PARADIGM SHIFT IN SOCIAL STUDIES PEDAGOGY: IMPLICATIONS FOR STUDENT ATTITUDE AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN PLATEAU STATE

Abstract

This study investigated the efficacy of a paradigm shift in instructional strategies specifically the transition from conventional lecture methods to Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL) on the attitude and academic performance of Social Studies students in Government Junior Secondary Schools  in Plateau State, Nigeria. The research was necessitated by the persistent poor performance and negative attitudes observed among students subjected to traditional teacher-centered pedagogies. Adopting a quasi-experimental research design involving a pre-test and post-test control group,
the study sampled 148 Junior Secondary School II students selected through stratified random sampling from two intact classes in Jos North. Data were collected using the Social Studies Attitude Scale (SSAS) and the Social Studies Achievement Test (SSAT). Data were analyzed using mean and standard deviation, while inferential statistics (ANCOVA and independent samples t-test) were also utilized to test the formulated hypotheses at 0.05 significance level. Key findings revealed that the shift to inquiry-based strategies resulted in a significant improvement in students' academic performance compared to the conventional group. Furthermore, students in the experimental group exhibited a markedly more positive attitude towards the subject. The study concludes that innovative, student-centered strategies are superior for cognitive and affective development in Social Studies. It is recommended that educational stakeholders in
Plateau State institutionalize training workshops to equip teachers with these modern
pedagogical skills to reverse the trend of academic failure.