EFFECTS OF CONCEPT MAPPING AND SCAFFOLDING TEACHING STRATEGIES ON SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ INTEREST, ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT, AND RETENTION IN ECONOMICS IN KANO STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study investigated the effect of Concept Mapping and Scaffolding Teaching Strategies on students’ interest, academic achievement, and retention in Economics among Senior Secondary School II (SS II) students in Kano State, Nigeria. The study adopted a quasi-experimental research design using the pretest posttest nonequivalent control group design. The population of the study comprised 73,422 SS II students offering Economics in Kano State, from which a sample of 172 students was selected using purposive and simple random sampling techniques. Data were collected using the Economic Achievement Test (EAT) and the Economics Interest Inventory (EII). The instruments were validated by experts and subjected to reliability testing. The objective section of the EAT yielded a Kuder Richardson Formula 20 (KR-20) reliability coefficient of 0.824, the essay section recorded an Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) of 0.818, while the EII produced a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.867. Data collected were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) at a 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that students taught using concept mapping and scaffolding strategies recorded higher interest ratings, academic achievement scores, and retention scores in Economics than those taught using the conventional teaching method. The study further established significant differences in students’ mean interest ratings, academic achievement scores, and retention scores among those taught using concept mapping strategy, scaffolding strategy, and traditional teaching method. Specifically, the analysis showed significant differences in interest ratings, F(2, 171) = 7.481, p < 0.05; academic achievement scores, F(2, 171) = 28.251, p < 0.05; and retention scores, F(2, 171) = 27.655, p < 0.05. The study concludes that concept mapping and scaffolding teaching strategies are effective instructional approaches for improving students’ interest, achievement, and retention in Economics. It is recommended among others that Economics teachers should adopt concept mapping and scaffolding strategies during classroom instruction to stimulate students’ interest and positive attitude towards the subject.