EFFECTS OF COMPUTER-ASSISTED INSTRUCTION ON ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AMONG NCE PHYSICS STUDENTS OF DIFFERENT ABILITIES

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The world is becoming more sophisticated technologically. The industrial age gave way to information age, an info-tech era which is as vital as the water we drink because this has brought positive changes to the society, business, education and other facets of human life. In fact, the educational sector is not exempted from the benefit of participation in an information-rich computerized society. To keep to date with the emerging technological changes at the national, regional and global environments, our present educational system is continuously upgrading its resources through the modernization of the various elements of the system. Modernization can be pursed through the introduction of modern instructional aides and materials such as multimedia gadgets like computers, CD-ROM, TV, internet among others (Caday, 2004). Linn (2003) stated that information and communication technology had had a convoluted but ultimately advantageous impact on science teaching.
Computers offer exciting approaches to teaching that were not even dreamt of two decades ago, but the extent to which the educational potential of computer technology will be realized remains to be seen (Amara, 2006). Computer technology has caught the attention of many researchers and educators and computer-based instructional applications are considered effective alternative to traditional teaching method (Yushau, 2006). Research findings explicitly reported that science education and computer technology had created a meaningful partnership over the century (Flick & Bell, 2000). Thomas (2001) argued that very little was known about the use of computer in science classrooms and its effects on students‟ learning.