IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF SCIENCE STUDENTS USING BAYESIAN MODEL

Abstract

Considering the emergence of the global COVID-19 pandemic, teaching and learning activities were interrupted for almost a year across the Senior Secondary Schools in Nigeria. This research work seeks to investigate and evaluate the degree of impact of COVID-19 on the academic performance of Science students from four (4) Science subjects; Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology using a Bayesian Hierarchical Linear Mixed Effects Model (BHLMEM) fitted to cross-sectional data. The Bayesian Model is designed for this application which allows student-specific error variances to vary across the Science subjects. The data collected was analyzed using Residual Maximum Likelihood in R package. It was clearly evident that COVID-19 had a huge impact on the academic performance of Science students in Secondary schools. Some recommendations were suggested to the educators that it is important for teachers to seamlessly integrate and infuse themselves into the cutting-edge paradigm shift of the 21st century known as digital mode of teaching, and they should train and guide the
learners until they acclimatize to the ecosystem of online teaching.