Evaluation Of The Impact Of Chatgpt-Driven Instruction On Student Academic Achievement And Critical Thinking Skills In Social Studies Across Varied Iq Levels Within Upper Basic Schools In North East Nigeria
Keywords:
ChatGPT-driven instruction, academic achievement, critical thinking skills, Social Studies, IQ levelsAbstract
This study investigated the impact of ChatGPT-driven instruction on academic achievement and critical thinking skills in Social Studies among upper basic school students across low, medium, and high intelligence quotient (IQ) levels in North-East Nigeria. Two specific objectives, research questions, and hypotheses guided the study. A quasi-experimental pre-test, post-test non-equivalent control group design was adopted. The population comprised 38,412 Junior Secondary School Two students in 214 public co-educational schools across North-East Nigeria. A sample of 178 students, comprising 92 in the experimental group and 86 in the control group, was selected using multistage sampling. Data were collected using the Social Studies Achievement Test (SSAT), Social Studies Critical Thinking Scale (SSCTS), and a standardized non-verbal intelligence test. The instruments were validated by three experts, and a reliability coefficient of 0.75 was obtained. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions, while two-way Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) tested the hypotheses at the 0.05 significance level. The findings revealed a significant difference in academic achievement between students taught using ChatGPT-driven instruction and those taught conventionally, F(1, 171) = 320.27, p < .001. The experimental group recorded a higher post-test mean score of 75.15 compared with 61.59 for the control group. Similarly, a significant difference was found in critical thinking skills, F(1, 171) = 328.53, p < .001, with respective post-test mean scores of 64.62 and 51.56. Significant interactions between instructional strategy and IQ level were observed for academic achievement and critical thinking skills. The study concluded that ChatGPT-driven instruction was more effective than conventional instruction in improving both outcomes, although its effects varied across IQ levels. It was recommended that Social Studies teachers integrate ChatGPT into classroom instruction and provide guided learning activities that promote academic achievement, critical evaluation, and independent reasoning.
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