ABSTRACT

The study investigated the effects of using computer as tutor and tool on academic achievement and interest of senior secondary school students in chemistry. Okigwe Education zone II, Imo State was purposively selected because of the availability of computers in schools. Guided by six specific purposes, the researcher formulated six research questions and six hypotheses. A sample of one hundred and twenty nine (129) SSII students gotten from three schools in the zone was involved in the study. Pre-test post-test quasi experimental research design was adopted for the study. Two validated researcher-made instruments namely; Chemistry Achievement Test (CAT) and Chemistry Interest Scale (CIS) with reliabilities 0.72 and 0.85 respectively were used for data collection. Research questions were answered using mean and standard deviation while Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used in testing the hypotheses at .05 level of significant. Findings showed that students who were taught with computer both as tool and as tutor achieved better and had more interest than those taught with lecture method but using computer as tool increased students' achievement and interest in chemistry more than using computer as tutor. Furthermore, male students who were taught chemistry using computer both as tool and as tutor achieved higher than their female counterparts and were statistically significant. Male students also had more interest than the female students in using computer both as tool and as tutor, though none of them were statistically significant. Recommendations were made which among others include that the chemistry teacher should use the computer as a tool in the classroom to enhance achievement and interest of students since it has been found to be more effective than using it as tutor.