Effects of Lecture Method Supplemented with Music and Computer Animation on Senior Secondary School Students’ Academic Achievement in Electrochemistry

Abstract

The study investigated the effects of Lecture Method Supplemented with Music (LMM) and Computer Animation (LMC) on senior secondary school students’ academic achievement in electrochemistry in Makurdi metropolis. Six research questions and six hypotheses guided the study. The design of the study was quasi experimental, specifically the pre-test, post-test non-equivalent control group design was adopted. One hundred and sixty five (165) Senior Secondary Two (SS2) Chemistry Students drawn from 4 schools were purposively sampled from seventy six (76) accredited secondary schools in Makurdi Local Government Area. The first experimental group were electrochemistry with LMM while the experimental group 2 were taught using LMC. The LMM group consisted of 80 students while those in LMC consisted of 85 students. The groups were compared on achievement toward electrochemistry. An instrument known as Electrochemistry Achievement Test (EAT) which had 50 questions adopted from WAEC, NECO and UTME past question papers were used for the study. The EAT, LMM, LMC and lesson plans were validated by experts in chemistry, science education, measurement evaluation, music and computer science. Reliability (KR₂₀) estimate of 0.876 was obtained for EAT. LMM and LMC were used to treat the experimental groups 1 and 2 respectively. Scores on achievement tests were collected at the beginning of the study as pre-test and after the treatment (3 weeks) as post-test. The research questions were answered using mean and standard deviation, while hypotheses were tested using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) at 0.05 level of significance. Findings showed Students taught electrochemistry using LMM had higher achievement score (40.35 ± 3.86) than their counterparts taught using LMC (39.44 ± 3.88). The results of the study revealed that there was no statistically significant main effect (p > 0.05) for instructional methods on mean achievement score of students taught electrochemistry. Females taught electrochemistry had higher achievement score (40.45 ± 3.42) than their male counterparts (39.29 ± 4.25). The results revealed that there was no statistically significant main effect (p > 0.05) of gender on students’ achievement. It is suggested that chemistry concepts should be taught using LMM and LMC, or lecture method should be supplemented with other student-centred approaches; text writers and curriculum developers should adopt LMM and LMC as teaching strategies. It was also recommended that artists in the music industry should be encouraged to write and produce music that has cognitive meaning.

Keywords: Academic achievement, music, computer animation, lecture method, gender.