Abstract:
The level of students’ achievement and skills acquisition in business studies at the Junior SecondarySchool Certificate Examination is just slightly above average in Nigeria. The curriculum specifies that the skills aspect should be taught practically, using a computer, reports have, however, shown that these aspects of the subject are taught and examined theoretically. Extant studies on how to improve students’ achievement and skills in business studies have focused largely on other teaching methods, but with little attention paid to the use of Computer Graphics Instructional Mode (CGIM) and Computer Animation Instructional Mode (CAIM). The study, was therefore, designed to investigate the effects of CGIM and CAIM on Students’ Achievement in Business Studies (SABS) and Acquisition of Skills in Business Studies (ASBS). The moderation effects of Students’ Interest (SI) and Students’ Self-efficacy (SSe) were also examined.
The Psychomotor Theory provided the framework, while the pretest-posttest, control group quasi- experimental design with 3x2x2 factorial matrix was adopted. Purposive sampling was used to select two Local Government Areas from Ibadan city and one Local Government Area from Ibadan less city. Purposive sampling technique was used to select nine schools that had functional computers (six from Ibadan city, three from Ibadan less city). Thirty Junior Secondary School students were randomly selected
from each school, making a total of 270 students who participated in the study. Ninety
students were randomly assigned to each group: CGIM, CAIM and Control.Instruments used were Business Studies Achievement Test (r=0.82), Business Studies Skills Acquisition Scale (r=0.86), Business Studies Interest Scale (r=0.84) and Business Studies Self-efficacyScale (r=0.80) and Instructional Guides. The treatment lasted eight weeks. Data were analysed using analysis of covariance and Sidak post-hoc test at 0.05 level of significance.
There was a significant main effect of treatment on SABS (F(2,257)=137.79, partial η2=0.52) and ASBS (F(2,257) =327.91, partial η2=0.72). Students in CAIM had the highest mean score (30.64) in SABS, followed by those in CGIM (25.20) and control (19.48) groups. Students in CAIM had the highest mean score (33.75) in ASBS, followed by students in CGIM (28.51) and control (11.71) groups. There was a significant main effect of SI (F(2,257)=12.48 partial η2=0.047) on SABS and SSe (F(2,257)=23.39, partial η2=0.08). Students with high interest had the higher mean (26.11) than low interest group (24.10). Also, students with high self-efficacy had a higher mean (26.32) than those with low self-efficacy group (22.99). The two-way interaction effects of treatment and SSe was significant on SABS (F(2,257)= 7.03, partial η2=0.05) and ASBS (F(2,257)=18.00, partial η2=0.12). The highest mean score was from CAIM (32.52), followed by CGIM (25.78) and control (19.78) groups. For ASBS, students in CAIM had the highest mean (33.87), followed by CGIM (32.93) and control (12.39). The three-way interaction effects of treatment, SI and SSe on SABS and ASBS were not significant.
The computer graphics and animation instructional modes enhanced the junior secondary school students’ academic achievement and skill acquisition in business studies. Thus, these instructional modes should be employed by teachers.
