Effectiveness of Instructional Methods in Business Studies: A Comparative Study of Learning Outcomes in Accounting Component Using Student Teams- Achievement Divisions and Conventional Methods

This study was prompted by persistent low achievement in Business Studies in Kajiado County, particularly in the accounting component, as consistently reported by the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC, 2017-2023). Even though cooperative learning strategies, such as the Student Teams- Achievement Divisions (STADs), are widely recommended to foster learner engagement and academic performance in other subject areas, there is limited empirical evidence on their effectiveness in accounting instruction in the Kenyan secondary school context. This study, therefore, sought to establish whether there is a statistically significant difference in learning outcomes between learners taught using the STAD strategy and those taught through conventional methods. Anchored in Social Interdependence theory and Lev Vygotsky's Constructivist theory, the study used Solomon four group type quasi-experimental research design. A total of 220 form three learners and 6 Business Studies teachers from 4 mixed-gender secondary schools in Kajiado County were sampled for the study. The experimental groups were exposed to a four-week STAD treatment, while the control groups received conventional instruction. An experimental group and a control group took a pre-test before the intervention, and all four groups took a post-test after the instructional period. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics involving t-tests and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 29.0. The ANOVA showed a statistically significant difference in mean post-test scores among the four groups, F (3, 207) = 29.42, p < 0.001, indicating unequal performance across groups in favour of learners taught using the STAD strategy. The study concluded that STAD is more effective than conventional methods in enhancing learning outcomes in the accounting component and proposes incorporating the strategy into Business Studies instruction in secondary schools in Kajiado County, Kenya.