EFFECT OF COMPUTER GAME ON STUDENTS' RETENTION IN MATHEMATICS

IMPERATIVES FOR IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF SECONDARY EDUCATION IN NIGERIA

Abstract

This study was designed to investigate the effect of Computer Game, a computer aided instruction strategy on secondary school students' retention in mathematics. It was a quasiexperimental
study, pretest-posttest, non equivalent groups design. A total of 152 SSII students
were sampled from two secondary schools in Agbani education zone. The schools were made up of one rural and one urban schools drawn by purposive sampling while four intact classes were randomly sampled and assigned experimental and control groups. Mathematics Achievement Test (MAT) was used for data collection. The instrument was validated by experts. A reliability of 0 .65 was obtained for MAT using Kuder Richardson 20 (KR-20) formula. Two research
Questions and three hypotheses guided the study. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions while the hypotheses were tested at 0 .05 level of significance using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). Major findings of the study revealed that students in the experimental group taught mathematics with computer game retained higher than their
counterparts who were taught with expository method. There was no significant interaction
between teaching strategy and school location with regards to students' retention in mathematics. The findings of this study have vital implications, hence imperative for improving the quality of secondary education in Nigeria were highlighted
Specifically, it was recommended among other things, that mathematics teachers should use computer game for teaching mathematics in secondary schools.