Applicability of microsoft excel in teaching secondary school statistics for learners’ acquisition of twenty-first century skills.
The aim of this study was to investigate whether MS Excel Software is applicable in teaching secondary school statistics for learners’ acquisition of 21CS. The research was conducted with grade 11 learners at Mwense Secondary School in Luapula Province, Zambia. The grade level was purposively selected, and the two study groups, experimental and control, were randomly chosen from four grade 11 classes. An embedded quasi-experimental design was utilized, and both qualitative and quantitative data were collected. The experimental group received statistics lessons using MS Excel, while the control group was taught statistics using conventional teaching method, with scientific calculators being the only technology used. A diagnostic assessment on 21CS was conducted on the two groups before the intervention, followed by a focus group discussion interview, Likert-scale questionnaires, and a statistics test after the intervention. Qualitative data were analyzed thematically, and MS Excel was used to score and organize the quantitative data. Descriptive statistics, independent sample t-test, Mann-Whitney U test, and Spearman test were performed using SPSS V27.0 during the data analysis. It was found that there was a statistically significant difference (sig <.001) in the 21CS scores between the learners who were taught with MS Excel (Mean=82.27%, SD=3.38) and learners taught by conventional teaching method (Mean=39.23%, SD=4.12). The study revealed that using MS Excel in statistics lessons enhances learners’ acquisition of 21CS. The results of this study were further confirmed by themes that emerged from the interview discussion. In this regard, MS Excel is applicable in teaching secondary school statistics for learners’ acquisition of 21CS. Moreover, acquiring 21CS was associated with positive learning experiences (sig. =0.000 < 0.01). However, there was no significant effect of 21CS on learners’ performance in statistics (sig. =0.657 > 0.01). The study recommends improving computer and internet access, setting up wellequipped computer labs, and encouraging the use of MS Excel software in teaching statistics. Test and exam questions must assess both mathematical computational and reasoning. Future research could explore the influence of gender on acquiring 21CS with MS Excel, teachers’ competencies in teaching with Excel, and their perceptions of its use in teaching mathematics, particularly statistics. Key words: Microsoft Excel, Statistics, Twenty-first Century Skills, learning experiences, performance.
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