Effect of Instructional Software On Students’ Interest and Academic Achievement in Marketing Education in Abia State College of Education (Technical), Arochukwu, Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined the effect of instructional software on students’ interest and academic achievement in Marketing Education in Abia State College of Education (Technical), Arochukwu, Nigeria. Two research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. A quasi-experimental research design, specifically the pre-test, post-test control group design, was adopted. The population of the study comprised 47 NCE 1 and NCE 2 Marketing Education students during the 2025/2026 academic session. Since the population was small and manageable, the entire population was used. The 21 NCE 1 students constituted the experimental group and were taught using instructional software, while the 26 NCE 2 students constituted the control group and were taught using the lecture method. Both groups were taught six selected Marketing Education topics over a period of six weeks. Data were collected using the Marketing Education Achievement Test (MEAT) and Marketing Education Interest Scale (MEIS), with reliability indices of 0.74 and 0.79, respectively. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions, while analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The results showed that students taught using instructional software recorded a higher mean gain in academic achievement (38.72) than those taught using the lecture method (19.18). The ANCOVA result showed a significant difference in achievement between the two groups, F(1, 88) = 11.532, p < .001. Similarly, the instructional software group recorded a higher mean gain in interest (0.82) than the lecture method group (0.58), with the ANCOVA result showing a significant difference in interest, F(1, 85) = 5.021, p = .005. The study concluded that instructional software significantly contributed to the greater academic achievement and interest in Marketing Education. It was recommended among others that instructional software should be integrated into the teaching of Marketing Education in Colleges of Education.