Effect of Integrating Animation Videos into Science Instruction in Under-Resourced Rural Nigerian Schools

Abstract

This study investigates the effect of integrating animation videos into science instruction on students’ academic achievement in rural Nigerian secondary schools, where access to educational technology such as electricity supplies is limited. While global interest in video-based pedagogy is increasing, empirical research on its use in under-resourced African classrooms remains limited. This quasi-experimental study involved 83 Junior Secondary Two students from two intact classes. The experimental group received traditional science instruction supported by animation videos preloaded on the teacher's smartphone, while the control group received lecture-only instruction. Guided by three hypotheses, achievement was measured using two validated research instruments: a researcher-adapted Science Aptitude Test (SAT) and the Basic Science Achievement Test (BSAT), with reliability coefficients of 0.711 and 0.68, respectively. Independent samples t-tests revealed statistically significant differences in achievement favoring the animation-supported instruction. Further analysis showed a significant interaction between instructional method and student ability level, with higher gains among both high- and low-ability students in the experimental group. The findings underscore the value of integrating context-appropriate video resources into classroom teaching to support differentiated learning, even in infrastructure-limited settings. This study has implications for teacher training, curriculum development and low-cost technology integration and it contributes to a nuanced understanding of learning processes in marginalized educational contexts such as rural communities in developing countries like Nigeria.