EFFECTS OF SIMULATION GAMES AND ROTE LEARNING STRATEGIES ON NUMERACY RETENTION AMONG LOWER BASIC PUPILS IN PLATEAU STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the effect of simulation games and Rote Learning Instructional Strategies on Retention among Numeracy pupils in Lower Basic Schools in Plateau State, Nigeria. Two main objectives were set, two research questions, and two null hypotheses made up this study. The study used Quasi-experimental research design. Three hundred and sixty-eight thousand and thirty-six (368,036) Pupils from Plateau State in Nigeria Basic two public primary schools made up the study's population. The study used a sample of 218 pupils from three complete Lower Basic School classes. An instrument called the Numeracy Retention and Retention Test (NPRT) was employed for the study. Pilot test was carried out with thirty (30) copies of the instrument; a reliability index of 0.697 was obtained. Mean and Standard Deviations was used to analyse the research questions. At the same time, both sample-paired and independent t-test statistical tools were utilized to examine the hypotheses at a significance level of 0.05 Hypotheses one and two rejected while hypothesis three was retained. The findings indicated that pupils instructed in numeracy through the Simulation-Games strategy exhibited a substantial improvement, as evident by the noteworthy difference between the pre-test and post-test scores at (p= .324). The Retentions of pupils taught numeracy using rote learning strategy is better because there is a significant difference between the pre-test and post-test Retention scores at (p= .271). However, both simulation games and rote learning can be used to teach numeracy as they improved Retention, than the Conventional Strategy.