Effect of PowerPoint Presentations on Students’ Interest in History in Senior Secondary Schools in Abia State, South East Nigeria

This study investigates the effect of PowerPoint presentation-based instruction on students' interest in history in senior secondary schools in Abia State, South East Nigeria. History education at the secondary level has long struggled with low student interest, attributed partly to predominantly text-heavy and lecture-driven instructional methods. The study employs a quasi-experimental design with 110 Senior Secondary School Two history students from two schools in Umuahia North Local Government Area assigned to experimental and control conditions. The experimental group received history lessons delivered through PowerPoint presentations incorporating images, timelines, and embedded video clips over eight weeks. The control group was taught using conventional lecture and textbook methods. A validated Student Interest in History Scale was administered before and after the intervention. Analysis of covariance results confirm a statistically significant increase in interest among experimental group students. Students particularly appreciated visual timelines and archival image presentations as interest-stimulating elements. The study recommends that history teachers in Abia State adopt multimedia PowerPoint presentations as standard instructional tools and that the state education ministry provide projectors and laptops to all secondary schools offering history. Keywords: PowerPoint presentation, student interest, history education, senior secondary school, Abia State