EFFECT OF AUDIO-VISUAL MATERIALS ON SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN MATHEMATICS IN YOLA EDUCATION ZONE, ADAMAWA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study examined the effect of audio-visual materials on senior secondary school students’ academic achievement in Yola Education Zone, Adamawa State. The study centred on three research questions and three hypotheses that were tested at a significance level of 0.05. Quasi-experimental research process was adopted and by which 130 students were sampled to form an Experimental Group (X₁) and a Control Group (X₂). Four senior secondary schools from different Local Government in the Zone made up the Experimental and Control Groups that were given instructional treatment where Mathematics was taught with the use of audio-visual materials. A pilot test was conducted in schools outside Yola Education Zone and data analysed from it produced result that gave a reliability index of 0.80 that was considered appropriate for the study. A Mathematics Achievement Test (MAT) was designed by the researchers and validated, then used for both pre-test and post-test. The findings showed that the use of audio-visual materials significantly supports the academic performance of the senior secondary school students. The results also showed that no significant difference in academic achievement occurs between boys and girls when the audio-visual materials were used unlike when teachers do not use audio-visual materials to teach Mathematics. It was therefore concluded that the use of audio-visual materials is a dependable way to improve and maintain a strong achievement of students in their study of Mathematics in senior secondary school classes. Thus, it was recommended among others that schools should try to have relevant audio-visual materials in the school and the mathematics teachers should always try to use such materials in teaching Mathematics.