The role of multimedia instructional package in enhancing academic achievement in economics for hearing-impaired students in special needs secondary schools

Abstract

Hearing-impaired students often struggle in traditional classrooms where auditory-based teaching dominates, especially in abstract subjects like Economics. Standard approaches, such as sign language and written text, are insufficient in conveying complex concepts, resulting in poor academic achievements among these students. This paper examined the role of multimedia instructional package in enhancing academic achievement in Economics for hearing-impaired students. The study utilized a non-equivalent pretest-posttest control experimental group design, involving a total of 100 students from the International Model School for the Deaf in Afikpo. From this population, a sample of 58 SS1 students was randomly assigned to either the experimental group (32 students) who were taught using the Multimedia Instructional Package (MIP) or the control group (26 students) taught through sign language methods. Data were gathered using the Economics Achievement Test (EAT). The data analysis was conducted using mean and standard deviation to address the research questions, and an Independent Sample t-test with a significance level of 0.05 was applied to test the null hypotheses. The results indicated that students in the experimental group, taught with MIP, significantly outperformed those in the control group, exhibiting better comprehension, motivation, and academic achievement. The study concluded that incorporating MIP into special needs education, especially in subjects such as Economics, can foster a more inclusive and effective learning environment. It recommended that educators should adopt multimedia tools to improve outcomes for hearing-impaired students and suggests further research into the long- term effects of these instructional package across various subjects and student populations.