EFFECT OF POWERPOINT PRESENTATIONS MODES ON STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT AND RETENTION IN BASIC SCIENCE

ABSTRACT

The study examined the effects of PowerPoint Presentation modes on the achievement and  retention  of  junior  Secondary  School  three  (JSS3)  students  in  Basic  science.  Basic science students exposed to Text- picture mode of PowerPoint presentation were compared with their counterparts exposed to the Text- animation mode to ascertain whether significant differences exist in their mean achievement and retention scores. The study also investigated the influence of gender on academic achievement  and retention of JSS3 students in Basic science. Four research questions and six null hypotheses guided the study. The researcher reviewed  related  literature.  A  quasi-experimental  non-equivalent  control  group  research design involving two intact classes were used. The accessible population comprised of 1359

JSS3 basic science students in the 11 co-educational  public secondary  schools in  Nsukka

Local Government Area. A sample of eighty (80) students from two co-educational schools were drawn  from  two  intact  classes.  Purposive  sampling  technique  was used  to  sample Nsukka  Central  Development  Council and the two schools that were used  for the study. Random sampling techniques were used to draw two intact classes in the two schools. The classes were assigned to the two treatment groups, Text-picture and Text-animation modes of PPT by balloting. The regular Basic science teachers of the  selected schools were trained and used for the study. The instrument for data collection was the Basic Science Achievement Test (BSAT). The BSAT with a temporal stability of 0.78 and internal consistency of 0.63was found to be adequate.  Four BSAT items were adopted from (JSSCE) past questions while 22 were adapted.  The instrument  was  validated  by three  experts,  one in  Measurement  and Evaluation, one in Science  Education  and one in Arts Education.  The data was analyzed using  Mean,  Standard  Deviation  and  Analysis  of Covariance.  The result  of the analysis showed that Text-animation group performed better than Text-picture group in achievement and retention in Basic science, though not significant. Gender was not a significant factor in students’ achievement  and retention  in Basic science.  The interactive  effects of modes  of PowerPoint  presentation  and gender on students’  achievement  in Basic science  was  not significant. It was then recommended that teachers should embrace the use of Text-animation mode of PowerPoint presentation in the instructional process. Training, Orientation courses, workshops and seminars on how to design learning content using good presentation software like PowerPoint presentation  should be conducted  for basic  science teachers. It was also suggested  that  Professional  organizations  like  the  National  Association  of  Educational Media and Technology (NAEMT), Science Teachers Association of Nigeria (STAN) and all other stakeholders in Education should undertake the production of text-animation mode of PowerPoint presentation packages  for instructional use in schools. Both male and female students should be given   equal opportunity in exploring text-animation mode of PowerPoint presentation and other innovative techniques in teaching and learning Basic science.  It was concluded that  Text-animation  mode of PPT is an operationally plausible strategy for the enhancement of students’ achievement and retention in Basic science at the secondary school level in Nigeria.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of study

Education is the key that enable the public to move with time and attain excellence in science and technology. This is why the Federal Republic of Nigeria (2004) stated clearly in the National Policy on Education, that education as an instrument could be used to meet the needs of people and determine the kind of society which would evolve. However, there are many levels of education in Nigeria they include;  Nursery/pre-primary  education, Primary education, Secondary education and Tertiary education. One of the aims and objectives of secondary  education  is  to  provide  trained  manpower  in  the  applied  science  and  raise  a generation of people who can think and contribute to the development of the society (FRN,

2004).An important aspect of secondary education is science education. Science  education enables people to use scientific principles and processes in making personal decision and to participate  in  discussion  of  scientific  issues  that  affect  the  society.  (National  Science Education Standard, 1996).

However, science education is the bedrock of a realistic national development. There are two basic fields of science. They include: Natural science, the study of the natural world and Social science; the systematic study of human behaviour. Natural and Social science runs across the following subjects: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Earth science etc., all embedded in a given subject known as Basic Science. Basic Science is one of the subjects taught/offered in  the  Junior  Secondary  Schools  in  Nigeria.  Basic  science  is  formally  called  integrated science. It is an integrated science course that generally deals with the study of living things and non-living things. Basic science, is the first form of science a child comes across at the Secondary school level. It prepares  students at the Junior Secondary School level for the study of core science subjects (physics, chemistry, biology) at the Senior Secondary School

level (Olarewaju,1994).  This by implication,  means that for a student to be able to  study single science subjects at the Senior Secondary School level successfully, such student had to be well grounded in basic science at the Junior Secondary School level.  Teachers, School

administrators,  Curriculum experts and Society at large believe that basic science  prepares

1

and grooms the students to do well in science subjects in their senior classes and in university education.Basic Science Curriculum was reviewed in the year 2007 by Nigeria Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC), where some new topics like: desertification, drug abuse, depletion of ozone layer and their effects among others were added to the existing one to create awareness on the high rate of climate change in the world today. Depletion of Ozone layer as one of the new topics in JSS3 is a very important topic to be taught with a concerted  effort. This is because the rate at  which Ozone layer depletes and its effect on human being is increasing with time. However, having taught junior secondary school three students for five years, the researcher observed that there are some topics in the basic science curriculum that are difficult to teach and learn as well. Depletion of ozone layer is one of them.  Ozone  layer  can  be  depleted  by production  and  emission  of  Chlorofluorocarbon (CFCs),   which   accounts   for   about   80%   of   the   total   depletion   of   ozone,   hydro chlorofluorocarbon (HCFCs) and Volatile organic compound (VOCs). These gases are often emitted  by  vehicles,  as  a  bi-product  of  industrial  process,  refrigerants   and   aerosols (Chandramita, 2012). As the ozone depletes in the stratosphere, it forms a ‘hole’ in the layer. This hole enables harmful ultraviolet rays to enter the earth’s atmosphere. This brings about many health’s related issues like skin cancer, eye damage, cataracts, immune system damage, difficulty  in breathing,  chest pain,  throat  irritation,  as well as  earth disasters  and climate change across the globe.

Many reports and researches have shown series of earth disasters and other effects of ozone layer depletion in Nigeria and in the world at large. For instance, it was reported by the

state of Emergency Relief and Rehabilitation Agency that the flooding in Kano in August

2013 destroyed  about 408 houses.  Over one thousand,  two hundred  (1,200)  houses  were destroyed  and seven thousand  (7,000) people displaced  in Abare and Toni –  Angiama  in Patani area of Delta state as a result of flood in October 5th2012.Atawa (2012) reported that

there has been high amount of rainfall which has been attributed to climate change and global

warming as a result of depletion of Ozone layer.

It is quite alarming that the public seems not to be aware of Ozone layer depletion and how to prevent or reduce its effect on the earth and its inhabitants. Tosin (2013) pointed out that despite the spirited sensitisation programme and advocacy by different environmental right group and intercontinental bodies; it appears that many people still do not have idea of what climate change is and the attendant environmental issues that face them as individuals or as a nation. This may be attributed to ignorance or lack of information.

Ignorance  of  the  people  thereby  affects  students  in  Junior  Secondary  Schools. Therefore,  it is important  to  give adequate  information  on climate  change  to  the  young Nigerian students, especially those in the junior secondary schools. Such new topic as ozone layer depletion is introduced in their curriculum to sensitise and educate them on how to be conscious  of their  environment  and to be able to prevent  those  earth disasters  and their effects. Failure to teach and learn these topics well may lead to poor academic achievement.

Achievement is what someone has done successfully, especially using his own effort and skill (Ishiwu, 2014). In the same line, Igbo (2014) in Anekwe (2006) defined achievement as the capability to operate efficiently, react quickly or perfectly to a  given task. In his words he stated that to achieve is to accomplish, acquire or gain by effort or do something successfully with an effort or skill. Academic achievement on the other hand is an outcome of teaching and  learning  encountered.  (Anekwe  2006).  It  reflects  the  extent  to  which  students  have

attained their educational stated objectives as well as students’ cognitive attainment in  the core subjects at school level. In line with the above Iwundu, in Ernest-Ehibudu and Opurum (2013) defined academic achievement as the degree or level of success attained at the end of an  endeavour.  The  yardstick  for  measuring  ones  level  of  academic  achievement  is  by assessing the academic performance of an individual through test and observation. Students’ achievement tests are used to describe student’s strength and difficulties as at the time the test was given. It is mostly used in determining  the  relative  position or rank of students with respect  to their  performance  in various  fields  of learning,  for instance  sciences.  Anekwe (2006)  defined  science  achievement  as a test  for  measurement  and  comparison  of skills among science students. This shows rate of knowledge demonstrated by an individual after learning has taken place. Operationally, Science achievement can be defined as how well a learner accomplishes  work in science  setting and changes in behaviour  after learning has taken place. Students’ poor achievement in basic science has been observed over the years, with  special reference to secondary school students in Nsukka local government of Enugu State.  The result  of Basic Education  Certificate  Examination  (BECE)  conducted  by  state Ministry of Education, Enugu in 2012, 2013, and 2014 indicates students’ poor achievement and difficulty in crediting Basic science. Specifically, schools in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State, in the above mentioned years, 22.5% of students scored credit or above credit grade while about 74.5% had ordinary pass in Basic science (Appendix 1).The rate of achievement may be dependent on the ability of the learner to retain what has been learnt.

Retention  is  referred  to  as  the  ability  to  remember  or  utilize  already  acquired knowledge  and skill. It is also seen as the skill or knowledge  or  competencies  a learner acquire and internalizes from a learning situation after forgetting has taken place, (Ezugwu,

2013).However, Momoh, in Abd-El-Aziz (2013) defined retention as the repeat performance by a learner, of behaviour earlier acquired, elicited after an interval of time. A student is said

to have retained something when he/she has the capacity to remember something, knowledge, skill, habits, attitude or other responses initially acquired. This implies that  high retention may lead to high achievement.

Some  research  studies  showed  that  inadequate  coverage  of  syllabus,  ineffective method  of  teaching  and  instructional  media  used,  can  make  or  mar  the  retention  and achievement rate of a particular concept taught. The manner in which  science subjects are taught by teachers in the classrooms had been highlighted as an  important factor affecting students’ achievement and retention in science. Udeji (2007) and Udousoro (2002) in their studies identified that method of teaching adopted by a teacher affects the level of student’ retention and achievement in school. Supporting this, Omeje (2001) stated that the extent to which a teaching method is effective can be judged from the effect of the teaching method on student’s achievement in class test and examination (both external and internal). In line with the above, Ezugwu (2013) noted that effective teaching as a result of the use of appropriate method  and  instructional  media  might  facilitate  learning  and  make  it more  meaningful. Effective teaching helps the learner to learn better while poor teaching would naturally lead to poor learning and consequently poor achievement and retention.

Besides  the  teaching  method,  instructional  media  for  students  to  interact   with becomes necessary as this will provide a first-hand  experience  which guarantees  learning (Okoye,  2003). As observed  by Examination  Development  Centre (EDC)  Enugu,  (2015), students’ performance  in Basic science, BECE was poor, as majority of the students had below credit for three consecutive years (2012, 2013, and 2014).The continuous inability of the students to get credit in basic science, therefore the need of a paradigm shift from the conventional method of teaching to innovative–interactive methods of teaching that is ICT based.   Example   Computer   Assisted   Instructions   (CAI),   Computer   Concept   Mapping (CCM)Video conferencing and presentation software among others. This traditional method

keeps the students passive in class and invariably leads to poor achievement and  retention. (Alumona 2012).Supporting  the above, Udo and Udosen (2010) stated in  their study, that most of our teachers are used to chalk-talk method of teaching, rendering the student passive learners. The use of this method  (talk chalk/ traditional  method) contradicts  the students- centred-learning-approach  recommended  by  the  Federal  Ministry  of  Education  (Federal Republic of Nigeria, FRN 2004). Meanwhile,  interest in the use of modern technology in every discipline is increasing in all nations of the world. Countries strive to produce more and better trained students through the adoption of various educational technological innovative techniques.  Educational  technologists  believe  that  if  educational  institutions  prepare  the students to meet the challenges of the new millennium, they should accommodate educational technology competence to fit in their work places after graduation (Bartsch & Cobern, 2003). This  therefore  calls  for  teachers  or  instructors  to  incorporate  educational  technology  in teaching and learning process, thereby giving the students opportunity to engage actively in the lesson as well as develop technical skills and explore in more details the content taught. This  however  will  increase  high  academic  achievement  and  retention  in  Basic  science, specifically earth disaster/Ozone layer depletion related topics in the curriculum.

One  of  the  educational  technologies  that  is  readily  available  in  the  classroom  is presentation  software.  Presentation  software  allows the teachers  and students to  generate many different actions including overheads, slides, hand-outs and speakers note, all in single file. By interacting with this type of technology, students play a more active role in their own learning  situation.  Different  types of presentation  software  exist.  Some of them  include: Adobe  Persuasion,  Gold  Disk  Astound,  Delta  Graph  Pro   and  Microsoft  PowerPoint. According to inMcCleland  1994, in Ramazan (2006) all these presentation packages are fairly compatible. One of this software that is user-friendly, accessible to teachers and allows arrays of options is PowerPoint by Microsoft.

In this research, Microsoft PowerPoint (full name Microsoft office PowerPoint) was used  because  it  has  advantages  over  other  presentations,  being  widely  used  by  business people, educators, trainers, and so on. Apart from being among the most prevalent forms of persuasive  technology,  supporters  and  critics,  generally  agree  that  PowerPoint  is  easily accessible and saves time for people who,  otherwise, would have used other types of visual aids, like hand-draw or mechanically typeset slide, blackboard or overhead projections. Some researches  stated  that  PowerPoint  presentation  (PPT)  enhances  instruction,  motivates  and influences  students  learning  positively  (Harrison  1999,  Parks,  199).    Connor  and  Wong (2004), Bartsch and Cobern (2003), Jonassen, Howland, Moore and Marra (2003), Craig and Amermic  (2006)  stated  that  PPT  have  become  the  most  prevalent  and  popular  form  of multimedia in education, as students prefer it to presentation from transparencies.

Modes of presentation of PowerPoint software in this study means different ways in which  instruction  can  be  presented  using  PowerPoint.  This  modes  may  vary  from  one researcher  or  teacher  to  another  depending  on  how  the  person  wants  it  namely;  Basic PowerPoint  (text  only),text  in  combination  with  still  picture   (text-picture),   text  with animation (text-animation), text with video (text-video), text with pictures and sound/voice (text-picture-sound),  text with recorded voice(text-voice),  text with instructors voice, voice with pictures(voice-picture),  and so on. These above listed modes are combination of two or three media of interest.

Operationally, this study has two modes of presentation with the following headings:

text with picture and text-pictures and animation.

 Text- pictures: This mode can be described as PowerPoint presentation slide that has typed

words or text and images or pictures on the concept  to be taught. The text illustrates  or explains the images. It is a mixed approach that contains note, though in a more abbreviated format that can be copied by students during or after the lesson.

 Text- animation: This is a combination of the above mentioned mode and animation. It is also

a mixed approach where there is text explaining the vital points, pictures for illustrations and animation for visual effect applied to individual items on the slide such as graphics, titles or bullet points. There are two types of animation: Text and graphic animation. Text animation involves animating text while graphic animation involves animating graphics. Either type of animation may add interest to the presentation.

Use of PowerPoint  Presentation  tools in teaching may have the same or  different impact in both male and female students. This brings in the issue of gender of students in relation  to  achievement  and  retention.  Unger  in  Edebor  (2002)  defined  gender  as  the psychosocial aspect of maleness and femaleness. According to Ishiwu (2014) gender can also be said to be the societal groupings of people into Masculine and feminine. It does not only refer to women and men but also to the way their qualities,  behaviours and identities are determined .Operationally, gender can be said to be the culturally determined traits associated with the roles played and grouping of male and female. Many scholars have researched on the influence of gender on students’ achievement and retention in science subjects over years and they came up with diverse findings as shown below.

Badmus (2002) in the findings of his study stated that male achieve and retain higher than female  Supporting  this, Manuel  (2002)  noted  that males  have more  favourable  and comfortable attitude towards computer and internet use than female students, while Omoniyi (2006) was against this in his findings. Mamah (1998) found gender as no significant factor in student’s achievement  in biology while Okoye  (2012)  found out otherwise  in biology.

Seeing these diverse findings from above mentioned researches, it is therefore worthwhile to see how these two modes of PowerPoint presentation would bridge the possible gender gap on student’s achievement and retention in Basic science, to either support or refute the debate on influence of gender on achievement and retention.

Statement of Problem

It has been observed that there have been high rates of earth disasters and ozone layer depletion  these  days.  This  has  made  the  Federal  government  of  Nigeria  to  enlarge  the curriculum  of upper basic education  by including  the topics such as:  Desertification  and depletion of Ozone layer. These are targeted to address the earth disaster problems. It has also been noted that most Nigeria teachers use talk-chalk/ traditional method of teaching, which makes the students passive in learning. This traditional method keeps the students passive in class, which contradicts the students-centred-learning-approach  recommended by the Federal Ministry of Education (Federal Government of Nigeria, FRN 2004). Inappropriate method of teaching  invariably leads to poor students’ achievement in an examination. Experience has also shown that students learn at a high rate through effective and efficient use of information and communication technologies in teaching and learning. Teaching the Earth disaster/Ozone layer  depletion  related  topics  in the curriculum  effectively  may  require  the  use of more effective instructional delivery method that is ICT based. Therefore, exploring the influence of new instructional software such as PowerPoint presentation,  using the following modes (text-pictures and text-animation) on students’ achievement and retention in basic science, is not only desirable but timely. The problem of this study as a question is: “What is the effect of   text-pictures   and   text-animation   mode   of   PowerPoint   Presentation   on   Students’ achievement and retention in Basic Science.

Purpose of Study

The  general  purpose  of  this  study  is  to  investigate  the  effect  of  PowerPoint

Presentation modes on students’ achievement and retention in Basic Science. Specifically, the study sought to:

1)  Find  the  comparative  effect  of     text-  picture  and  text-  animation  of  PowerPoint

Presentation modes on students’ achievement in Basic Science

2)  Ascertain the effect of text-pictures and text-animation of PowerPoint Presentation modes on students’ retention in basic science.

3)  Determine the influence of gender on students’ achievement in basic science when taught using text- picture and text- animation of PowerPoint Presentation modes.

4)  Determine the influence of gender on students’ retention in basic science when  taught using text- picture and text- animation of PowerPoint Presentation modes.

5)  Find out the interaction effect of PowerPoint Presentation modes and gender on students’

achievement in basic science.

6)  Determine  the  interaction  effect  of  PowerPoint  Presentation  modes  and  gender  on students’ retention in basic science.

Significance of the Study

The findings of this study will have both theoretical and practical significance.

Theoretically, the findings of this study will create an opportunity for a better and elaborate understanding of Social learning theory, Cognitive theory of multimedia learning and Theory of learning and instruction. Social learning theory proposes that people learn by observation and imitation of events in the environment. This implies that students learnt by observing and imitating the modes of PowerPoint  presentation  that  will be used in teaching them while cognitive theory of multimedia learning states that presentation of words and picture to the

learner  through  multimedia  presentation  is  better  than  by words  only.  This  means  that learning is more effective when the sense organs of sight and hearing of learners are captured in teaching  and learning  process.  Theory of learning  and instruction  proposes thathuman being is an information processors, thinkers, creators of idea and transfers their learning to different problem situation. By implication this is to say that  every learning / instructional environment should be designed to solve human problems. Inability of students to have credit in BECE and reduction of the rate of ozone layer depletion are the problems that the modes of PowerPoint tend to solve.

Therefore, the result of this study will help in validating and authenticating  the tenets  of social learning theory and cognitive theory of Multimedia learning.

This study is also practically significant,  because it will be of immense benefit  to students,  teachers,  parents,  ministries  of  education,   curriculum  planners,   instructional designers and society among others.

Students may benefit  from the findings  of this study, by increasing  their  interest, participation and as well their academic achievement. It may also increase the retention of the content  learnt  and motivates  them  to learn some ICT techniques.  It  may also bridge the possible gap in Basic science achievement and retention of male and female students because both sexes will be exposed  to both treatments.  Also students  may learn the best way to protect  their  environment  and  nature  through  Earth  disaster  and  Ozone  layer  depletion content.

The research findings will be of great benefit to the teachers because it is  teachers who instruct, determine the class activities and how to plan the lesson to be effective and efficient. So, the teacher will benefit by being exposed to the use of instructional software or

different modes of PowerPoint Presentations that may motivate the students towards  high achievement and retention in basic science.

Parents will also benefit from the findings of this study, because when the students are taught and there is high achievement and retention of the content, the information will be passed to the parents/guardians who will be informed by their wards about the dangers of ozone layer depletion on human beings.

The findings will be of immense benefit to the Ministries of education, by exposing them on the importance and advantage of multimedia in teaching and learning and therefore, this may convince them to procure computers, and as well equipping them with necessary instructional  software  for  effective  teaching  and  learning.  It  can  also  sensitize  them  to organise workshops for teachers to get them informed about current ICT innovative teaching strategies, and as well train them on how to use them especially the best mode of PPT as will be indicated from the findings of this study.

Curriculum planners will benefit from the findings of the study because it is their duty to determine the learning objectives, achievable knowledge and skills appropriate for each of the content to be taught. If the use of any of these modes of PowerPoint Presentation is found most valuable, the curriculum planners will recommend the use of it in schools for effective teaching and learning.

Instructional  designers  will benefit  from the findings of this study because it  will enlighten them on the importance, effectiveness and efficiency of use of different modes of PowerPoint  presentation software in designing instructions  for Schools. By  so  doing they may design instruction on basic science content and other subjects using any of these modes of PowerPoint Presentation found most valuable.

Lastly, the society will be exposed to the negative effects of ozone layer depletion on human  beings through the students that were taught  with PPT, Teachers,  and  Parents  of students,  Instructional  designers,  Curriculum  planners  and  Ministries  of  education.  On hearing  this,  they may desist  from  all  human  activities  that  could  promote  ozone  layer depletion.

Scope of the Study

The study will be limited to the investigation of the effect of PowerPoint Presentation modes on students’ achievement and retention in basic science. The study will be limited to junior secondary schools three (JSS3) students of co-educational public secondary schools in Nsukka  local government  of Enugu  state.  The unit that will be  covered  is: Ozone  layer depletion.

Research Questions

The following research questions will guide the study:

1)  What are the effects of text-pictures and text-animation of PowerPoint presentation modes on students’ mean achievement scores in Basic science?

2)  What are the effects of text-pictures and text-animation of PowerPoint presentation modes on students’ mean retention scores in Basic science?

3)  What  is  the  influence  of  gender  on student’s  mean  achievement  scores  in  Basic science   when   taught   using   text-pictures   and   text-animation   of   PowerPoint presentation modes?

4)  What is the influence of gender on student’s mean retention scores in Basic science when  taught  using  text-pictures  and  text-animation  of  PowerPoint   presentation modes?

Research Hypotheses

The following null hypotheses will be tested at 0.05 level of significance to guide the study.

HO1: There will be no significant difference in the mean achievement scores of students in basic science when taught using text-pictures and text-animation of PowerPoint Presentation

modes.

HO2: There will be no significant difference in the mean retention scores of students in basic science  when  taught  using  text-pictures  and  text-animation  of  PowerPoint  Presentation modes.

H03: There will be no significant difference  in the mean achievement  scores of male  and female  students  in  Basic  science  when  taught  using  text-pictures  and  text-animation  of PowerPoint Presentation modes.

H04: There will be no significant difference in the mean retention scores of male and female students in Basic science when taught using text-pictures and text-animation of PowerPoint Presentation modes.

H05: There will be no significant interaction effect of PowerPoint presentation modes  and gender on students mean achievement scores in Basic Science. Ho6;  There will be no significant interaction effect of PowerPoint presentation modes  and gender on students mean retention scores in Basic Science.

₦5,000.00 – DOWNLOAD FULL PROJECT DOWNLOAD FULL PROJECT Added to cart

---

---

---

---

---

Related Project Topics :