PROBING COMPUTER-ASSISTED INSTRUCTIONAL EFFECT ON ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN PHYSICS

Abstract

This study explored the effect of Computer-Assisted
Instruction (CAI) on academic achievement of senior secondary
school students in physics in Awka south L.G.A in Awka
Education Zone. Two research questions guided the study and
three hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The
study is quasi-experimental research specifically pre-test posttest
non-randomized control group was adopted. The population
consisted of 553 (384 males and 169 females) senior secondary
two (SS2) students offering physics and a sample of 41 (21 males
and 20 females) SS2 students was drawn from the population
using multi-stage sampling. The sample students who were in two
intact classes were randomly assigned to experimental and
control groups using a flip of coin. The instrument Physics
Achievement Test (PAT) was used for data collection which was
validated by three experts from Nnamdi Azikiwe University,
Awka and a reliability coefficient of 0.89 was obtained using
Kuder Richardson-21 formula. The research questions were
answered using mean and standard deviation while the
hypotheses were tested using Analysis of Covariance
(ANCOVA). The findings revealed that CAI had significant
effects on students’ academic achievement in Physics than
Lecture Method (LM).The result also showed that gender was
not a significant factor in students’ overall academic
achievement when taught Physics using CAI. Also, there was no
interaction effect of teaching methods and gender on student’s
academic achievement in physics. Based on the conclusion, the
researcher recommended that Physics Teachers should use CAI
in teaching physics to both male and female students so as to
enhance their academic achievement in Physics and the curriculum planners to adopt CAI as an innovative teaching
strategy in planning and reviewing physics curriculum in
secondary schools.