COMPARATIVE EFFECTS OF PROJECT AND LECTURE METHODS ON SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN ECONOMICS

This study focused on the effects of project and lecture methods on secondary school students’ academic achievement in Economics in Anambra State. The study adopted quasi experimental research design. The population consisted of 2243 male and 2528 female students from 49 secondary schools in Nnewi Education Zone. The sample size for this study was one hundred and forty-six (146) Economics students of S.S.I in Anambra State. Multi-stage sampling technique was adopted for the study. The instrument for data collection was a designed Multiple Choice Economics Achievement Test (MCEAT). Five research questions and five research hypotheses were stated to guide the study and were analysed using simple mean, standard deviation for research questions and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) to analyse the research hypotheses. The finding of this study shows that: students taught with project teaching method achieved better than those taught with lecture teaching method; male students achieved better on the average (i.e. mean) compared to their female counterpart taught using lecture method of teaching; male students achieved better on the average (i.e. mean) compared to their female counterpart taught using project method of teaching; urban students achieved better on the average (i.e. mean) compared to their students from rural areas taught using lecture method of teaching; urban students achieved better on the average (i.e. mean) compared to their students from rural areas taught using project method of teaching. The research hypotheses tested revealed that: there is a significant difference in the achievement mean score of students taught Economics using lecture method (i.e. control group) and those taught using Project method (i.e. experimental group); there is no significant difference in the achievement means score of male and female students taught Economics using lecture method (i.e. control group); there is a significant difference in the achievement means score of male and female students taught Economics using project method (i.e. experimental group); the result shows there is no significant difference in the achievement means score of urban and rural students taught Economics using lecture method (i.e. control group); the result shows there is a significant difference in the achievement means score of urban and rural students taught Economics using project method (i.e. experimental group). Based on the findings, the recommendations were made that project method of teaching should be applied by teachers Economics since it makes students to be actively involved in the learning process. The government, ministry of education, and educational administrators should organise workshops, seminars, conferences etc. where knowledge about new innovative techniques could be exposed to the Economics teachers and how to use them in the classroom.