IMPACT OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE-BASED ACTIVITIES ON STUDENTS’ INTEREST IN COMPUTER SCIENCE EDUCATION IN SOUTH EAST NIGERIAN UNIVERSITIES

Abstract

Innovations in the present 21st century through the application of technology in the field of education has brought about the need for the present study on impact of artificial intelligence-based activities on students’ interest in computer science education. The study examined how artificial intelligence-based activities could bring impact on students’ interest in computer science education. The study adopted a quasi-experimental design, specifically the pretest posttest non-equivalent control group research design. Two research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. Purposive sampling techniques were used to select only federal university in south east that has been accredited to offer admission in science education department in the faculty of education. The sample size of 111 which was drawn using stratified sampling technique to select only computer science education students from 2 federal universities in south east Nigeria. Intact classes from the 2 institutions were used in this study. The instruments used for the study include adapted interest scale called computer science education interest scale (CSEIS) and an adapted instructional package called computer science education Talking Tom (CSETT). The reliability of the instrument was determined using Cronbach Alpha method and its reliability co-efficient was found to be 0.74 indicating that the instrument is reliable. The two groups were taught five lessons as stipulated by departmental handbooks using methods specified. Data were collected by administering CSEIS on the participants as pre-test and post-test. Data obtained were analyzed using mean, standard deviation and two-way Analysis of Covariance. The findings revealed among others that there is a significant difference in the mean interest rating scores of students exposed to AIBA and CM in favour of the former group. Based on the findings, the study recommended that lecturers should be encouraged to apply AIBA during teaching in other to stimulate learners’ interest in the learning process.