INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Materials are classified according to many different criteria including their physical and chemical characteristics as well as their intended applications whether it is thermal, optical, electrical, magnetic, or combined materials can be anything consisting of pure or impure substance, a singular composite or a complex mix, living or non-living matter, whether natural or man-made, either concrete or abstract ideas. . Ibeneme (2000) defined teaching aids as those materials used for practical and demonstration in the class situation by students and teachers.

Instructional materials are essential and significant tools needed for teaching and learning of school subjects to promote teachers’ efficiency and improve students’ performance. They make learning more interesting, practical, realistic and appealing. They also enable both the teachers and students to participate actively and effectively in lesson sessions. They give room for acquisition of skills and knowledge and development of self- confidence and self- actualization. They are print and non-print items that impact information to students in the educational process. Instructional materials include items such as: kits, textbooks, magazines, newspapers, pictures, recording videos etc. Fadeiye (2005) saw instructional materials as visual and audio-visual aids, concrete or non-concrete, used by teachers to improve the quality of teaching and learning activities in Social Studies. Agina-Obu (2005) submitted that instructional materials of all kinds appeal to the sense organs during teaching and learning.  Instructional materials play a very important role in the teaching and learning process. It enhances the memory level of the students. At this time that education has spread wide and entirely, oral teaching cannot be the key to successful pedagogy. Therefore the teacher has to use instructional materials to make teaching and learning process interesting (NIC hulls, 2003; Raw 2006) .The Board is also responsible for the content of all instructional materials used in a classroom, whether adopted and purchased from the state-adopted instructional materials list, adopted and purchased through the District instructional materials program or otherwise purchased or made available in the classroom. 

Orji (2000) asserts that teaching aid is “the guidance of learning activities” that “a teacher uses to motivate and arouse student’s desire to learn” From the fore-going statement, it can be agreed that for effective learning to take place, a student need to be properly guided by the teacher by way of employing various method and means through which his teaching could be meaningful.