Education at the tertiary institution level has the responsibility of training high-level manpower in various fields of specialization for future career development. Tertiary institutions such as universities offer training to produce graduates in different fields of endeavours for self or paid employment on graduation. Business Education is one of the lucrative skilled-based disciplines in Nigerian university education where students can be trained to meet the modern-day labour market demand.

Business Education as described by Nwuzoh [1] is a type of education that gives individuals the needed skills and knowledge to succeed in either small, medium or large-scale businesses. According to Sherif [2], Business education is a vocational education programme that provides individuals with the knowledge, skills and competence they need to carry on their businesses both small, medium and large-scale businesses. The business education programme in Nigerian universities is designed to produce the required manpower in marketing, accounting and office management options among others. As an aspect of Business Education, Boyarsky [3] stated that office management involves instructional activities that focus on improving the office environment and guiding and coordinating the activities of office personnel to achieve organizational objectives through improved efficiency and productivity. Some of the courses that make up office management include basic keyboarding, information management and communication technology, management information system, word processing for business office operations, file processing and management, database management and office technology [4].

Over the years, there has been continuous poor performance of students in office management courses at both universities and colleges of education levels. The poor performances could also be responsible for the low environment of postgraduate students in office management as the majority of students at the postgraduate level in most Nigerian universities prefer to major in marketing and accounting options of Business education than office management. Abraham and Stephen [5] observed that students' failure in this aspect of Business education is among other disturbing development for education stakeholders in recent times. The observed poor performance of the students could be linked with ineffective and obsolete teaching methods such as lecture techniques mostly used for instructional delivery. Liddle [6] affirmed that conventional instructional techniques such as lectures are not interactive and mainly teacher-centred. The conventional lecture method according to Mbah and Onwuzo, discourages initiative, curiosity and creativity in students and does not offer students the opportunity to interact effectively with their peers, the teacher and the learning materials. Unongo [7] reported that the continuous use of conventional lecture methods for teaching by most teachers has resulted in a loss of interest, less participation in class and poor learning achievement among students. Ardodo and Gbore, shared that students’ interest could be enhanced through the use of good innovative strategies that will stimulate their interest and achievement and this can be achieved using a collaborative learning strategy.

Collaborative learning is defined as the work of individuals as members of groups and each student of the group is linked to mental, emotional and behavioural functions to achieve the objectives common objectives where the objectives help the students in the decision-making process and increase the sense of commitment in problem-solving [8]. According to Okekeokosisi et al. [9] the collaborative learning strategy is an essential objective strategy a method of teaching-learning that transforms the traditional or teacher-dominated classroom into students centred classroom in the form of a peer to peer learning environment. In collaborative learning, students team together to explore a significant question or create a meaningful project. It is a learning approach that allows small groups of students to work jointly by sharing knowledge to enhance their knowledge of a subject matter. In addition, Oluwole and Muraina [10] observed that the use of collaborative learning provides the driving force for social constructivism where students are in control of their own learning and ultimately their learning outcome.

The learning outcome is the performance of students in the tests and examinations he/she has been exposed to [11]. Learning outcome in the opinion of Adejumo et al. [12] is a concept that has always been used synonymously with some concepts such as academic achievement, academic performance and academic success often influenced by instructional methods used by the teachers. Apart from instructional techniques, another important variable that may possibly influence students’ learning outcomes is gender. Gender, according to Uwameike and Osunde [13], refers to all the characteristics of male and female which describes behaviours or attributes expected of individuals on the basis of being either a male or female in a given society. World Health Organization [14] described gender as economic, social and cultural factors and opportunities associated with being a man or a woman in every aspect of society including school. Hence, pertinent questions in this study include: Could the use of collaborative learning influence the academic outcome of university-based Business education students; could the gender of the students influence their learning outcome with respect to teaching techniques adopted for instructional delivery? This study was therefore carried out to provide answers to these pertinent questions.

Purpose of the Study 

The broad objective of this study was to examine the effects of collaborative learning on academic outcomes of university-based Business Education students in Delta State, Nigeria. The study specifically examined:

• the effects of collaborative learning on academic outcomes of University-based Business Education students' office management

• the effects of gender on students’ academic outcomes in office management

• the interaction effect of treatments (collaborative learning and lecture method) and gender on students’ academic outcome in office management achievement test

Research Questions

In line with the specific purposes of the study, the following research questions were answered:

• What are the mean achievement scores of Business education students taught office management with collaborative learning techniques and those taught with lecture methods

• What is the effect of gender on students’ learning outcome scores in the office management achievement test

• What is the interaction effect of treatments (collaborative learning and lecture method) and gender on students’ academic outcomes in office management achievement tests

Hypotheses 

The following null hypotheses were tested at p<0.05 levels of significance:

• H0₁: There is no significant difference in the mean achievement scores of Business education students taught office management with collaborative learning and those taught with lecture method

• H0₂: There is no significant difference in the mean learning outcome scores of male and female Business education students taught office management with collaborative learning technique and those taught with lecture method in the office management achievement test

• H0₃: There is no significant interaction effect of treatments (collaborative learning and lecture method) and gender on students’ learning outcomes in the office management achievement test

The study area is Delta State, south-south Nigeria. Three objectives and three hypotheses were developed to guide the study. A quasi-experimental design was chosen to conduct the study. Vetta and Sullivan [15] described a quasi-experimental design as an actual experiment aimed at identifying causal relationships between two variables i.e. independent variable (treatment) and dependent variable (learning outcome). It is a pre-test, post-test, randomized control group factorial design. The population for the study was 106 years II students of Business Education at Delta State University, Abraka and University of Delta, Agbor, Delta State. 

The sample size of 106 was segregated into Delta State University, Abraka with 55 students and University of Delta, Agbor, Delta State with 51 students. Through simple randomization, Delta State University, Abraka with 55 students was assigned to collaborative learning (experimental group) while the University of Delta, Agbor with 51 students was assigned to lecture method (control group). The instrument for data collection was an office management achievement test in containing 60 questions and multiple-choice objective answers. The instrument was validated by three experts in Business Education, University of Benin. The reliability of the instrument was achieved using the Kuder Richardson 21 (KR-21) reliability technique which yielded a KR-21 reliability coefficient of 0.89. The students in both experimental (collaborative learning) and control (lecture) groups were subjected to a pre-test in order to obtain the pre-test academic learning outcomes. The pre-test stimulatingly took place a week before the commencement of the real experiment began in the two schools used for the study. The obtained scores by students from the two groups served as the pre-test scores (learning outcomes). The real treatment began after the pre-test. The Business Education students at Delta State University Abraka were taught office management using collaborative learning while their counterparts at the University of Delta, Agbor were taught the same contents of office management with lecture method. 

The period of the treatments was six weeks. After the completion of the treatments for both two groups, the post-test learning outcomes were obtained from the two groups through the administration of an office management achievement test. The instrument used for the post-test was similar to the one used for the pre-test the items were reshuffled to avoid mastery of the questions by the smart students. The scripts of the students were collated and marked by the researcher and the students were scored over 60. The learning outcome scores collected at the first stage(pre-test) and second stage (post-test) from the two groups (collaborative learning and lecture methods) were compiled for analysis. The data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions while Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used for testing the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance.

Research Question One

What are the mean achievement scores of Business education students taught office management with collaborative learning and those taught with lecture method?

The result in Table 1 revealed that the pre-test mean achievement scores of students taught office management with collaborative learning in the experimental group was 29.72 and the post-test score of 49.75, therefore, making their mean achievement gain to be 20.03. On the other hand, the pre-test mean achievement scores of students taught office management with the lecture method in the control group was 29.20 and a post-test score of 34.19; hence making their mean achievement gain to be 4.99. The result clearly indicates that the collaborative technique had higher positive effects on the learning outcome of Business Education students in office management than the lecture method.

Research Question Two

What is the effect of gender on students’ learning outcome scores in the office management achievement test?

The result in Table 2 reveals that the pre-test mean achievement score of male students taught office management using collaborative learning was 29.88 and the pre-test score of 49.47 making their mean achievement gain to be 19.59. The female students taught with collaborative learning had a pre-test mean achievement score of 29.56 and a post-test score of 50.03 making their mean achievement gain to be 20.47. The male students who taught office management with the lecture method had a pre-test mean achievement score of 29.31 and a post-test score of 34.18 making their mean achievement gain in the control group to be 4.87. 

The female students in the control group had a mean achievement score of 29.12 in the pre-test and 34.19 in the post-test making the mean achievement gain of the female students in the lecture group to be 5.07.

Table 1: Mean Comparison of Achievement Scores of Business Education Students who were Taught Office Management with Collaborative Learning and those Taught with Lecture) Method

N = Number of respondents, SD = Standard Deviation

Table 2: Mean Comparison of Achievement Scores of Male and Female Business Education Students who were Taught Office Management with Collaborative Learning and Lecture Method

N = Number of respondents, SD = Standard Deviation

Table 3: Mean Interaction Effect of Treatments (Collaborative Learning and Lecture Methods) and Gender on Students’ Academic Outcome in Office Technology Achievement Test

N = Number of respondents, SD = Standard Deviation

Table 4: Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) for Test of Significant Difference in Mean Academic Learning Scores of Business Education Students in Office Management and Interaction Effects of Treatments (Collaborative Learning and Lecture) on Gender

R Squared = 0.851 (Adjusted R Squared = 0.833), Significant at 0.05 probability level

Research Question Three

What is the interaction effect of treatments (collaborative learning and lecture method) and gender on students’ academic outcomes in office management achievement test?

The result in Table 3 presents the interaction effect of gender and treatments (collaborative learning and lecture) given to the students on their mean learning outcome in the office management achievement test. As a result of the treatments, the result reveals that male students had a mean learning outcome score of 29.60 in the pre-test and 41.83 in the post-test making their overall mean learning outcome gain in the office management test to be 12.23. The female students had a mean learning outcome score of 29.34 in the pre-test and 42.11 in the post-test making the overall mean learning gain of female students in the office management test to be 12.77. Hence, the results show that there is no difference in the mean learning outcome of male and female students in the office management test as a result of the treatments given to them.

Testing of Hypotheses

The study tested the following three hypotheses using ANCOVA at p<0.05 levels of significance:

• H01: There is no significant difference in the mean achievement scores of Business education students taught office management with collaborative learning and those taught with lecture method

• H02: There is no significant difference in the mean learning outcome scores of male and female Business education students taught office management with collaborative learning and those taught with lecture method in the office management achievement test

• H03: There is no significant interaction effect of treatments (collaborative learning and lecture method) and gender on students’ learning outcomes in the office management achievement test

The result of hypotheses testing in Table 4 presents the effects of treatments (dialogic and lecture) on students’ learning outcomes in office management tests. The F-calculated value of 36.742 and the p-value of 0.000 which is less than 0.05 level of significance indicated that there was a significant difference in the mean learning outcomes (scores) of Business education students taught office management based on the treatments given in favour of students taught with collaborative learning. Hence, the null hypothesis of no significant difference in the mean learning outcomes (scores) of students taught with collaborative technique and those taught with a lecture in office management test was rejected. 

The effect of gender on the academic learning outcome of students in the table also revealed that the F-calculated value of 0.590 and p-value of 0.263 which was greater than 0.05 level of significance indicates that there was no significant difference in the mean learning outcomes (scores) of male and female students in the office management test. Consequently, the null hypothesis of no significant difference in the mean learning outcomes (scores) of male and female students taught office management was accepted. The result of the interaction effect of treatment Group*Gender reveals that the F-calculated value was 0.532 while the p-value was 0.478 which is greater than the 0.05 level of significance. This indicates that there was no significant interaction effect between the treatments are given (collaborative learning and lecture method) and gender on students’ mean learning outcomes in the office management test.

The study found that Business education students taught office management with collaborative learning had higher academic learning outcomes (scores) than those taught with lecture methods of teaching. Hence, indicating that collaborative learning is more efficacious in stimulating higher learning outcomes among students. Fakomogbon and Bolaji [16] in a study found that students taught with collaborative learning had significant academic gains to their counterparts taught with conventional teaching methods. In another study, Muraina [11] found that there was a significant difference in the Mathematics learning achievement of students exposed to collaborative learning techniques and those in the control lecture group. Similarly, the result of the study of Okekeokosisi et al. [9] showed that the collaborative learning method promotes high academic achievement in laboratory organization and management than the lecture method. 

The study on the effects of gender on students’ learning outcomes showed that collaborative learning had significantly positive effects on mean learning outcomes (scores) of both male and female Business education students in the office management test. They indicated that treatments (collaborative learning and lecture methods) given to the students are not gender sensitive. The findings of this study agreed with that of Iji et al. [17] who found that the use of a collaborative instructional strategy had no significant interaction effects on the gender of students with respect to their mean achievement scores. Azih and Nwosu [18] in a study found that modern teaching method such as collaborative learning is superior in improving the learning outcome of both male and female students to the use of the conventional method. The findings of this study contradicted that of Yusuf [19] who investigated the effects of collaborative learning on chemistry students’ academic achievement and found that there was a significant difference in the mean achievement scores of male and female students in favour of the male students. The contradiction in the findings of Yusuf [19] and the present study could be a result of the difference in the courses involved. 

The continuous poor learning outcome of students can be effectively addressed with the replacement of conventional lecture teaching methods with more interactive and student-centered instructional techniques such as collaborative learning. In this study, the use of collaborative learning has proved very effective in enhancing the academic outcomes of Business Education students in universities in Delta State, Nigeria. It is also concluded that collaborative learning is not gender sensitive as it appreciably improved academic learning outcomes of both male and female students. Based on the findings of this study, the following recommendations were made:

• Collaborative learning should be incorporated into the program of Business education in tertiary institutions (universities and colleges of education) for training students who will be future teachers and lecturers

• Seminars, workshops and conferences should be organized by the government at all levels for improved training and retraining of teachers and lecturers in the use of collaborative learning techniques for effective teaching and learning of Business education and other courses at all levels of education

• Teachers, lecturers and instructors in Nigerian tertiary institutions should be encouraged to adopt the use of collaborative learning strategy for instructional delivery to their students for improved academic learning outcomes of the students

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4. University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Business Education Programme. Faculty of Vocational Technical Education, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, 2016.

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9. Okekeokosisi, J.O.C. et al. “Effectiveness of Collaborative Learning Strategy on Undergraduate Science Education Students’ Achievement in Laboratory Organization and Management in Nigerian Universities.” Puissant, vol. 4, 2022, pp. 917–927.

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17. Iji, C.O. et al. “Effect of Collaborative Instructional Strategy on Male and Female Students’ Achievement in Secondary School Chemistry in Benue State, Nigeria.” International Journal of Pharmacy and Chemistry, vol. 3, no. 6, 2017, pp. 94–98.

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19. Yusuf, S.D. “Effects of Collaborative Learning on Chemistry Students’ Academic Achievement and Anxiety Level in Balancing Chemical Equations in Secondary School in Katsina Metropolis, Nigeria.” Journal of Education and Vocational Research, vol. 5, no. 2, 2014, pp. 43–48.