Impact of Cooperative Instructional Strategies and Conventional Teaching Methods on Students Achievement and Interest in Upper Basic Education Science and Technology in Nigeria

Abstract

The study determined the impact of cooperative instructional strategies and conventional teaching methods on students achievement and interest in Upper Basic Education Science & Technology. In Benue state Nigeria. A sample of 510 students out of 11,960 Upper Basic 8 & 9 studentsfrom six (6) randomly selected government approved secondary schools was used for the study. The study adopted quasi-experimental control group design. Data was collected using Basic Science and Technology Students Achievement (BSTSAT) and Basic Science and Technology Students Interest Test (BSTSIT). These instruments were considered reliable for the study using Kuder-Richardson (KR-20) with the reliability value of 0.88 and 0.81 respectively. Two research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. The research questions were answered using mean and standard deviation (SD) while the hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). The study revealed that, there is significant difference in the mean achievement and interest of the students taught Basic Science and Technology using cooperative instructional strategies and those taught using conventional teaching methods i.e. the experimental group recorded high achievement and interest in the subject compared to the control group that recorded low achievement and interest in the subject.