EFFECT OF COMPUTATIONAL TEACHING STRATEGY ON STUDENTS INTEREST AND PERFORMANCE IN PHYSICS IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN GWAGWALADA AREA COUNCIL, ABUJA

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of computational teaching strategy on students’ interest and academic performance in physics in senior secondary schools in Gwagwalada Area Council, Abuja. The study was anchored on four (4) null hypotheses formulated. The quasi-experimental design was adopted for the study. Participants of the study comprised of seventy (70) students chosen from two schools sampled within the Area Council. Two instruments titled, Physics Interest Assessment Scale (PIAS) and Physics Performance Scale (PPT) were used for data collection. PPT was constructed in a multiple-choice format with twenty (20) objective test items with four (4) options A,B,C and D while PIAS was constructed in a four- point likert scale format with options – Strongly Agree, (SA), Agree, (A), Disagree, (D), and Strongly Disagree, (SD) for rating of  4,3,2, and 1 respectively. The t-test statistic was used for testing the formulated hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The study revealed that students taught physics using the computational teaching strategy perform better than those taught using the conventional method. Also, interest of those taught physics with computational teaching strategy were boosted as a result of the treatment without gender bias. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that essential computer teaching materials should be provided for schools to enhance the use of computational teaching strategy, and teachers should be trained on effective use of computational teaching strategy.