IMPACT OF CONTEXTUALIZED PHYSICS CURRICULUM ON STUDENT INTEREST AND PERFORMANCE IN ANAMBRA STATE

Abstract

Overall, physics education is a key to advancing scientific parameters by inculcating innovation into students; however, in Nigeria, conventional curricula involve the use of foreign knowledge that is abstract in nature, which hinders their interest as well as performance. This paper critically discusses the effect of a localized curriculum in physics that incorporates local content and real-life scenario, on interest and the performance of students in Anambra State. This study employed a quasi-experimental research design with four SS2 students and 20 physics teachers involved in four secondary schools within the Anambra central and south senatorial districts. Two schools applied the contextualized curriculum, the other two applied the standard one. The data was taken in terms of pre- and post-intervention surveys, follow-up achievement test, teacher interviews, and curriculum inspection. The quantitative data were analyzed with t-tests and ANOVA in SPSS, and the qualitative data with thematic analysis in NVivo. The findings indicated that the contextualized curriculum greatly promoted the interests (p < 0.05) and performance (p < 0.01) of students compared to control group. Learners had no relevancy to the existing curriculum in terms of application since they had no context. Having a validated contextualized curriculum was developed with the local phenomena which in this case was the mechanics of farming. Recommendations are the need to train teachers in teaching pedagogy and to support policy-making in decisions that focus on pedagogy. The results have facilitated the education scientific strategies and curriculum change in Nigeria.