ABSTRACT

The study explored the influence of location and gender on performance of some selected motor skills among Secondary Schools in Awka South Local Government Area. The population of the study involved all male and female Secondary Schools students in urban and rural areas of Awka South Local Government, Anambra State. Four schools out of eighteen schools were used for the study. Two schools are from Urban while the other two are from rural. Two hundred subjects made of hundred boys and hundred girls were used for the study. Multi-phase sampling was adopted in selection. The study posed three research questions and three hypotheses. Data were collected with a battery of tests developed by Barrow (1987). Tests used for the study include: 50 metres dash, standing broad jump and 10 metres shuttle run. Stop watches and a measuring tape were used to collect data with the help of research assistants. t-test was used in testing the null hypotheses. The result revealed that urban male students performed better than rural male students in 50 metres dash, and 10 metres shuttle run, but rural male excelled in standing broad jump. Rural female students performed better than urban female students in 50 metres dash and 10 metres shuttle run while urban female students excelled in standing broad jump. Furthermore, male students performed better than female student in standing broad jump and 10 metres shuttle run and female students excelled only in 50 metres dash. The study provided the coaches and physical educators opportunity to create awareness of the importance and value of physical education in rural areas. One of the recommendations was that placement of students and staff in secondary schools should be done randomly so that there will be an even distribution of both high and low achievers in all schools.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Movement is a fundamental characteristic of human behaviour. It is also an act of moving part of the body; example hand. It is an act of moving from one place to another, for instance enemy troop movement and to allow free movement of goods and services. Thomas and Thomas (2000) observed that motor behaviour is the subdiscipline of kinesiology that focuses on how motor skills are acquired and controlled across the lifespan. Even before birth, the infant starts his movement by pushing and kicking while in the womb. Siendentop (2007) supported by defining motor skill as muscular actions directed toward the achievement of a goal, resulting from experiences or practice. Cratty (1973) stated that human activities which required the coordination of these muscular movements for instance, reaching, grasping and moving objects with eyes are acquired very early but appeared to be determined largely by response pattern that are innate. In buttressing this, Bucher (1979) outlined a number of factors that are necessary for effective

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motor skill. These include age, gender, environment, physical fitness and others.

Singer (975) classified some motor skills as fine and others as gross. Gross involve the large muscle groups a great deal activity that takes place in the large muscles are sport skills activities of all kinds such as handball, athletics, lifting. While fine involve those in which smaller muscles are employed, examples are singing, typing, writing sentences and stories. Matthew (1978) asserted that motor performance tasks are further classified into continuous task versus discrete tasks. Continuous task is one that requires the individual to make continuous adjustments and correction to a combination of stimuli; while discrete task is the measurement of reaction time. Another performance task is close-loop versus open-looped. A closed-loop skill is one that depends upon internal feedback from the muscles as guiding stimuli. Examples are performed with the eyes closed, test in the air while blindfolded would constitute a closed-loop skill. The rapid free-hand drawing of a large circle on the blackboard comes close to bring a closed-loop skill since the movement is not adjusted of the line as it is being drawn. Open-loop characteristics responses are influenced to a

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greater or lesser degree by external stimuli. The printing of letters is obviously largely influenced by the stimuli provided by the lines as they appear on paper. Catching a ball, jumping a hurdle, making a dive are athletic skills that are obviously dependent upon the presence of external stimulation for their proper and precise performance.

Henley and East (1982) asserted that because of the differences between men and women in body structure and physiological capacities, women often cannot perform at the same level of strength, muscular endurance. Environment in this setting is categorized as rural and urban. The rural environment is the smaller country side area. The urban area on the other hand means belonging or relating to a town or city (British Broadcasting Company, English Dictionary, 1992) and Standard English Dictionary, 1990). In the rural schools, there is persistence of inequality in educational opportunities of which physical education programme is one. There are very poor records of developing athletes in some of these rural schools. In urban schools, there are modern amenities such as nice laboratory, library, sports equipment, sports facilities and many others. Hence, the students in urban

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schools may be more opportune in a way than those in the rural schools (Aigbomian, 1997).

Consequently, school environment whether rural or urban may affect academics as well motor skill performance. Bidwell and Kasarda (1995) stated that the environment has a substantial influence on the school programme. However, the question of ascertaining the differential influence of the rural on motor skill performance remains an unfinished task. It remains beneficial to study on the influence of gender and location on the performance of selected motor skills among secondary school students in Awka South Local Government Area of Anambra State.

Statement of the Problem

Sports performance involves the learning of motor skills. Hence, for the players to be proficient in different fields of sports, they must learn some necessary skills in each of the sport of their interest. Furthermore, the researcher observation in teaching some movement exploration and body mechanics exercise to primary school pupils reveals that boys have more desire to learn faster and perform better than girls. A lot of factors were observed that contributed to

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having desire or not to learn and perform motor skills for these primary school pupils. These include physical fitness, body structure, age, location of the school and gender. Based on these phenomena the researcher is forced to carry out the research on secondary school students. Specifically the study tried to investigate the effect of the gender and location on motor skill performances of activities involving speed, power and agility. There are various activities involving speed, power and agility. They include throw for distance, zigzag or dodging run, standing broad jump, 50 meter dash, hop in and out of hoops, 10 meters shuttle run. Even though we can test all but the researcher wish to use 50 meters dash, standing broad jump and 10 meters shuttle run because the students are using them frequently.

Purpose of the Study

The main purpose of the study was to find out the influence of gender and location on performance of selected motor skills, such as 50 metres dash, standing broad jump (SBJ) and 10 metres shuttle run. Specifically, the researcher intended to:

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1.          Find out the girls performances in 50 metres dash, standing broad jump, 10 metres shuttle run in urban and rural areas

2.          Find out the boys performances in 50 metres dash, standing broad jump and 10 metres shuttle run in urban and rural areas.

3.          Determine the differences in the boys and girls performances in 50 metres dash, standing broad jump and 10 metres shuttle run.

Significance of the Study

This study is significant in many ways: for instance, it would enable the physical educators and coaches to identify how urban and rural areas influence performance in selected motor skills.

The study would aid the coaches, physical educators and researchers to determine differences of boys and girls on performance of selected motor skill. It would assist the coaches and physical education instructors to have the knowledge of the effect of gender on the performance of selected motor skill. The result of the finding would provide guides for selection of appropriate motor skills so as to

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