ABSTRACT

This study investigated the effect of teachers’ use of constructive simulation on students’ achievement and retention in Christian Religious Studies in secondary schools, in Awka South Local Government Area of Anambra State. The study also considered the influence of gender on students’ academic achievement and retention. The achievement and retention ability of students taught with constructive simulation were compared with that of students taught with conventional lecture method. The study was guided by six research questions, and six hypotheses. A quasi-experimental design, specifically, pre test post-test control group design involving four intact classes were employed. The population comprised of 2,170 JS3 CRS students of 12 State Government co-educational secondary schools in Awka South Lrocal Government Area. A sample of 174 JS3 students distributed in four intact classes, drawn by both purposive and simple random sampling techniques from four co-educational schools took part in the study. The students in intact classes were randomly assigned either to experimental groups (constructive simulation group) or control groups (conventional method group). Two intact classes in two different schools formed the experimental groups and the other two intact classes in two other schools as control groups. Both the experimental groups and the control groups were taught the same topics. The instrument for students’ achievement test in Christian Religious Studies (SATCRS) was developed, validated and used for data collection. The instrument was trial-tested on a sample of 25 JS3 CRS students who were not part of the actual study. The reliability of the instrument was determined using Kudder Richardson formula for internal consistency and Pearson Product Movement Correlation Coefficient formula for stability. The reliability value of the instrument was 0.79 and 0.85 respectively. The data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation to answer research questions while the hypotheses were tested using analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) at 0.05level of significance. The results of the study revealed that constructive simulation had significant effect on students’ achievement and retention in Christian Religious Studies. Also, the effect of constructive simulation and gender combined on students’ post-test achievement in Christian Religious Studies was significant, however gender and the method had no significant effect on students’ retention in Christian Religious Studies. It implies from the findings of the study that there is need for CRS teachers to adopt the use of constructive simulation in teaching as it proved more effective in improving students’ achievement and retention in Christian Religious Studies. It is recommended that government bodies, stakeholders in education, Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) and National Teachers’ Institute (NTI) should organize and sponsor workshops, seminars, conferences or in-service training to train and encourage teachers on the use of constructive simulation as an innovative technique.