The Effects of Computer Simulation on Learners’ Academic Performance in Physics in Selected Secondary Schools in Kangundo Sub-County

Abstract

Academic performance of physics in  secondary  schools is lower compared to other subjects   and   some   of   the mentioned  possible  reason  was  due  to teacher’s  pedagogical  approaches.  The study was conducted in Kangundo sub- county adopting  nonequivalent group pre-test post-test quasi experimental design. It targeted 1560 Form one physics students and 31 physics teachers. The data collection tools were; the Standardized Physics   Achievement   Tests,    Teacher and Student questionnaire. Content validity of research instruments were achieved through expert judgment by university  supervisors  while   reliability of the tools was achieved through test- retest technique. The sample size of 130 students in 3 selected schools taught with computer (experimental group) and 130 students in 3 selected school without computer (control group)  were  selected as respondents. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze data in this study. Preliminary quantitative data was analyzed by calculating the mean, standard deviation and the percentages. The researcher also applied t- test, and chi-square for quantitative data. From the data collected, majority of respondents agreed that there were enough computers for use in the school. For the statement that  all  students   have   equal   chance of use of computers, majority of the learners disagreed but teachers however strongly agreed with the same statement (χ2 = 16.34, d.f.=1, p= 0.0003). On the statement that the instructional method used has made Physics topic easy, majority of the learners and teachers agreed. Pretest results showed no significant mean difference meaning that the two groups were equivalent in ability. Pretest results for the control group in extra county school mean mark was 9.33±0.49  while  the  pre-test  extra  county experimental group was 9.16±0.05 with no significant difference (p=0.0899). Similarly, private  as  well  as  the  County  Secondary schools showed  no  significant  difference. For post-test control group, extra county school mean mark was 10.16±3.05 while post-test experimental group extra county school was 13.80±0.06 with a significance difference (t=-15.1425, p=0.0043). For the private secondary schools, the mean mark for control group post–test was 8.36±0.57 while the post-test experimental group of the same was 10.43±0.19 with a significance difference between the two (t =-43.6394, p=0.0005). For the county secondary school, the mean mark for control group post-test was 6.37±0.38 while post-test experimental group was 7.31±0.38 with a significance difference between the two (t=-22.1560, p=0.0020). It was extrapolated that computer simulation was suitable method for enhancing learners’ academic performance in  physics  than   the   conventional   method of teaching. The researcher recommended that the Computer simulation method be adopted by physics teachers in delivering physics concepts thus improving students’ performance.