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EFFECT OF USING COMPUTER AIDED INSTRUCTION IN TEACHING BASIC
SCIENCE IN JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
Science
and technology have greatly contributed to the convenience and comfort of man.
Every manufactured good seen at home and place of work is a product of science
and technology. For instance, mobile phones, radio and television sets, PC
tablets, iPads, iPhones, iPods, laptops, desktops among other devices are
products of science and technology (Tunde & Anthony, 2010). In the same
way, the fruit juices and soft drinks consumed daily, the cars, the motorcycles
and bicycles, the clothes and shoes are all products of science and technology.
In view of these contributions, Ashiker (2012) opined that concrete steps
should be taken to get the Nigerian citizens well groomed in science and
technology for the country’s scientific and technological advancement.
As the world is constantly changing
and ways in which human beings function at home, place of work and school are
also changing. The speed at which technology
is developing plays a major role in these changes. From offline to on-line
classes, computers are influential in human life, and can enhance the learning
process in schools in various ways. This may be the reason why Keziah, (2011)
asserted that, with the increasing
popularity of computer technology, it is essential for school administrators to
support and encourage computer technology in our education system as it has
become an important medium in instructional delivery. In recognition of the
importance of computer in the teaching/learning process in Nigeria, the
National Council on Education introduced computer education in 1987.
Computer-aided instruction involves the use of
computers to supplement classroom instruction. Computer-aided instruction does
not fully replace the teacher in a classroom environment. The computer is
simply an electronic device or machine that accepts data, processes data and
gives out output with great speed and accuracy. Computer-aided instruction uses
a combination of texts, graphics, sound and videos in the learning process. Computer-aided instruction system is
designed to automate certain forms of drill and practice instruction in
delivering basic skills (Tinto, 2007). There are different types of
computer-aided instruction software in science education including drill and
practice, tutorial software, instructional games, simulations, problem-solving
software and discovery environment.
However, this study is
anchored on drill and practice software. This software provides opportunities
for students to work on problems or examples one at a time and then receive
feedback on performance. It is used as a mean to learn or review new content.
It is made up of flashcard activities, branching drills and extensive feedback
activities. Many of these programs are smartphone friendly so students can
access the activities anywhere.
The
Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN, 2004), in release of educational objectives
for secondary schools, emphases the need to equip students to live effectively
in this modern age of science and technology. The major goal of science
education is to develop scientifically literate individuals that are concerned
with high competence for rational thoughts and actions. The objectives of
science education in this country according to FRN (2004) include the need to
prepare students to observe and explore the environment; explain simple natural
phenomena; develop scientific attitudes including curiosity, critical
reflection and objectivity; apply the skills and knowledge gained through
science to solve everyday problems in the environment; and develop
self-confidence and self-reliance through problem-solving activities in
science.
In
an effort to attain these objectives, several strategies and resources have
evolved for science teaching and learning. The resources range from human to
materials including the audio-visual and media materials that can be used to
sustain the attention of the students during the lesson. Towards the end of the
20th century and at the
beginning of the 21st
century, it became apparent that national development depends on
educational advancement which in turn depends on technological progress
(Onasanya, Shehu, Ogunlade & Adefuye, 2011). It is in respect of this, that
Samba and Eriba (2011) opined that
teaching must go beyond the chalk-and-talk method and it must involve the
totality of the student, the instructions must be prepared in such a way that
at any time, students’ learning must make use of more than two senses.
The roles of computer-aided
instruction in science education are varied and these include fostering
students interest and motivation; promoting students commitment to learning;
making lessons more exciting and interesting
for both teachers and students; making students to do science effectively and
conducting experiments as viewed on screen;
and facilitating the process of learning through interaction with drill
and practice software and simulations. The most important feature in
computerized instruction is that it permits a high degree of individualization.
This means that students can proceed at their own pace, following a path
through the curriculum as suited to their particular interest and talent.
In view of the relevance
of computer technology in science education, the study of effect of
computer-aided instruction on junior secondary basic science students’
achievement and retention in Benue State is undertaken. Two groups of learners
studying the same curriculum will be compared; one group will use
computer-aided instruction; and the other will use modified lecture method.
Achievement is the
performance of students in a test or examination. In determining the students’
achievement using computer-aided instruction, Ash (2005) found that
computer-aided instruction packages enhanced students’ academic achievement in
an aspect of mathematics in middle schools. Study conducted by Kingsley and
Boone (2008), revealed that students who used computers in addition to textbooks
in instruction scored higher on a standardized State test. Computer-aided
strategy could expose science in active data based form and allow students and
teachers to fully participate in the teaching-learning process. This may help
to reduce the long time stigma of the chalk-and-talk approach to science
teaching.
As the growth of educational programs
continues to rapidly accelerate, concern over the retention of the students’
knowledge is increasing. Retention is the ability of
a student to hold and bring to mind a memory of the previously learned skills,
knowledge and experience during and after examination. Retention is
significantly important, not just for student success, but also for the success
of academic institutions. Nnaobi (2013) found that computer-aided instruction
has the ability to sustain students’ interest, encourage them to participate
actively in the lesson and retain concepts learnt for a long time.
Astin
(2006) asserted that the higher the school Grade Point Average (GPA) and the
Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) examination scores of a college student, the
stronger the chance that the same student will retain knowledge in schools.
Deducing from this, school managers should benchmark their students’ scores and
GPA higher to increase students’ retention abilities. The true art of memory
and retention is the skill of attention (Tinto, 2007). For effective retention
of the learnt concepts, principles, theories, laws, ethics and assumptions of science in students’ short and long term
memories, science teachers should get, use, link and picture the learning
experience through the use of the computer.
Gender
issues in students’ achievement and retention have caused a lot of concerns to
educationists. Gender is the biological anatomy that differentiates a male from
female. Gender issues have been linked with students’ achievement and retention
in academic tasks in several studies without any definite conclusion. But there
is a general conclusion that there is a little or no gender imbalance in computer
use, access, career and attitude. This is why Davies, Klawe, Ng, Nyhus, and
Sullivan (n.d.) suggested that the role that technology will play in the future
should be a concern for men and women, practitioners, policy makers and
parents. This study is out to compare the achievement and retention of male and
female students in basic science exposed to computer-aided instruction.
The
integrated science (now basic science) curriculum is a broad field curriculum
in which subject matter from different subject areas of biology, chemistry,
physics, astronomy, geology and environment are synthesized to provide a
holistic and unified nature of science (Adejoh, 2006). It is a three-year
course developed in spiral to form themes whereby topics get increasingly more
detailed as the year progresses. The aim of basic science is to begin to teach
students what science is and how a scientist works. To realize this objective,
it is expected that students carry out the kind of activities scientists
carried out in their works, which is the beginning of the acquisition of series
of skills, attitudes, principles, knowledge, assumptions and ethics of science.
Conventional
teaching methods such as chalk-and-talk known as a traditional teaching method
in which teachers address students by using board to provide examples or
illustrations have been continually used by the science teachers despite its
criticisms by the experts in science education. It is an oral presentation
intended to teach students about concepts, theories, history, background and
equations which places students in passive rather than an active role.
Nevertheless,
the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC, 2007)
stipulates the use of activity-based and guided inquiry approaches to basic
science teaching, but the adoption and application of these methods are still
an illusion because of paucity of instructional materials and unwillingness of
the science teachers to improvise alternative materials locally to improve
instructional delivery. Consequently, teachers resort to conventional lecture
method, walk into the classroom with a key-point text for one-way
communication; and copy a few points on the chalkboard. Lessons are rarely been
planned and instructional materials are hardly been used by these teachers.
Computers are capable of
improving and contributing to growth in students’ achievement and retention in
basic science. The interest of this study is the input of computer-aided instruction to enhance
students’ achievement and retention in Nigerian schools.
1.2
Statement of the Problem
Studies
have shown that students’ achievement and retention in basic science are
unimpressive (Ibraheem, 2004; & Ncharam, 2008). Instructional strategies
and cognitive factors have been identified majorly as being responsible for
poor achievement and retention in the sciences. Factors such as absence of computers and software packages,
fluctuating internet connectivity, arbitrary charges of data bundles, epileptic
power supply, computer illiterate teachers and students and gender are
hindrances to the use of computer in schools.
Researchers, educators,
administrators, Science Teacher Association of Nigeria (STAN) and other
relevant educational agents have tried to develop various teaching strategies,
yet schools have continually produced students with poor results in basic science
as well as other science subjects. These efforts have not yielded desired
results in students’ achievement and retention as conventional teaching methods
have been used in teaching sciences. This has been attributed to the use of
inappropriate teaching strategy in teaching science subjects. Both male and
female students of basic science perform poorly.
Mofeed (2011) opined that computer-aided
instruction has the ability to empower teachers and learners, and transform
teaching and learning processes from being highly teacher-dominated to
student-centered. This transformation will result in increased students’
performance; create opportunities for learners to develop their creativity,
problem-solving abilities, informational reasoning and communication skills.
Consequently, computer-aided instruction could be an adequate strategy in
teaching and learning of basic science. Specifically, the problem of this study
is how could computer-aided instruction affect JS II students’ achievement and
retention in basic science?
1.3
Purpose of the Study
The
purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of computer-aided
instruction on junior secondary basic science students’ achievement and
retention in Benue State. It would aim at the following objectives:
1. To find out if the use of computer in teaching basic
science enhances students’ achievement in the subject better than the lecture
method.
2. To determine whether students’ retention in basic
science is improved by the use of computer-aided instruction when compared with
lecture method.
3. To compare the achievement scores of male and female
students in basic science exposed to computer-aided instruction.
4. To compare the retention
scores of male and female students in basic science exposed to computer-aided instruction.
1.4
Research Questions
The
following research questions will guide the study:
1. What is the difference in the mean achievement scores
of the students taught using computer-aided instruction and those taught using
modified lecture method in basic science?
2. What is the difference in the mean retention scores of
the students taught using computer-aided instruction and those taught using
lecture method in basic science?
3. What is the difference
between the mean achievement scores of male and female students in basic
science exposed to computer-aided
instruction?
4. What is the difference
between the mean retention scores of male and female students in basic science
exposed to computer-aided
instruction?
1.5
Hypotheses
This
study will be guided by the following null hypotheses which will be tested at 0.05 level of significance:
Ho1. There is no significant difference in
the mean achievement scores of students taught using
computer-aided
instruction and those taught using modified lecture method.
Ho2. There is no significant difference in
the mean retention scores of students taught using
computer-aided
instruction and those taught using lecture method.
Ho3. There is no significant difference in
the mean achievement scores of male and female
students exposed to
computer-aided instruction.
Ho4. There is no significant difference between
the mean retention scores of male and female
students
in basic science exposed to computer-aided
instruction.
1.6
Significance of the Study
The
widening gap between developed and developing nations in terms of overall
development and wealth creation could be traced to the acquisition and
utilization of scientific skills and principles. For Nigeria to close this gap
with priority and vigour, the result of this study may serve as a useful tool
for students, teachers, policy makers and administrators, for a functional and
impact-oriented computer-aided instruction in science education programme.
The
study could allow students to study basic science concepts while advancing at
their own pace, enabling them to spend the necessary time on each concept. The
teacher’s role in this environment is to provide targeted help to students when
they need additional assistance. The computer program covers many
administrative aspects such as lesson planning, grading, homework and
assignment so that teachers may spend more time on individual instruction with
struggling students.
The
study could allow for more individualized instruction, then it could be more
beneficial for struggling students who may not keep up with the pace of the
lectures in traditional classrooms or for more advanced students who could
progress faster at their own pace. In a traditional classroom, students missing
class will miss all the material covered in class that day. In contrast, the
computer would pick up where the student
left off the last time he/she was in class regardless of whether it was the day
before or 5 days before.
The
study could help the policy-makers and school administrators to evaluate the
use of computer-aided instruction. This includes the cost of hardware and
software, the cost in training teachers, and the time that students devote to
computer-aided instruction that they would otherwise spend in other forms of
instruction. It would be an eye-opener for the school administrators to equip
the schools with necessary CAI packages and ICT facilities in all subjects and
also train manpower to produce software for science education.
The
findings of this study are expected to encourage teachers to adopt appropriate
teaching technique like computer-aided instruction which would improve teaching
and learning of science subjects. This strategy could expose science in a
concretized form and allow students to fully participate in teaching/learning
process. This could be achieved through making learning software available in
schools and at homes.
It is
expected that the findings of this study would bring about understanding and
retention which are products of meaningful learning when teaching is effective
and meaningful to students as the use of computer-aided programs might be a
source of excitement and motivation to Nigerian students in their courses.
The
findings would motivate educational administrators to keep abreast with the
paradigm shift in pedagogy that is at the heart of education reform in the 21st
century. Thus, a shift from conventional chalk-and-talk to computer-aided
instruction. This would promote the acquisition of knowledge and skills that
would empower students and teachers for lifelong learning.
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