Bello, S., Ibi, M. B., & Bukar, I. B. (2016). Effect of Simulation Techniques and Lecture Method on Students' Academic Performance in Mafoni Day Secondary School Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria. Journal of Education and Practice, 7(23), 113-117.
PURPOSE
The researchers out of the University of Maiduguri, Nigeria aimed to see the difference in student achievement in understanding science when taught through lecture or an online simulation.
PARTICIPANTS
To study the difference in instructional methods, the researchers used 90 juniors from the Mafoni Day Secondary School. Half of the students were taught using direct instruction and the other half was taught using an online simulation.
METHODOLOGY
All students were given the same pre-test and post-test in order to measure the growth of students. The test used is called the Basic Science Achievement Test (BASAT). The researchers found the mean scores and standard deviation and used the t-test to determine if their results were significantly different.
FINDINGS
The researchers only provided the mean scores of the post-test. The students that were taught with direct instruction had a mean score of 46.60 while the students that were taught with the simulation had a mean score of 66.23. Using the t-test, the researchers found the difference to be of significance.
REFLECTION/APPLICATION
The results of the research is promising for those teachers needing reasons to move away from direct instruction. However, more research is still needed. The researchers should have looked at growth and not just final scores. Also, more participants would be ideal. Finally, although readers can tell the researchers used a science simulation, at no point is exact simulation listed, described, or shown. As other researchers have noted, success and failure can often depend on the simulation itself. Having said that, I do believe this begins to prove the validity to using online simulations in the classroom on a regular basis.
