Blended Learning and Academic Performance of Fine Arts Senior Secondary II Students in Painting

Abstract

This study is investigating the Blended Learning Pastel Package (BLPP) and the academic performance of senior secondary fine arts students in painting in the Uyo Local Government Area. Three research questions and three hypotheses were used to guide this study. This study employed a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest nonrandomised control group design. Using a criteria sampling technique, a sample of 95 senior secondary two (SSII) students was selected from a total population of 132 across 25 secondary schools offering fine arts in the study area. In each of the 12 selected schools, students were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The researcher developed an instrument, the Fine Arts Student Performance Test (BLSPT), which was validated for face and content validity by three experts from the University of Uyo. The reliability of the BLSPT was confirmed with a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.889. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, including mean and standard deviation, alongside Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). The results indicated that blended learning enhances the teaching and learning of fine arts more effectively than the expository teaching method. Furthermore, students taught with the BLSPT showed significant improvements in creative abilities related to the use of form and tonal value when taught using the blended learning computer package, colour combination in painting, and the combined effects of creative abilities, form and tonal value, and colour combination. The findings showed that students' creative abilities exposed to BLSPT significantly improved compared to when taught using the expository teaching method. Among the recommendations made is that blended learning should be encouraged in schools by co-opting Information and Communication Technology (ICT) systems in public secondary school education, even with a face-to-face system of learning in place. The Ministry of Education should prioritise providing and maintaining fully functional computer laboratories to support computer-based instruction in fine arts education.