EFFECTS OF COMPUTER SIMULATION ON ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND RETENTION IN GEOGRAPHY AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN NIGER STATE, NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

The study investigated the Effects of Computer Simulation on Academic Achievement and Retention in Geography Among Secondary School Students in Niger State. Gender and retention was considered. One hundred and sixty (120) students were selected from the four secondary schools in Minna Metropolis. The research design was pretest- posttest control group design. The experimental group taught with Computer Simulation Package (CSP) and the control group taught using the lecture method. The research materials were developed by the researcher and validated by experts.  Geography Achievement Test (GAT) of 20 items was validated by experts for data collection. The data collected were analyzed using the mean, standard deviation and t-test statistics in relation to the associated hypotheses which were tested at 0.05 level of significance. Four (4) research questions and four (4) hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. Based on the findings, it was recommended that the use of CSP or computer software for teaching and learning should be encouraged in schools. It was observed that the use of CSP enhanced the teaching and learning of geography among students.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

The importance of science and technology cannot be overemphasized when we reflect upon the preponderant scientific and technological advancements around us today. Such advancement include among others the emergence of modern means of transportations and telecommunications which supplement the ancient types, the intervention of satellite, internet, the discovery of test tube babies, and new modes of instruction with computer assisted instructional packages, all over the place now. All these new technologies have automatically changed the mode of our dealings in teaching and learning. Changes and progress never end. New discoveries always emerge on the earth; the basis of all technological advancement is science (STAN, 1999). Science as observed by Umar (2011) is a great enterprise on which all the nations depend in order to advance technologically. Nwagbo (2005) in Usman (2010) explained science as an intellectual activity carried out by humans, designed to discover information about the natural world in which we live and to discover the ways in which this information can be organized to benefit human race. Science is also seen as foundation upon which the bulk of the modern day technological experiences are built upon (Nsofor, 2010). In fact there are multitude numbers of careers in the abode of science and technology which if properly studied will in no small measure alleviate the sufferings of the developing nations including Nigeria.

The adoption of science and technology in national life marks the differences between developed and developing countries, thus classification of nations according to their economic status, basically reflect their scientific and technological development (STAN, 1999 & Ajagun, 2000) and Chado (2010) shared this view and added that the wealth, creativeness and influence of power of any nation depend on her capacity to utilize science and technology for the betterment of her citizens. Experience has shown that, it is only through the growth of scientific and technological manpower base that the development of science and technology can be achieved. This is in agreement with one of the objectives of secondary school education as identified in the National Policy on Education (NPE, 2004). According to the policy, the provision of relevant manpower training in the area of applied science, technology and commerce at sub- professional grade is a national concern and commitment. This is because, science and technology is now seen as foundation of national power and productivity (STAN, 1999).

Nwachukwu (2008) supposed that the educational system is required to produce advanced scientific and technological knowledge in which Nigeria will satisfy the material and socio-economic needs for her people. Therefore, in preparing the students of today to become the prosperous scientists and technologist of tomorrow, science subject such as chemistry, physics and biology should be taught effectively. Prokop, Tuncer and Chuda (2007) suggest that teachers should have the knowledge of how students learn Science and Mathematics and how best to teach them. They further contended that changing the way of teaching Science and Mathematics is a continuing professional concern, and educators believe that any nation wishing to develop must not neglect the teaching of Science in its schools (Ogunleye, 1999 & Fefunwa, 2004) in Lawal (2011).

Great emphasis is placed on the computer-based science and technology laboratories as well as ordinary science laboratories in the educational curricula of the developed countries. One of the aims of the science and technology course is to train every individual capable of keeping up the fast developing and changing science world and capable of utilizing the recent technological discoveries in every field. Researchers have been interested in revealing the effects of the computer-based instruction, which began to be used with the invention of the computer, which is one of the most important technological devices of the time.

As a result of the rapid development of the information and communication technology, the use of computers in education has become ineludible. The use of technology in education gives the students with a more suitable environment to learn, serves to create interest and a learning centred-atmosphere, and motivates the students. The use of technology in this way plays an important role in the teaching and learning process (Baytekin, Balkan, Horzum, & Kiyici, 2002). In parallel with the technological advances; technological devices, particularly computers began to be used in educational environments to develop audio-visual materials such as animation and simulation, which resulted in the development of the computer simulation instruction. The best example of the integration of science and technology is the Computer simulation instruction technique.

The use of computers in the teaching and learning activities is defined as Computer-Based Instruction (CBI). CBI is the use of computers in the teaching and learning activities (Broms 2010). CBI enables the students to learn by self-evaluating and reflecting on their learning process. CBI motivates children to learn better by providing them with the immediate feedback and reinforcement and by creating an exciting and interesting game-like  atmosphere.  For them, the   studies in the field reveal that the students’ achievements increase when the CBI technique is provided as a supplement to the classroom instruction. CBI is more effective on less successful children. The reason for this is that the computer-based instruction enables the children to progress at their own pace and provides them with appropriate alternative ways of learning by individualizing the learning process (Ogungbade, 2003). The most familiar function of the science education is to teach the children the science concepts in a meaningful way and enable them to lean how they can make use of these concepts in their daily lives (Cepni, Taş, & Kozi, 2010).

The computer based teaching has had an impact on the development of the educational technology to a great extent in the 21 century and this has resulted in the production of the software for the computer- based instruction. The primary purpose of the educational software is to solve the learning problems in the science courses encountered by the primary school students, to increase their motivation and achievements and to protect them against the negative effects of the rote memory based educational system. There are software-supported educational products designed to be used in the computer based and computer- supported teaching practices. These are the products that the teachers use as complementary materials for taking notes about their students and observations; making tables; developing materials; doing calculations, and preparing simple educational software. The educational software is used as a teaching material in the teaching of a part of a subject or the whole subject (Alkan, Deryakulu, & Şimsek, 1995; Isman, 2005).

According to Alessi & Trollip (2005), it is possible to divide educational software into five different types such as tutorial, drill and practice, simulation, educational games and hypermedia type. For effective and productive teaching, these techniques should be used with some classroom activities. These are: presentation, demonstration, practice and evaluation of learning (Ozmen, 2004). The use of computer technology enables learners to be active in the learning process, to construct knowledge, to develop problem solving skills and to discover alternative solutions (Ozmen, 2008).

The presentation of teaching materials by means of the computer technology helps students to process and develop information, to find alternative solutions, to take an active part in the learning process and to develop their problem solving skills. Most of the scientific and technological advances are realized by the people whose problem solving skills have been developed. In addition, these advances give rise to positive changes in the lives of people owing to the ways and techniques developed by means of the power of the problem solving skills. The use of problem solving skills is inevitable at every stage of our daily lives. As a result of the advances in today’s technology and computer devices, it’s getting indispensable to use this new technology in the solution of educational problems. The education and technology play an important role in the education of humans. Although the education and technology are different concepts, the use of both resulted in the emergence of a new discipline, the educational technology. Owing to the educational technology, the teaching and learning activities become enjoyable. Students learn willingly, by playing and enjoying during these activities (Isman, 2005).

The Place of Geography in the School Curriculum, the Nigerian Educational System has consistently under-gone far reaching changes since the 1960’s. These changes manifest in the introduction of the 6-3-3-4, the new 6-3-9 system of Education, the National Council on Education, the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC), and the Universal Basic Education (UBE). The recent restructuring and the development of the Geography curriculum at Secondary school levels are very significant parts of these changes. The adoption of the new 6-3-9 system of education brought with it some provisions for Geography whose secondary school education terminates at the end of the first three years.

Provision was also made for students whose programme will continue for the next three years at the senior secondary school level. The former curriculum was limited to factual, examination-oriented approach, but today, there is greater emphasis on the educational and experiential implications for the students. In the past teachers are much more concerned merely with turning out students who are loaded with facts and terminologies in Geography. Today, the curriculum had changed. It has become a matter of investigation, inquiry and experiential. Emphasis is now placed on the relevance of Geography to life. The new objectives that now guide the formulation of Geography curriculum are: – teaching of Geography should provide a vehicle for the child development, to help him acquire the art of using knowledge or to learn something about his cultural heritage; – provide necessary background to citizenship and to intimate the students into a particular mode of thought; – offer a unique mean of furthering inquiry and high intellectual growth in students; – to help man to live, place himself in the world and to learn his true position and what his duties are; – to equip the students to understand other people and their environment; – develop positive attitudes to race, culture, and to other peoples environments and places; and Technologies and Methods of Teaching Geography There are evidences supporting the introduction and use of new technologies in instruction. The World Bank (2004) opined that ICTs should be considered within education for the purpose of reforming curriculum, reinforcing teaching/learning and to improve leaning. The UN Secretary of State (2005) speaking on the role of technology in education said we must ensure that Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are used to help unlock the doors of education. As a result, Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) came up with this policy “to co-operate with the private sector, to make available the benefits of new technologies, especially ICTs to increase educational opportunities and unlock the door of education. As a result of this, new technologies are being disseminated into educational institutions at a rapid rate. For the new technologies to be effectively utilized, teachers at all levels need not only to be proficient in the technologies but must also be well versed in its effective integration into their instruction. The major area Nigeria could meet this expectation is the teacher’s preparation in the methods class. It is in the methods class that the students can see their teachers modeling the use or lack of use of the technology. The use or lack of use of the new technologies may widely affect the students in future as regard whether to use them or not. Other problem associated with the new technologies is the preparation of the pre-service teachers and their level of proficiencies in its usage in education. According to Bull, Bell, Mason and Garaofalo (2002) the use of technology in instruction should either be to improve efficiency or to re-conceptualize the curriculum. Using Technology to Increase Efficiency in the classroom The use of technology in teacher education to improve classroom efficiency have been supported by several scholars among which are Chickening and & Erhmann (1996) Freeman (1997), Leat and McAleavy (1998), Hepp et-al (2004). According to Kozma et –al (2004) those advocating for the use of technology, describe a range of potential impacts that new technologies have when applied to education. According to Leuhrman (1971) and Bull et-al (2002) technology application in classroom may be in the area of computer assisted instruction under this, Geography teachers may use the new technologies for word processing, grading, record keeping, web page production and lectures. The use of Technology to  re-conceptualize  curriculum In  Geography,  there  have  been several efforts  at using technology to re-conceptualize the curriculum; prominent among these efforts are the Anneberg Media and the Havard-Smith Center for Astrology. Others are the National Geography Association, NAGEO and NGWw web-sites. They encouraged the application of ICT using Geography Web-Site and Video.

The effort of the Geography Association is also worthy to mention. All these efforts are geared towards encouraging the use of ICT to reform teaching and learning of Geography. The approach used was the constructivist/instructiveist approach. The instructivist approach emphasizes the use of computer assisted teaching of skills or Geography knowledge while constructivist approach involve an active process in which teachers are to help learners construct new idea or concepts. The current move at conceptualizing geography curriculum emphasizes the combination of both instructivist and constructivist approach. This is so because we are interested in using technology to help learners learn in a more meaningful and motivating contexts. As a result there has been call for restructuring the curriculum. Balderstone and Lambert (2000) suggested some creative methods like; inquiry method, project method, drama, discussion, modeling, film making and application of ICT. Thomas and Macmahan (1997) observed that teaching thinking is hard and that it demands some changes in teaching style. These scholars therefore call for a better teaching strategy that will provide the learner with concrete and real life experience to exemplify and clarify more meaningfully, some of the principles and concepts in Geography. Huckles, (1997) also spoke about the need to reform the curriculum. According this scholar we must acknowledge the fact the subject has distance itself from the current changes in the society and development in modern curriculum theories and pedagogy. Leat (1997, p. 145) therefore suggested the integration of the new technologies which would make the subject more stimulating and challenging. Leat and McAleavy (1998) opined that ICT is an essential requirement in teaching Geography. Barnet and Milton (1995) on the need to increase classroom efficiency and re-conceptualize the curriculum using technology said. Two third of those who says they found school completely dull and uninteresting describe working with ICT interesting. Half of those who claim they always behave badly at school get so interest in working with computers that they don’t want to stop. Examples of New Technologies for teaching geography. There are different kinds of product of technology that are useful for teaching Geography. They includes; internet, interactive digital television, video, web-based instruction, Intelligent Tutoring Systems, photography, computers/computer Assisted instruction, video conferencing and discussion group. There are capabilities that CSP can do that other media cannot do. CSP has been found to be very effective in expressing geographical data, cartography, remote sensing, simulation of Geographical System, population forecasting and other Geographical Information Systems. Today, automated and digital maps have replaced the traditional maps. Michael (1969 p. 575) spoke of its advantages: The evidence clearly indicates that CSP teaches at least as well as live teacher on other media that, there is a saving of time to learn, that students respond favorably to CSP, it can be used to accomplish impossible veracity in branching and individualizing instruction, it will perform miracles in processing performance data. Wilce (1998), in an article on what is teaching in a new technological future said; Teachers of tomorrow will have no choice but to become web-workers and not suffers, coaches and facilitators, they are not to pass on knowledge but to encourage the development of high ordered skills as source evaluation and data interpretation not to mention the next century’s most vital skill of all time management. The educated adults of tomorrow will be those who know how to cut straight to the core of any task and able to sort necessary information from superfluous, manage their time, divide up their lives and set limits on how much time they intend to devote to each part. The problem of adoption of ICT in Teaching in Nigeria While there had been a giant attempt at integrating the new technologies into instruction in other advanced countries, Nigeria is not yet fascinated by the potential of technology to enhance teaching and learning. Many of our schools are lagging behind in integrating technology into instruction. Teachers are apprehensive about improving and modifying instruction by incorporating the new technologies. Perhaps it was the lingering apprehension that made some scholars to oppose/criticize its use in Geography and to conclude that the subject has distance itself from current changes in the society and development (Huckle, 1997). It is against this background that this study was designed to determine the extent to which a computer simulation package CSP can improve the student’s achievement and retention among senior secondary school students in Geography.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Despite the relevance of geography to man, and development of the society, its teaching and learning is faced with many problems, such as: poor performance of students at the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination. (WAEC Chief Examiners’ report, May/June 2005, November/December 2007). WAEC Chief Examiners report (2005) attributes students’ poor performance in geography to the poor display of the knowledge of geography, poor understanding of questions, lack of qualified teachers, inadequate preparation of students for examination, and student’s inability to cover most parts of the syllabus. If the effective geography results must be realized in Nigerian schools, then geography teaching at higher level must accept the challenge of breeding sufficient offering to share in the task of reviving the subject of geography (Nigeria Education Research and Development Council, 1992:6).

Many of these scientific instructional materials are very delicate and costly so that most secondary schools cannot afford them and the federal government also cannot afford to provide all for all the secondary schools due to economic depression. Consequently, teachers depend on chalk and talk method of teaching at the detriment of the use of instructional materials. On this basis, Nfosor, (2010) waned that teachers should not use the absence of inadequacy of instructional materials as an excuse to resort to poor teaching and learning, instead they should resort to alternative approaches towards keeping science teaching and learning afloat and meaningful during such a difficult time. Based on this, Teachers have recognized that creating their instructional materials is important as noted by Ifegbo (2006). This is a step in that direction; the study will produce a computer simulation and look at its effects on the academic achievement and retention in Geography among secondary school students in Minna metropolis and Niger State at large. Also the issues of gender interference in academic achievement have attracted the attention of many researchers in the recent times but the issues are inconclusive. Some researchers were of the view that male students perform better than female students while others disagreed. Gender and retention are variables that the present research considered worthy of further investigation.

1.3 Purpose of the Study

The purpose of the study is to develop a computer simulation package and investigates its effects on student’s achievement and retention in Geography among senior secondary school students in Minna Metropolis. The objectives of this research work include:

1.   To develop computer instructional package.

2.   Investigate the effects of computer simulation on learning of geography concept Nigeria (regional geography of Nigeria).

3.   Determine the influence of gender on the performance of geography students on the concept

4.   Find the effects of computer simulation package on students retention.

1.4 Research Questions

The study sought answer to the following questions:

1. Is there any difference between the achievement mean scores of the students taught geography using Computer Simulation Package (CSP) and those taught with conventional teaching method?

2. Is there any difference between the achievement mean scores of the male and female students taught geography using Computer Simulation Package (CSP)?

3. Is there any difference between the retention mean scores of students taught geography using Computer Simulation Package (CSP) and those taught with conventional method.

4. Is there any difference between the mean retention score of students taught geography using Computer Simulation Package (CSP)?

1.5 Research Hypotheses

From the research question, the following hypotheses were formulated:

Ho1: There is no significant difference between the achievement mean scores of students taught geography using Computer Simulation Package (CSP) and those taught with conventional teaching method.

Ho2: There is no significant difference between the achievement mean scores of male and female students taught geography using Computer Simulation Package (CSP).

Ho3: There is no significant difference between the retention mean scores of students taught geography using Computer Simulation Package (CSP) and those taught with conventional teaching method.

Ho4: There is no significant difference between the retention mean scores of male and female students taught geography using Computer Simulation package (CSP).

1.6 Significance of the Study

It is the hope of the researcher that the findings of this research will be beneficial to students, Geography teachers, school administrators, publishers and curriculum planners among others.

– To the students, Computer Simulation Package could help to reduce and avoid misconceptions by students that Geography is a difficult and an abstract subject. Computer simulation will help the students to form their own cognitive models about events and processes.

– To the teacher, it is hoped that computer simulation will help to reduce teacher’s workload, burden of searching and monitoring a large class of students, it will assist them to teach practical activities that may be impossible, too expensive and time consuming.

– To the curriculum planners the findings of the study will also serve as guidance to the curriculum planners and textbook writers while giving appropriate examples and illustration on incorporating computer simulation in teaching and as a perfect tool for difficult concepts in Geography.

1.7 Scope of the Study

The study was limited to Minna Metropolis. Four senior secondary schools were randomly selected using SSII students, the concepts that were taught included Nigeria (The Regional Geography of Nigeria) location, position, size and political divisions in west Africa, the relief of Nigeria, the drainage of Nigeria, and the climate of Nigeria which was for the duration of four weeks.

1.8 Operational Definition of Major Terms

Achievement: This is the notable change in the student’s performance as a result of their exposure to the specific programme of instruction.

Instructional material: These are objects utilized by the teacher to complement teaching and learning process.

Simulation: This is a special category of real things or a simplified operational model of a real situation that provides with a various participation in the varieties of role and events.

Computer Simulation Package: A self-developed computer simulation package software of the concept Nigeria (The Regional Geography of Nigeria).

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