Effectiveness of computer simulation instructional package on secondary school geography students’ achievement in map reading in Bida, Niger State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigated the effectiveness of Computer Simulation Instructional Package (CSIP) on secondary school Geography students’ achievement in map reading in Bida, Niger state, Nigeria. Quasi experimental design was employed. The sample size of the student in the experimental group was eighty two (58 male and 24 female) students while seventy eight (50 male and 28 female) students were in the control group. This gave the total sample size of one sixty (160) intact SSII geography class respectively. Two research instruments were used in this study: (i) Map Reading Achievement Test (MRAT); (ii) Computer Simulation Instructional Package (CSIP). The instruments were validated by experts. The Pearson product moment correlation (PPMC) formula yielded 0.83 reliability coefficient for MRAT. Two research questions were raised and two hypotheses were tested. t-test statistics was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 significant level. Findings revealed that students taught geography through CSIP perform better than their counterparts taught using lecture method. However, there was no significant difference in the achievement of boys and girls taught using the package. The package was therefore recommended to be used by geography teachers and students with a view to improving students’ achievement in geography.