Effectiveness of Computer-Based Constructivist Instruction on Students Achievement and Interest in Basic Science and Technology in Niger State

Abstract

This study was carried out to determine skill needs of secondary school students/or external examination preparedness in Nsukka metropolis. The study adopted survey research approach to investigate the skill needs of the students such as booting the computer system, use of input and output devices, use of office application, connecting to the internet and confidence building attitudes hence five appropriate research questions were posed to guide the study. The population for the study is 755 SS 3 students in 2016/2017 academic session from nine public secondary schools. The data analyzed was obtained from 100 female and 80 male students using simple random technique to select 20 students from each of the nine public schools. The instrument used for data collection was a structured CBT Skill Need Questionnaire (CSNQ), made up of 72 skill items on 4-point scale which was also validated by three experts. In carrying out the research five research questions and five hypotheses were answered and tested using the data collected. Mean was used to answer the research questions while, t-test was used for testing the hypothesis at 0.05 level of confidence. The findings on the research questions indicated that 50 skill item were highly needed and 22 skill items were averagely needed by the students while the findings on testing the hypotheses indicated that there is no significance difference in the mean ratings of the responses of female and male students on 31 out 72 skill items while the remaining 41 shows that there is a significance difference in the mean ratings of the responses of female and male students. It was recommended that curriculum planners, the government, computer studies teachers and secondary school students should make use of the findings of this study to equip the students with basic skill needs for success in Computer-based external examinations.