EFFECTS OF SIMULATION INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNIQUE ON PUPILS’ ACHIEVEMENT AND INTEREST IN SOCIAL STUDIES IN KOGI STATE, NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to find out the effects of simulation instructional technique on pupils’ achievement and interest in social studies. The influence of gender and school location on achievement and interest of pupils taught using simulation instructional technique were also investigated. Eight research questions and eight hypotheses guided the study. The study employed quasi experimental pre-test, post-test non-equivalent control group design. The study was carried out in Ankpa education zone of Kogi State, North Central zone of Nigeria. The population of the study was 13,389 primary six pupils in three hundred and six (306) public primary schools. Multi-stage random sampling technique was employed to select the sample of three hundred and seventy eight (378) comprising two hundred and fourteen (214) males 56.6% and one hundred and sixty four (164) females (43.4%) for the study. Social Studies Achievement Test (SOSAT) and Social Studies Interest Questionnaire (SOSIQ) were used for data collection. SOSAT and SOSIQ were subjected to both face and content validation and item analysis. The reliability index of SOSAT was estimated to be 0.77 using Kuder-Richardson (K-R)20 while the reliability index of SOSIQ was established at 0.72 using Cronbach Alfa. Pre-SOSAT and Pre-SOSIQ were administered on the groups before treatment started while post-SOSAT and post-SOSIQ were administered at the end of six weeks treatment period. Scores of pre-SOSAT, Pre SOSIQ and post SOSAT and post SOSIQ were analysed using Mean, Standard Deviations and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) to test research questions and hypotheses at 0.05 level ofpr significance. Some of the major findings from the analysis were (i) simulation technique was more effective than lecture method for achievement (ii) simulation technique was more effective than lecture method for interest (iii)  The mean achievement and interest scores of male and female pupils taught social studies using simulation instructional technique did not differ. The study recommended among others: that simulation instructional technique should be adopted by social studies teachers as a child-centred technique capable of enhancing pupils’ participation in learning social studies; simulation technique should be included in the training package of teacher education programme both in Colleges of Education and the Universities level to ensure that teacher trainees acquire necessary skills to effectively implement the technique; capacity building workshops, seminars and conferences should be organized by the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) on the implementation of simulation instructional technique in Social Studies.