International Journal of Research in Education Humanities and Commerce

PROMOTING STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN SOCIAL STUDIES THROUGH THE USE OF COOPERATIVE AND COMPETITIVE INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

Author: Saba, Baba Kudu Ph.D.

ABSTRACT

The study assessed promoting students’ academic achievement in social studies through the use of cooperative and competitive instructional strategies in Kwara State. The quasi-experimental design was employed for the study. The population is all Upper Basic School Social Studies Students. The researcher used a purposive sampling technique to select three schools in the Lafiagi Education zone of Kwara State. A structured instrument titled Social Studies Achievement Test (SSAT) was employed. Four (4) research questions and Four (4) hypotheses were tested using ANCOVA and ANOVA. The instrument was validated by Social Studies Practitioners and Statisticians for content, construct, and face validity. The findings of the research revealed that gender does not have any significant effect on students’ academic performance whether in both experimental and control groups. Differences exist in academic achievement between the experimental and control groups. The researcher recommended that teachers should be encouraged to use cooperative and competitive instructional strategies and to attend seminars and conferences to update their knowledge. There should be well-defined instructional strategies to excel students and teachers in teaching and learning social studies at the Upper Basic School level.

Keywords: Promoting Students, Academic Achievement, Cooperative, Competitive Instructional Strategies

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