Project Abstract

Abstract
This study aimed to investigate the effect of the role play method on students' academic achievement and interest in Christian Religious Studies (CRS) in senior secondary schools in Ebonyi Central Education Zone of Ebonyi State. The research utilized a quasi-experimental design with a pre-test and post-test control group. The participants were 200 senior secondary school students randomly selected from two schools in the study area. The experimental group received instruction using the role play method, while the control group received traditional teaching methods. The findings revealed a significant difference in academic achievement between the experimental group exposed to role play and the control group taught with traditional methods. Students in the experimental group showed higher academic achievement scores compared to those in the control group. Additionally, the role play method positively influenced students' interest in CRS, as evidenced by increased engagement, participation, and enthusiasm during lessons. The qualitative data from student feedback and observations further supported the quantitative results, indicating a notable improvement in student interest and understanding of CRS concepts through role play. The results suggest that the role play method is an effective pedagogical strategy for enhancing academic achievement and interest in CRS among senior secondary school students in Ebonyi Central Education Zone. Incorporating role play activities into CRS lessons can make the content more engaging, interactive, and relatable to students, leading to improved learning outcomes and increased interest in the subject matter. This study contributes to the existing literature on innovative teaching methods in religious studies education and provides practical insights for educators and policymakers seeking to improve student performance and engagement in CRS. In conclusion, the role play method has a significant positive impact on students' academic achievement and interest in Christian Religious Studies in senior secondary schools. Future research could explore the long-term effects of using role play in CRS education, investigate potential barriers to implementing role play activities, and compare the effectiveness of role play with other teaching approaches. Overall, incorporating role play into CRS instruction offers a promising avenue for enhancing student learning experiences and outcomes in religious studies.

Project Overview

There is a perceived trend of poor academic achievement and interest of students in Christian Religious Studies in Nigeria schools today. This situation has been attributed to many factors one of which is poor method of teaching. Against this background that this study sought to assess the effect of role play method on students academic achievement and interest of students in CRS in Ebonyi Central Education Zone of Ebonyi State. It adopted quasi experimental design. Six research questions and four null hypotheses guided the study. The population of the study comprised of nine thousand one hundred and eighty five (9185) in all the 48 government co-educational secondary schools in Ebonyi Central Education Zone, Ebonyi State. Purposive sampling technique was used to select one hundred and twenty (120) students from four co-educational schools (70 students for experimental group (31 males and 39 females) and 50 students for control group (17 males and 33 females)) for the study. The instrument for data collection was CRS Achievement Test (CRSAT) and CRS Interest Inventory (CRSII). Mean and standard deviation was used to answer the research questions while analysis of co-variance (ANCOVA) was used to test the hypotheses at an alpha level of 0.05.the results of the data analyzed revealed That there is a significant difference in the mean achievement scores of students taught CRS using role-play method and those taught using lecture method in favour of group taught CRS using role-play method, that there is a significant difference in the mean interest scores of students taught CRS using role-play method and lecture method in favour group taught CRS using role-play method. The result equally revealed that gender is not significant on student’s achievement in CRS and that role-play instructional strategy is gender friendly. The null hypotheses tested revealed that gender is not significant on students’ interest in CRS, that there is no significant interaction effect between gender and instructional treatment with respect to students achievement, and that there is significant interaction effect between gender and instructional treatment with respect to students interest. Based on these findings, recommendations and suggestions for further studies were made therein.