EFFECT OF COMPUTER SIMULATION AND TUTORIALS ON STUDENTS ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN BASIC SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN MKPAT ENIN LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA

The study was carried out to examine the comparative effects of Computer Simulation and Tutorial teaching strategies on the academic performance of students in Basic science and technology in Mkpat Enin Local Government Area (LGA) of Akwa Ibom State. In order to achieve this purpose, three purpose, three research questions and three hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. The study adopted quasi experimental posttest design. The population of the study comprised all the 1762 Junior Secondary School three (JSS3) students in all the sixteen (16) public secondary schools in Mkpat Enin Local Government Area. A total of 98 JSS3 students was drawn from two intact classes and use as a sample for the study. Simple random sampling technique was used for the selection. A researcher-developed instrument tagged “Basic Science and Technology Performance Test on Magnetism (BSTPTM)” was used for data collection. Face and content validation were used for validating the instrument. A reliability coefficient of 0.82 was obtained for the instrument using Kuder Richardson 20 formula. Mean and standard deviation were used for answering the research questions while independent t-test was used for testing the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study showed that there is significant difference in mean performance scores of students taught using the computer simulation strategy compared to those taught using the tutorial teaching strategy in favour of; there is no significant difference in mean performance scores between male and female students taught using the computer simulation strategy; and there is no significant difference in mean performance scores between male and female students taught using the tutorial teaching strategy. Based on the finding of the study, it was concluded that computer simulation teaching strategy enhance students’ academic performance in Basic Science and technology better than tutorial teaching strategy in Mkpat Enin Local Government Area. It was recommended among others, the state Governments and educational bodies should allocate funding for the development, acquisition, and maintenance of computer simulation tools to enhance teaching effectiveness.