Comparative Effects of Animation and Teacher Direct Instructional Strategies on Pupils' Social Studies Achievement in Inclusive Classrooms in Oshimili South Local Government Area, Delta State

This study compared the effects of animation and teacher direct instructional strategies on social studies achievement of pupils with special needs in inclusive classroom in Oshimili North LGA, Delta State. The study was guided by two research questions and two hypotheses tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study adopted a pretest, posttest non-randomized quasi-experimental design. The population of the study was 203 primary five pupils in 13 inclusive classrooms in public primary schools in Oshimili North and South Local Government Areas of Delta State. A sample size of 95 primary five pupils in two inclusive classrooms were involved in the study. The instrument used for the study was Social Studies Skills Achievement Test (SSSAT). The instrument was validated by one specialist in Measurement and Evaluation and another in Special Education from the Department of Educational Foundations and one expert in the Department of Early Childhood and Primary Education, all in the Faculty of Education of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. The SSSAT yielded a coefficient index of 0.86. Experimental procedure lasted five weeks. Mean and standard deviation were used to analyse data related to the research questions, while Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Results indicated that animation instructional strategy had better effect than teacher direct instruction on Social Studies achievement of pupils with special needs. No significant difference however, was found between normal and special needs pupils’ Social Studies achievement. Recommendations include integrating animation into special needs education curricula, enhancing educator training, and further research to explore long-term impacts and scalability.