EFFECT OF CONVERGENT THINKING STRATEGY ON SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT IN PHYSICS IN ENUGU EDUCATION ZONE OF ENUGU STATE

Abstract

The study determined the effect of Convergent Thinking Strategy on Senior Secondary School Students’ Achievement in Physics in Enugu Education Zone, Enugu State. The study was guided by two (2) research questions and three (3) research hypotheses. The design of this study was pretest-posttest non-equivalent control group quasi-experimental design. The population for the study was 5,442 Senior Secondary School Two (SSS1) students in the 31 secondary schools in Enugu Education Zone for 2025/2026 academic session. The sample size of the study was 294 SSS1 students in the three (3) out of 21 coeducational secondary schools in the zone. Purposive and simple random sampling techniques were used to sample the three (3) coeducational secondary schools and the two (2) intact classes used in each school. The instrument used for data collection was Wave Achievement Test (WAT). WAT was both content and face validated by two experts in Science Education and one expert in Measurement and Evaluation, all from the faculty of education, ESUT. The reliability estimate for WAT was determined using Kuder-Richardson formula 20 (K-R 20) method. A K-R 20 reliability coefficient of 0.89 was obtained for WAT, which indicated that WAT was reliable. WAT was administered as pretest before the treatment by the research assistants. Scores of the students were recorded and kept for use after the experiment. Mean and standard deviation were used in answering the research questions while Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used to test the research hypotheses at 0.05 alpha levels. The study discovered among others that Convergent Thinking Strategy was more effective in improving achievement in the topic of waves in Physics than expository method, divergent Thinking Strategy is equally effective for both male and female students, promoting equitable learning opportunities regardless of gender and there is no significant interaction effect between methods (CTS and expository method) and gender on the achievement scores of students in wave. The study concluded that use of Convergent Thinking Strategy is effective in enhancing students’ achievement in waves. The study recommends that Physics teachers should be encouraged to adopt Convergent Thinking Strategy as an effective method of teaching complex concept like waves, workshop and professional development programs should be organized to train teachers in the effective use of innovative instructional methods such as CTS and educational authorities should revise the Physics curriculum to incorporate teaching strategies that foster creativity, problem-solving and critical thinking.