Effects of Collaborative and Traditional Learning Strategy on Academic Performance of Social Studies Students in Upper Basic Schools in Delta State

EBEGHA Ebimobowei Shadrack¹, OGHENEAKOKE, Edore Clifford (PhD.)²

¹ Department of Social Science Education, Delta State University, Abraka; Nigeria.

² Department of Social Science Education, Delta State University, Abraka; Nigeria

ABSTRACT: This study investigated the effects of collaborative and traditional learning strategy on the academic performance of Social Studies students in upper basic schools in Delta State. This study adopted the quasi-experiment of 2x2x2 pre-test post-test control group design. This study sample comprised one hundred and sixty (160) upper basic eight students from six sampled schools from urban and rural areas. The research instrument used for this study was tagged Social Studies Performance Test (SSPT). It consisted of 50 multiple-choice items drawn from JSSIII past questions. The validity of the SSPT was determined through face and content validity, the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (r) was used to ascertain the reliability index of the research instrument. The reliability index was 0.83. Mean, standard deviation, t-test (t) and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) were used to analyse the data collected. The results of this study revealed that collaborative and traditional learning strategy significantly facilitated students’ performance in Social Studies. The learning environment should be more friendly and accommodative. The school manager should identify and promote shared democratic values.

KEYWORDS: Collaborative; traditional; Social Studies; Students Academic Performance; Social Studies Students; Upper Basic Schools

INTRODUCTION

It is believed that by using appropriate learning strategy to transmit the right type of knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes, the Nigerian Social Studies goals of instilling the spirit of nationalism and patriotism in the Nigerian learner will be realized. Each school subject is designed and structured to meet specific aspects of human needs; this is accomplished through the development of awareness, experience, and understanding, allowing humans to discover the being in themselves as individuals and people. This is because man, including the basic education learner, is a social being who forms social relationships with other human beings through interaction. To meet these human needs and desires, social relationships and social institutions are formed. Education, as a social institution, enables man to become socially human through community, association, integration, and participation in humanity’s common inheritance. (Kalusi&Ireyefoju 2019).

The purpose of Social Studies as a subject is to instill and encourage the spirit of social integration, nationalism, and patriotism in Nigerian primary school students (Iheakanwa, Obro& Akpochafo, 2021).

Learning strategy in Social Studies would cultivate certain internal qualities in the learner, allowing him to look beyond his natural attitude. Internal qualities include, among other things, interpretation, objectivity, critical thinking, making value judgments, decision-making, truth verification, argument sequence, where to get information, and what counts as knowledge (Obro, Ogheneaokoke& Akpochafo, 2021). So, what are the differences between collaborative, and traditional learning strategies? (Kalusi, Ireyefoju 2019).

The Collaborative Learning Strategy (CLS) emphasizes the dynamic nature of learners’ interactions with their peers, teachers, and others with whom they interact. It is based on the premise that any learning that occurs in the classroom occurs as a result of the interaction of the players. The Collaborative strategy is appealing from both the teacher’s and the learner’s perspectives because it is an active approach to learning and teaching that breathes life, freedom, and creativity into what is often a tedious, ineffective, and constrained formal approach to teaching with the teacher assuming the role of a leader, rule enforcer, and learner evaluator. Learners and teachers share responsibility for learning and teaching in this strategy (Eastman, Iyer & Eastman, 2011).

The collaborative learning strategy also emphasizes the learner’s independent activity, the organization of a self-learning environment, and experimental and practical training. This is due to the learner’s freedom of action and use of initiative, as well as flexible training programmes in which the learner works at his or her own pace (Yakovleva & Yakovlev, 2015).

The traditional lecture strategy is the method by which teachers impart knowledge to students orally. It includes, among other things, telling technique, interpretation technique, speak pronunciation, and speech technique. This traditional strategy places the teacher in the center, the classroom in the center, and books in the center at various points throughout the exposition. Traditional teaching strategy are advantageous for fully utilizing the teacher’s leadership role and allowing students to gain more knowledge(Obro, 2022). However, the teaching strategy causes students to lose both learning initiative and creativity. However, due to the limitations of the traditional learning strategy, many educational experts emphasize the blending of the traditional teaching strategy with the use of blended teaching strategies. Blended learning strategy are actually a combination of two or more strategy that use other strategy such as interacting teaching strategy such as discussion, problem solving, and debates where maximum group participation is essential. According to recent research, combining face-to-face training with e-learning education is more flexible than other methods. (Kumar & Kapoor, 2015).

This study hypothesizes that poor academic performance in Social Studies among basic education students, among other factors, could be the result of learning strategies(Obro, 2023). Scholars have demonstrated that learning strategy are sources of improved performance in a wide range of subject areas. When compared to the traditional process of learning, the democratic process (Collaborative and traditional strategies) oflearning/reasoning has proven to be a better means of achievement in other subject areas of the Curriculum. As a result, it has been adopted here to test its efficacy and determine whether the democratic process of learning/reasoning is a predictor of academic performance in Social Studies.

RQs

What is the difference in mean scores between male and female Social Studies students exposed to collaborative learning strategy and those taught with traditional learning strategy in Delta State’s Upper Basic Schools?

What is the difference in mean scores between urban and rural Social Studies students exposed to collaborative and traditional learning strategy in Delta State’s Upper Basic Schools?

Hypotheses

There is no significant difference in mean scores between male and female Social Studies students exposed to Collaborative and traditional learning strategy in Delta State’s Upper Basic Schools.

There is no significant difference in mean scores between urban and rural Social Studies students exposed to Collaborative and traditional learning strategy in Delta State’s Upper Basic Schools.

METHODOLOGY

This study adopt quasi-experimental pre-test post-test and control group design. The pretest and posttest control group research is one of many forms of quasi-experimental designs. The population of this study consists of all Upper Basic 8 students in Bomadi/Burutu/Patani Education Zone in Delta State. The population comprises 15,355 students in the Bomadi/Burutu/Patani Education Zones.

The study sample comprises of one hundred and sixty (160) Upper Basic eight students from six sampled schools from urban and rural areas. Because this study is an experimental study, the sample constituted 1.6% of the total population from six sampled schools in urban and rural areas of the Bomadi/Burutu/Patani Education Zone. This sample size is considered to be a representative of the target population.

The instrument for this study is the Social Studies Performance Test (SSPT).  It consists of fifty (50) multiple-choice items sampled from Past Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) questions set by the Ministry of Basic Education of Delta State, Asaba.

As a standardized instrument, both face and content validity were established based on expert judgment and a table of specification (Blueprint).  Validity was done to confirm the suitability of the item in the table of specification and ensure that the items measure what they are meant to measure.

The reliability of the instrument was established using thirty (30) students from a secondary school outside the sampled area for the first and second administrations. The performance test was administered twice to the same group of thirty (30) respondents who were not part of the sample for this study.   The respondents were given the instrument on two different occasions.  There was an interval of two weeks between the two administrations.  The reliability coefficient was computed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient, and. a value of 0.83 was obtained. The value means that the instrument yielded scores that were stable over time and therefore, suitable for the present study.

The experiment was carried out in the 2021/2022 school year and it lasted for six (6) weeks. After sampling the subjects for this study and assigning methods to them, the Social Studies Performance Test (SSPT) was administered as pre-test in the intact classes sampled. This was followed by the teaching of the topics as contained in the syllabus of the schools using the designated instructional treatments.  The pre-test and post-test were conducted during the break period which lasted for forty-five (45) minutes.

The data collected from the pre-test and post-test were subjected to statistical analysis using descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation. These helped in sorting out the differences in the performance of the students. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to test the various hypotheses.

III.  RESULTS

What is the difference in the mean scores of male and female Social Studies students exposed to Collaborative learning strategy and those that are taught with traditional learning strategies in Upper Basic Schools in Delta State?

Table 1: Mean and Standard Deviation Scores of Students’ Achievement based on Sex, Collaborative and Traditional Strategies

Table 1 the pre-test scores showed that before treatment male students have mean of 41.93 and standard deviation of 2.26. The female students have 41.47 with standard deviation of 2.14. For the control group, male and female students have mean scores of 41.41 and 42.47 with standard deviation of 2.09 and 2.40 respectively.  However, the post-test showed that in the experimental group (Collaborative strategy), male students have mean score of 69.36 with a standard deviation of 15.41 and female students have a mean score of 57.38 with standard deviation of 5.38. For the control group, while male students have a mean score of 54.57 with a mean of 3.23, female students have a mean of 70.40 with a standard deviation of 14.31. The results further showed that there was effect of treatment in both experiment group and control group. This was because the post-test mean scores were higher than the pre-test mean scores. Also, the results showed that there was effect of sex interference.

RQ2

What is the difference in the mean scores of urban and rural Social Studies students exposed to Collaborative and traditional learning strategies in Upper Basic Schools in Delta State?

Table 2: Mean and Standard Deviation Scores of Students’ Achievement based on School Location, Collaborative and Traditional Strategies

Table 2 showed that the mean, standard deviation of Social Studies students’ achievement test scores based on Collaborative strategy and traditional strategy and school location. The pre-test scores showed that before treatment urban students have mean of 41.95 and standard deviation of 2.25. The rural students have 42.44 with standard deviation of 2.09. For the control group, urban and rural students have mean scores of 40.93 and 42.06 with standard deviation of 2.12 and 1.94 respectively.   However, the post-test showed that in the experimental groups (collaborative strategy), urban students have mean score of 69.95 with a standard deviation of 14.03 and rural students have a mean score of 71.94 with standard deviation of 7.95 For the control group, while urban students have a mean score of 55.75 with a mean of 5.13, rural students have a mean of 55.61 with a standard deviation of 3.58. The results further showed that there were marginal differences in performance, except for the higher difference in the performance of urban and rural students in the empirical group. The treatments seem to favour the treatment group.  However, the overall results showed that there was effect of treatments on both empirical and control group. This was because the post-test mean scores were higher for both experimental and control groups hence the high performance in the achievement test.

T-Test Analysis of Learning Strategies and Students’ Performance in SSPT

This analysis of t-test statistics showed pre-test and post-test scores for collaborative learning strategy and traditional learning strategy. Whereas pre-test and post-test mean scores and standard deviation for collaborative learning strategy were 42.1000, 1.95260; 71.2375, 10.64888 respectively, the pre-test and post-test mean scores and standard deviation for collaborative learning strategy were 41.4375, 2.10391; 55.6875, 4.47664 respectively. The t-test scores for both pre-test and post-test were 2.064, 2.064 and 12.040 and 12.040 respectively at p = .041 and .000. Based on this analysis, this result further showed that there was significant difference in the academic performance of Social Studies students in the SSPT. The implication of this result was that the null hypothesis which stated that: “There is no significant difference between the mean scores of Social Studies students exposed to collaborative and traditional learning strategies in Upper Basic Schools in Delta State” was rejected at 0.05 level of significance. And the alternate hypothesis which stated that “There is significant difference between the mean scores of Social Studies students exposed to collaborative and traditional learning strategies in Upper Basic Schools in Delta State” was not rejected at the same significant level.It means that there was effect of treatment on Social Studies students’ academic performance. And it was concluded that there was significant difference between the mean scores of Social Studies students exposed to collaborative and traditional learning strategies in Upper Basic Schools in Delta State.

Analysis of ANCOVA of Students’ Sex and Learning Strategies in SSPT

R Squared = .736 (Adjusted R Squared = .730)

The analysis of covariance showed that there was effect of treatment on the experimental group. The results further showed the F as 108.435 and mean square of 5435.234 supported this claim of significant difference in the mean scores at P = .000. The null hypothesis which stated there is no significant effect between the mean scores of male and female Social Studies students exposed to collaborative and traditional learning strategies in Upper Basic Schools in Delta State was rejected and the alternate hypothesis which stated that there is significant effect between the mean scores of male and female Social Studies students exposed to collaborative and traditional learning strategies in Upper Basic Schools in Delta State was not rejected. The statistical implication of this was that the difference in performance between Social Studies’ male and female students was occasioned by the effect of treatment experimental group (P = .000). Therefore, there was significant effect between the mean scores of male and female Social Studies students exposed to Collaborative and traditional learning strategies in Upper Basic Schools in Delta State.

DISCUSSION

The mean scores of male and female Social Studies students exposed to Collaborative learning strategy and those that are taught with traditional learning strategy in Upper Basic Schools in Delta State showed that there was effect of treatment. The mean scores of urban and rural Social Studies students exposed to Collaborative and traditional learning strategy in Upper Basic Schools in Delta State showed that there was effect of treatment. There was significant difference between the mean scores of male and female Social Studies students exposed to Collaborative and traditional learning strategy in Upper Basic Schools in Delta State.There was significant difference between the mean scores of urban and rural Social Studies students exposed to Collaborative and traditional learning strategy in Upper Basic Schools in Delta State.

CONCLUSION

The mean scores of male and female Social Studies students exposed to Collaborative learning strategy and those that are taught with traditional learning strategy in Upper Basic Schools in Delta State showed that there was effect of treatment. The mean scores of male and female Social Studies students exposed to collaborative and traditional learning strategy in Upper Basic Schools in Delta State showed that there was effect of treatment. The mean scores of male and female Social Studies students exposed to Collaborative and traditional learning strategy in Upper Basic Schools in Delta State showed that there was effect of treatment. The mean scores of urban and rural Social Studies students exposed to Collaborative and traditional learning strategy in Upper Basic Schools in Delta State showed that there was effect of treatment.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The learning environment should be more friendly and accommodative.

The school manager should identify and promote shared democratic values.

There is urgent need for authorities in the education industry to re-appraise instructional learning strategy employed in the teaching and learning process in Social Studies in schools.

The school should encourage free flow of communication so that learners could feel free to share ideas.

Workshop and seminar should be organized from time to time for educators in secondary school so as to keep abreast of modern/democratic instructional learning strategy such as Collaborative and collaborative learning strategies.

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