COMPARATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF COMPUTER SIMULATION AND EDUCATIONAL CHARTS ON UPPER BASIC STUDENTS' ACHIEVEMENT IN BASIC SCIENCE IN ANAMBRA STATE, NIGERIA

Basic science is concerned with developing an understanding of the natural world through observation, experimentation, investigation, and logical reasoning. The study compared the effectiveness of computer simulations and charts usage on secondary school students’ academic achievement in Basic Science in Aguata Education Zone of Anambra State. Two research questions and three hypotheses guided the study. A quasi-experimental design was adopted for the study. The population consisted of 3,310 (1,664 males and 1,646 females) Upper Basic Education Two (UB2) students who enrolled for the 2025/2026 academic session in the 39 public secondary schools in the Aguata Education Zone of Anambra State, with a sample of 186 UB2 Basic Science students selected using a multistage sampling procedure. The instrument for data collection was Basic Science Achievement Test (BSAT). The instrument was face validated by three experts and a reliability index of 0.87 was obtained using Kuder Richardson 20 method. Experimental procedure was carried out in stages and data were collected through pretest and posttest using BSAT. Data analysis was done using the mean and Analysis of Covariance at the 0.05 level of significance. Findings, among others, revealed that students taught Basic Science concepts using computer simulations achieved significantly higher scores than those taught using charts. Male students taught using computer simulations recorded slightly higher mean achievement scores than their female counterparts, but the difference was not significant. Based on the findings, the study recommended that Basic Science teachers should regularly use computer simulations during classroom instruction, as they significantly improve students’ achievement in Basic Science more than charts do.