EFFECTS OF JIGSAW TEACHING STRATEGY ON PERFORMANCE AND MOTIVATION IN SOCIAL STUDIES AMONG UPPER BASIC II STUDENTS IN PLATEAU STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study investigated the effects of jigsaw strategy on academic performance and motivation in Social Studies among upper basic II students in Plateau state Nigeria. Three (3) objectives formulated to guide the study were in line with research questions and hypotheses. The study adopted Quasi-experimental and descriptive research design. The target population of the study was 21879 students from which 131 students were used as sample for the study. Purposive sampled sampling technique was used to select the schools used for the study. Social Studies Performance Test (SSPT) and Social Studies Motivation Questionnaire (SSMQ) are the instruments for data collection. Pilot test was conducted and reliability coefficients .619 and .788 results were obtained. The research questions were answered using descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation while hypothesis one were tested with Paired sample t-test, hypothesis two uses independent sample t-test and Hypothesis three were also tested using Wilcoxon statistics. The findings revealed among others that the post-test performance of students taught Social Studies using Jigsaw strategy was higher than the pre-test performance in Upper Basic II in Plateau State, Nigeria (P-value= .000). The performances of students taught Social Studies using jigsaw teaching strategy was better than and those taught using conventional method in Upper Basic II in Plateau State, Nigeria (P-value= .000). It was concluded that jigsaw teaching strategies enhanced students’ academic performance and motivation in Social Studies at the Upper Basic II level in Plateau State, Nigeria. The study recommended among others that curriculum planners should encourage and accommodate the use of jigsaw teaching strategy at in all levels of education. Social Studies teachers should be encouraged to use student-entered approach.