue State University, Makurdi. Simple random sampling technique was employed to select the respondents. A 20- items self-structured rating scale titled; “Teacher Professional Development and Academic Performance Questionnaire (TPDAPQ) was constructed by the researcher to elicit responses in accordance with the variables of the study. The data collected were analysed using mean and standard deviation to answer research questions and chi-square (X2) test of goodness-of-fit was used to test hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study showed that; there is a significant impact of teacher-students, teachers’ lesson delivery, teachers’ assessment methods and feedback on the academic performance of students in Social Studies at Benue State University, Makurdi. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended among other things that; school counsellors should counsel undergraduates in Benue State University to believe in their lecturers and build a cordial relationship with them, National University Commission as a matter of urgency should design curriculum that will enhance an interactive lesson delivery between the lecturers and the students, students should be assessed based on what they have been taught and the curriculum that is proportional to their interest and age should be considered as appropriate during teaching and learning processes and curriculum planners should design a curriculum that is suitable for both formative and summative assessment that enhances students’ effective performances when evaluated for a better and effective feedback from teachers.