VIRTUAL FIELD TRIPS AND STUDENT ENGAGEMENT IN ECOLOGY IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS PRONE TO INSECURITY IN BENUE STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study examined students’ engagement in ecology and the effects of virtual field trips on behavioural, emotional and cognitive engagement in secondary schools prone to insecurity in Benue State, Nigeria. A quasi-experimental non-equivalent control group pre-test/post-test design was adopted, involving 132 Senior Secondary II Biology students from four public secondary schools in Katsina-Ala, Kwande, Guma and Agatu Local Government Areas. Data were collected using the Student Engagement in Ecology Questionnaire and analysed using means, standard deviations and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) at the 0.05 significance level. The descriptive results indicated moderate levels of behavioural (M = 3.03, SD = 0.58), emotional (M = 3.11, SD = 0.54) and cognitive engagement (M = 2.89, SD = 0.63) before the intervention. The ANCOVA results showed that virtual field trips had no statistically significant additional effect on behavioural engagement, F(1, 129) = 3.581, p = .061, partial η² = .027; emotional engagement, F(1, 129) = 0.120, p = .730, partial η² = .001; or cognitive engagement, F(1, 127) = 0.352, p = .554, partial η² = .003. All three null hypotheses were therefore not rejected. The findings indicate that, under the conditions examined, virtual field trips did not produce statistically significant improvements in the measured dimensions of engagement compared with conventional instruction. The study recommends cautious, context-sensitive use of virtual field trips as a supplementary means of providing access to ecological environments where insecurity restricts physical fieldwork, alongside further empirical evaluation of their educational effectiveness.