EFFECTS OF CONCEPTUAL DIAGRAMS TECHNIQUE ON SCHOOL LOCATION-BASED ATTITUDE AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN SOCIAL STUDIES IN BIU, BORNO STATE
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65336/Keywords:
Conceptual Diagrams Technique, Social Studies, academic achievement, school location and attitude.Abstract
This study investigated the effects of Conceptual Diagrams Technique (CDT) on school location-based attitude and academic achievement of Junior Secondary School students in Social Studies in Biu Local Government Area, Borno State, Nigeria. The study was guided by three research questions and three hypotheses. A quasi-experimental research design of the non-equivalent control group pre-test–post-test type was adopted. The population comprised 4,282 Junior Secondary School II students, while a sample of 216 students drawn from four intact classes participated in the study. Two research instruments, the Students’ Attitude to Social Studies Questionnaire (SASSQ) and the Social Studies Achievement Test (SSAT), were used for data collection. Data were analyzed using mean and standard deviation, while Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that there was no significant difference in the attitude of urban and rural students exposed to CDT. However, students taught Social Studies using CDT achieved significantly higher academic scores than those taught using the conventional lecture method. Furthermore, no significant difference was found between male and female students’ achievement when taught using CDT, although females had slightly higher mean scores. The study concluded that CDT is an effective, learner-centred instructional strategy for improving students’ academic achievement in Social Studies irrespective of school location and gender. It was recommended that Social Studies teachers should adopt CDT to enhance meaningful learning and improve students’ performance.
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