TAKING A SECOND LOOK AT POOR ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE WITH COMPUTER ASSISTED LEARNING

Students performing poorly in the classroom have been found out to do well in other past time activities such as music, games etc. This pilot study was carried out as a preliminary to a broader PhD research to determine whether the poor performance of those students were due to lack of interest in academics, detractions or obsolete teaching methods. Computer-Assisted-Learning (CAL), a technology-mediated learning approach was used to deliver an intensive tutorial module to groups of Junior High School students at different performance level to determine performance outcomes particularly of students whose academic performance has been consistently below average.
Three student sample groups were selected each of size 30 from a private second cycle institution. Sample Group A consists of students with average examinations score of less than 40%. Sample Group B consists of students with average examination score of greater than 40% but less than 55%, and sample Group C consists of students with average examination score of 55% and above.
Each of the group was taken through a week of intensive training course on Introduction to Computers and Windows using a CAL package with minimum instructor intervention. Each of the groups was then examined at the end of the course. Results of the tests showed that average score of sample Group A was approximately 65%, that of sample Group B was approximately 78% while that of sample Group C was approximately 88%.
These outcomes strongly suggest that poor performance could be attributed among other things methods employed in delivering teaching and learning transactions and that Computer-Assisted-Learning can be effectively used to significantly boost the academic performance of not only below-average students but also average and above-average students in general.