Abstract
This study examined the effect of the field trip teaching strategy and the conventional teaching strategy on students’ academic performance in Social Studies in Edo State. The study adopted a pretest–posttest non-equivalent control group design, a subtype of quasi-experimental design structured into a 2 × 2 factorial matrix involving instructional strategies (field trip and conventional) and gender (male and female). Three objectives, research questions, and hypotheses guided the study. The population comprised all Upper Basic II students offering Social Studies in public secondary schools in Edo State. A sample of 300 students was selected using a multistage sampling technique from four public secondary schools in two local government areas. Data were collected using an instrument titled Field Trip Teaching Strategy on Social Studies Academic Performance Questionnaire (FTSSSAPQ) developed by the researcher. The instrument consisted of 40 multiple-choice items designed to measure students’ academic performance in selected Social Studies topics. The instrument was validated by three experts in Social Studies Education and Measurement and Evaluation from the University of Benin. A pilot study was conducted using 30 students outside the sampled schools, and reliability was determined using Kuder–Richardson Formula 20 (KR-20), which yielded a coefficient of 0.84. Data collection lasted six weeks and involved pretest, treatment, and post-test administration. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer research questions, while ANCOVA and Two-Way ANCOVA were used to test the hypotheses at the 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that students taught using the field trip strategy performed significantly better than those taught using the conventional method. The study recommended increased use of field trip strategies in Social Studies teaching.
Keywords: Field Trip Teaching Strategy, Conventional Teaching Method, Academic Performance, Social Studies, Gender Differences.