EFFECT OF USING MULTIMEDIA ON STUDENTS ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN BASIC SCIENCE IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS OF WUDIL EDUCATION ZONE, KANO STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of using multimedia on students’ academic achievement in Basic Science in secondary schools within Wudil Education Zone, Kano State, Nigeria. The study adopted a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design involving a population of 4,796 Junior Secondary School students across 26 schools. A sample of 161 students was selected from four schools using stratified random sampling. Two boys’ and two girls’ schools were chosen; one from each gender served as the experimental group (45 males and 44 females) while the other served as the control group (35 males and 37 females). The instrument used for data collection was the Wudil Basic Science Achievement Test (WBSAT)with a reliability coefficient of 0.82. The experimental groups were taught selected Basic Science topics using multimedia instructional packages (animations, videos, and interactive PowerPoint slides), while the control groups were taught using the conventional lecture method. Three null hypotheses were stated in line with research questions raised. The data collected were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, and independent samples t-test at a 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that students taught using multimedia achieved significantly higher mean scores than those taught using the conventional method. Both male and female students in the multimedia groups performed significantly better than their counterparts in the control groups. The study concluded that multimedia instruction enhances students’ understanding, engagement, and academic achievement in Basic Science irrespective of gender. It was recommended that Basic Science teachers integrate multimedia technologies into classroom instruction to promote active learning, while education authorities should provide adequate ICT facilities and organize training workshops for teachers on effective multimedia use.