Effects of Computer Simulation Package on Academic Performance of Senior Secondary School Students in Some Science Concepts in Ekiti State, Nigeria

Abstract

Use of computer simulated games among children/students is common and science students are not left out. Whereas poor performance and dwindling enrolment in science subjects have been observed among students in Nigeria, not much evidence has emerged at solving the problems from computer simulation mode of teaching. This study was designed to determine the effects of computer simulation package (CSP) on academic performance of senior secondary school students on the concepts of pollution and energy. Using multi-stage purposive and simple random sampling technique, six hundred (600) Senior Secondary (SS) class two students were selected from twelve co-educational schools consisting of four (4) schools in each of the senatorial districts of the State  and fifty (50) students  participated. Three hundred (300) students each were used for experimental and control groups. A validated Students’ Achievement Test (SAT) instrument, having 30 multiple choice items was used to generate pre-test and post-test data. Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used to test each of the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Findings showed that the use of computer simulation package (CSP) has significant effect on students’ academic performance (F-cal 955.93, P = 0.00*< 0.05) while gender showed no significant influence on students’ performance (F-cal 1.03, P = 0.312 >0.05). Thus, science teachers should be trained and retrained in seminars, workshop and conferences on the use of computer simulation packages in order to encourage personalized learning among science students.