Article Details

This study examined effects of Jigsaw-Puzzle strategy on students’ achievement in junior secondary schools Social studies in Nasarawa State, Nigeria. Two research questions guided the study and hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study employed quasi–experimental research design involving the non-equivalent pretest, posttest, control group design. The population comprised 10, 550 JS II students from 30 junior secondary schools in Nasarawa State for the 2020/2021 academic session. A sample of 120 JSS II students in two intact classes from two public secondary schools in Nasarawa Local Government Area of Nasarawa State was selected using simple random sampling technique. Data were collected using Social Studies Achievement Test (SSAT). The SSAT was validated by an expert and validity index of 0.90 was obtained. The SSAT was pilot tested on 10 students which yield 0.85 reliability index using Kuder-Richardson 21 Formula (K-R21). Mean and standard deviation was used to answer the research questions and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used to test the hypotheses. Results revealed that the use of Jigsaw-Puzzle provided favourable effects on the jigsaw-puzzle and the effect led to significant improvement in students’ achievement in Social Studies. Similarly, the difference in the achievement mean scores of male and female students taught Social Studies using Jigsaw-Puzzle and the control group was statistically insignificant. Based on the finding of this study, it was concluded that Jigsaw was more effective in enhancing students’ achievement, in Social Studies than conventional instructional method. Thus, the study recommended that Jigsaw-Puzzle should be used in the teaching of Social studies as it could help students’ achievement.