I. BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

a) Introduction

Teaching and learning is a process that requires the active involvement of both teachers and students if the objectives must be accomplished. The aim of teaching and learning include facilitating a transfer of knowledge from a teacher to a learner and achieving a change in the behavior of the learner. Learning, according to Abdullah et al. (2012), refers to a process that occurs in a social context and involves interaction between students and teachers. On the other hand, Offorma (2006) in Ohanu (2012) defined teaching as a systematic activity deliberately engaged in by somebody to facilitate learning of the intended worthwhile knowledge, skills, and values by another person and getting the necessary feedback. Feedback is very important in teaching and learning. Feedback is usually expected from students through interaction with the teacher in the classroom. Feedback from students gives the teacher an insight as to the extent to which the learning objectives have been achieved.

Teacher-student interaction in the classroom is a medium through which effective teaching and learning occur. This presupposes that effective teaching and learning require the active participation of students in class. Students' in-class participation is an essential ingredient in the teaching and learning process, and therefore should not be neglected. In a class where the teacher does all the talking alone is most likely to be boring and effective learning may hardly occur. Most teachers find it frustrating when their students do not participate actively in class. Most often, it does not encourage teachers to give in their best in class when the students are not participating in class.

Ken (2006) in Li (2015) defined class participation as when students are given opportunities to participate during teaching and learning by allowing them to ask questions as well and be allowed to brainstorm with fellow students in a small group with a specific task in focus. Students are usually expected to listen, contribute in-class activities and ask questions. Students' active participation in class is beneficial to teachers and students. It enables the teacher to know the extent to which the students have understood learning objectives, where possible, do a re-teach when the students are cannot comprehend what they were taught. Participating actively in-class activities is equally beneficial to students. When students ask and answer questions in class, they gain clarity of the concepts that they are exposed to. Having a good understanding of what has been taught in class will enhance the academic achievement of the students.

Researches have shown that students learn best when they are actively involved in the learning process than when they are passive in class. Deslauriers et al. (2019) opined that students learn more when they are actively engaged in the classroom than they do when they do not participate in lecture environment. Classroom participation is vital because learning is not just between the student and the teacher but part of the whole classroom experience (Cimmino, 2007). Cimmino further stated that when students participate in class, they learn from each other and internalize the knowledge better. There may be a strong positive relationship between students' participation in class and their academic achievement. Students who are active learners are likely to perform better academically than their counterparts that are passive learners.

Passive learners are the type of learners that merely listen and do not contribute or ask questions in class, even when they do not understand what is being taught in class. According to Edubrite (2021), passive learners always quietly take in new information, but they typically do not engage with it. They do not interact, share their insight or contribute to class activities. Schritter (2021) stated that despite the many benefits of class participation, most students do not regularly contribute to their classes. This attitude of not participating in classroom may affect the students' academic achievement negatively.

There are factors that can make students to be passive in class. Alam and Shakir (2019) found that punishment, scolding, steering, speaking loudly, beating, Burdon of homework and, strictness were considered the major causes of passive attitude among students. Perez-Murphy (2018) equally stated some reasons why students do not participate in class as follows:

1. They are introverts.

2. They do not feel confident in their understanding of the subject.

3. They do not know-how.

4. Physical environment does not encourage participation.

5. They just do not like the class.

Students' passive behavior in class may also relate to teaching methods and strategies used by teachers in giving their instructions. For instance, in a lecture method, the students are usually passive. In a class where the students are not active, it is the responsibility of the teacher to create a learning environment that will arouse the students' interest as well as enhance their participation in class activities through various strategies. Teachers can use certain strategies to enhance students' interest and participation in class. According to BusyTeacher.org (2018), some of the ways to encourage students' participation in class include: ensuring a constructive classroom environment, planning exercises that appeal to different types of learners, using incentives for individual students as well as motivating the students. However, the strategies that are effective for enhancing students' participation in class in the area of study are not clear. This was what informed the interest of the researcher in carrying out this study.

b) Statement of the problem

Students' participation in-class activities is essential in teaching and learning. This is because among other benefits, it provides feedback for teachers as well as helps students to have a clear understanding of what they learn in class. Research has shown that irrespective of the importance of class participation, some students are usually passive in class, which tends to affect their academic achievement adversely. Active learners, according to research, do better academically than passive learners. Students' participation in class has also been observed to link with teaching strategies. In an attempt to enhance students' participation in class and consequently improve their academic achievement, teachers can employ some strategies. However, there is inadequate information regarding the strategies that for enhancing students' participation in class in the area of study.

The problem of this study is: "what are teachers' effective strategies for enhancing in-class participation among passive learners in secondary schools in Owerri Municipal Council, Imo State?"

c) Purpose of the study

The purpose of this study was to investigate teachers' effective strategies for enhancing in-class participation among passive learners in secondary schools. Specifically, the study determined:

1. Teachers' effective strategies for enhancing in-class participation among passive learners in secondary schools.

2. The difference in the mean scores of male and female teachers on effective strategies for enhancing in-class participation among passive learners in secondary schools.

d) Research questions

The following research questions guided the study:

1. What are teachers' effective strategies for enhancing in-class participation among passive learners in secondary schools?

2. What is the difference in the mean scores of the male and female teachers on effective strategies for enhancing in-class participation among passive learners in secondary schools?

e) Research hypothesis

The following null hypothesis was tested at a 0.05 probability level:

$H{o}_1$: there will be no significant difference in the mean scores of the male and female teachers on effective strategies for enhancing in-class participation among passive learners in secondary schools.

II. METHODOLOGY

The design of this study is a descriptive survey research design. The study was carried out in Owerri Municipal Council, Imo State. The study included all public secondary school teachers in the area. A simple random sampling technique was used for this study. Thirty teachers (consisting of 15 males and 15 females) were randomly drawn from seven public secondary schools in the study area. This brought the sample size to 210. The instrument used for data collection was the researchers' self-developed 10-item questionnaire named Teachers' Effective Strategies Questionnaire (TESQ). It was scored on a four-point rating scale of: strongly agree (4), agree (3), strongly disagree (2), and disagree (1). The instrument was face-validated by experts. The researcher used the direct delivery method in administering and retrieving the questionnaires. The data collected for the study were analyzed using mean ratings and standard deviation to answer the research questions. A mean score of 2.5 was used as a cut-off mark for the research questions. The null hypothesis was tested at a 0.05 probability level using t-test statistics.

III. PRESENTATION OF DATA

Research question one: what are teachers' effective strategies for enhancing in-class participation among passive learners in secondary schools?

The analysis in table 1 revealed that items 1 to 10 are effective strategies that can be utilized in enhancing classroom participation among passive learners. The mean scores for the items were above the

2.50 cut-off mark. Also, the grand mean (3.55) is above the mean benchmark. This presupposes that the strategies are effective for ensuring in-class participation for passive learners.

Research question two: what is the difference in the mean scores of the male and female teachers on effective strategies for enhancing in-class participation among passive learners in secondary schools?

The data analysis in table 2 shows the mean scores of the male and female teachers on effective strategies for enhancing in-class participation among passive learners in secondary schools. The male teachers had a mean score of 3.45 and a standard deviation of 0.31, while the female teachers had a mean score of 3.24 and a standard deviation of 0.31. The male teachers had a higher mean score. The mean scores, however were subjected to t-test analysis below to find out if there was a significant difference in the mean scores of both the male and female teachers.

Hypothesis one: there will be no significant difference in the mean scores of the male and female teachers on effective strategies for enhancing in-class participation among passive learners in secondary schools. Table 3: T-test analysis of the mean scores of the male and female teachers

The result of the t-test analysis in table 3 revealed a p-value of 0.143. This value is greater than the probability level of 0.05. This means that there is no significant difference in the mean scores of the male and female teachers on effective strategies for enhancing in-class participation among passive learners in secondary schools. The null hypothesis of no significant difference is therefore accepted.

IV. DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS

Items 1 to 10 in table 1, according to the respondents, are effective strategies that can be used in enhancing in-class participation among passive learners. The item's mean scores were above the mean cut-off point. In table 2, the mean score of the male teachers (3.45) on effective strategies that can be used in enhancing in-class participation among passive learners was higher than that of the female teachers (3.24). The scores when subjected to t-test analysis in table 3, revealed no significant difference in the mean scores of the male and female teachers. These findings are in line with the strategies outlined by BusyTeacher.org. According to BusyTeacher.org (2018), some of the ways to encourage students' participation in class include: ensuring a constructive classroom environment and planning exercises that appeal to different types of learners.

V. CONCLUSION

The analysis of data led to the following conclusion:

1. Strategies that can be used in enhancing in-class participation among passive learners include: peer-teaching method, giving tasks to students to do during lessons, teaching with the story-telling, teaching in a conducive environment, use of set-induction, use of audio-visual technology, engaging learners in brainstorming in teaching and learning process, pairing learners according to their cognitive ability, relating the lesson to things around the students and directing questions to non-participating students.

2. There is no significant difference in the responses of the male and female teachers on the effective strategies that can be used in enhancing in-class participation among passive learners.

VI. RECOMMENDATION

The findings of this study, revealed effective strategies that can be used in enhancing in-class participation among passive learners. Teachers should take advantage of the findings of this study, by utilizing the strategies for effective teaching and learning. School administrators should equally organize seminars and workshops for their teachers on how to effectively use the methods to enhance classroom participation among passive learners and consequently improve their academic achievement.