INFLUENCE OF IMMERSIVE VIRTUAL REALITY (IVR) AND AUGMENTED REALITY (AR) ON SENIOR SECONDARY STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AND RETENTION IN BIOLOGY IN KADUNA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The rapid advancement of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has necessitated a paradigm shift in pedagogical approaches, particularly in science education. This study empirically investigated the influence of Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) and Augmented Reality (AR) on the academic performance and retention of senior secondary school Biology students in Kaduna State, Nigeria. Adopting a pre-test, post-test, non-equivalent control group quasi-experimental design, the study sampled 215 Senior Secondary II (SS2) Biology students from four public schools using a multistage sampling technique. The students were assigned to experimental (n=110) and control (n=105) groups. The experimental group was taught using IVR and AR integrated lessons, while the control group received conventional lecture methods. Data were collected using the Biology Achievement Test (BAT) with a reliability coefficient of 0.86, established via the Kuder-Richardson 20 (KR-20) formula. Descriptive statistics (Mean and Standard Deviation) were used to answer the research questions, while Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was employed to test the null hypotheses at a 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed a significant main effect of the treatment on students' academic performance (F(1, 212) = 145.67, p < .05, η²p = .407) and retention (F(1, 212) = 112.34, p < .05, η²p = .346) in favor of the IVR/AR group. However, there was no significant main effect of gender on both performance and retention. The study concludes that the integration of immersive ICT technologies like VR and AR significantly enhances students' understanding of abstract biological concepts. It is recommended, among others, that the Kaduna State Ministry of Education should provide infrastructural support to facilitate the deployment of VR and AR in secondary schools.