Topic: EFFECTS OF COMPUTER-BASED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES ON THE PERFORMANCE OF PHYSICS STUDENTS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS

Chapter One

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

A concept map is a description of how propositions are organized(Novak, 1998). Concept maps reflect how ideas, opinions, and propositions are organized in the knowledge structure of students who construct the concept maps, and give observations on students’ states. From the observations, teacher can assess the knowledge structure of students.They are forms of graphical organizers which allow learners to perceive the relationships between concepts through diagramming of keywords representing those concepts. These concepts are usually enclosed in circles or boxes of some type and relationships between concepts indicated by connecting lines linking two or more concepts. The process of using these graphical tools for organizing and presenting knowledge is referred to as concept mapping (Novak, 1998). Computer-based instructional strategy refers to instruction or remediation presented on a computer. These modes of instructions are interactive and can illustrate a concept through attractive animation, sound and demonstration. It allows students to progress at their own pace and work individually. Computers provide immediate feedback, letting students know whether their answer is correct or not. If the answer is not correct, it shows how the students can get the correct answer. Many researchers have used computer-based instruction indifferent subject areas to improve effective teaching and learning. For instance Yusuf andAfolabi (2010), investigated the effects of computer assisted instruction on secondary school students’ performance in biology. The findings of the study showed that the performance of students exposed to Computer Assisted Instruction either individually or cooperatively were better than their counterparts exposed to conventional classroom instruction. Also, Tapscott (2008) investigated the effect of computer-based instruction on academic achievement in sciences; the result was also positive in favour of the students engaged in the computer assisted instruction. Computer-based concept mapping instructional strategy incorporates the use of computer instruction and other ICT tools with concept mapping. With computer-based concept mapping, concept representations and their respective links are not static; both can be expanded as knowledge or elaboration of an idea increases. Errors in describing ideas can be easily corrected and adapted. Most computer-based concept mapping tools allow the user to point and drag a concept or group of concepts to another place on the map and automatically update all the appropriate links (Anderson-Inman &Zeitz, 2013) Gender in relation to performance has been an issue of interest and concern to researchers in education. There are varying opinions on which gender (either males or females) achieves better than the other. On this, there are those that claim that males performed better than females, yet others claim that females achieved higher or better than their male counterparts (Ofoegbu, 2008). On the debate, the widely held view that females were superior in language use (acquisition and performance) was based mainly on studies in foreign countries especially English speaking ones and that this position is not tenable in Nigeria. She concluded that her survey on research studies on gender influence on achievement in language in Nigeria indicate that many studies did not establish enough evidence to support the claim that females are better than males in language (Azikiwe, 2009).Furthermore, Njoku (2009), in his study on enhancing the relevance of chemistry curriculum delivery using science, technology and society (STS), stated that female students underachieve in science, technology and mathematics education relative to their male classmates. The issue of gender becomes crucial in this present day because the schools in the research are co-educational. Also, the contradictory evidences in academic performance due to gender have necessitated the need to verify how computer-based concept mapping instructional strategies can influence students ‘performance in physics. This study therefore, will examine the effects of computer-based concept mapping instructional strategy on students ‘performance in physics.

1.2 Statement of Problem

The performance of students in science generally has been quite unsatisfactory over the years (Olorukoba, 2007). The external examining bodies such as West African Examination Council (WAEC) and National Examination Council (NECO) have repeatedly reported poor performance in physics. The report of the Chief Examiner, West African Examination Council, WAEC(2015) revealed that candidates’ performance were poor. Furthermore, a critical look at the statistics of candidates’ enrolment and performance in physics in Kaduna state for the years 2011 to 2016 shows that the performance of the candidates were poor. The percentage failure of physics students in the West Africa Senior Schools Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for the years 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 are 50.78, 53.61, 38.33, 51.65, 40.05 and 33.58 respectively (Appendix A). The persistent poor performance, according to the Chief Examiner for the year 2015-2016 was as a result of: Poor understanding of general principles and concepts, heat, energy changes, matter and motion (WAEC, 2016).This poor performance as indicated by the results can be attributed to many factors which include; ineffective teaching methods, unqualified and inexperienced teachers teaching the subject, lack of appropriate and effective use of media among others(WAEC, 2016). This persistent poor performance also implies that a larger percentage of science students will not be admitted to study science and technology related courses in higher institutions since physics is one of the subjects that must be passed at least at credit level in SSCE in order to study science and technology related courses in higher institutions. Despite all that has been done to improve students’achievement especially in physics, students still perform poorly. The researcher is of the view that an alternative teaching method like the computer-based concept mapping strategies if employed might improve the performance of physics students. Therefore, this study seeks to determine the effects of computer-based concept mapping instructional strategies on students’ performance in physics.

1.3 Aim and Objectives of the Study

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of two modes of computer-based concept mapping instructional strategy on the performance of physics students in secondary schools in Kaduna State. Specifically, the study found out the: (i) Difference between the performance of students taught physics usingcomputer-based concept mapping strategies and those taught using computer assisted instruction. (ii) Difference between the performance of male and female students taught physics using hierarchical mode of computer-based concept mapping instructional strategy. (iii) Difference between the performance of male and female students taught physics using spider mode of computer-based concept mapping strategy.

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