Abstract
The study sought to investigate the effect of the use of concept mapping on senior secondary school two students’ interest in economics in Nsukka local government of Enugu state. The study was of a quasi-experimental design. 154 SS2 economics students purposively selected from the 30 public schools within the education zone constituted the sample for the study. The instruments used for data collection for the study is Economics Interest Scale (ECIS). ECIS was validated by experts from relevant fields of studies and its reliability calculated to give a value of 0.82. Three research questions and three null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. The research questions were answered using meanwhile research hypotheses were tested using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) and z-test statistics. Findings of the study revealed that there is a significant difference existing between the interest levels of students taught with concept map and those taught with lecture instructional strategies. The study also revealed that gender did not significantly affect students interact but a significant effect was observed with gender interacting with instructional strategies in affecting students’ interest in economics. Based on the findings of the study; it was recommended among other things that teachers should adopt the use of concept maps teaching methods to improve economics students’ interest. Economics textbook writers should make use of concept maps in presenting their materials. Ministry of education of various levels of government should engage conferences and workshops to instruct teachers on the construction and use of concept maps in instructional delivery etc.
Okechukwu O. N.; Ihechi G. E.; Machebe C. H. & Nwaubani V. O. (2018)