INFLUENCE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ON PUPILS MOTIVATION AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN SOCIAL STUDIES IN KUJE AREA COUNCIL IN ABUJA FCT. TABLE OF CONTENT

TOPIC IS SUITABLE FOR:
1-Social Studies Education
2-Educational Technology
3-Curriculum Studies
4-Educational Psychology
TOPIC: INFLUENCE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ON PUPILS MOTIVATION AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN SOCIAL STUDIES IN KUJE AREA COUNCIL IN ABUJA FCT.
TABLE OF CONTENT
Abstract
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
1.2 Statement of the Problem 
1.3 Objectives of the Study 
1.4 Research Question (s) 
1.5 Hypothesis/Hypotheses
1.6 Significance of the Study 
1.7 Scope and Delimitation of the Study
1.8 Operational Definition of Terms
CHAPTER TWO - Review of the Related Literature
2.0 Introduction
2.1 Theoretical/Conceptual Frameworks
2.2 Utilization of Artificial Intelligence Resources in the Teaching and Learning of Social     Studies
2.2 Perceived Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Pupils’ Motivation in Social Studies
2.3 Influence of Artificial Intelligence on Pupils’ Academic Performance in Social Studies
CHAPTER THREE – Research Methodology
3.0 Introduction
3.1 Research Design
3.2 Population of the study
3.3 Sample and Sampling Techniques
3.4 Research Instrument 
3.5 Procedure for Data Collection 
3.6 Method of Data Analysis
CHAPTER FOUR - Data Presentation, Analysis and Discussions
4.0 Introduction
4.1 Data Presentation 
4.2 Data Analysis 
4.3 Discussions 
4.4 Summary of the Major Findings
CHAPTER FIVE - Summary, Conclusion and Recommendations
5.0 Introduction
5.1 Summary 
5.2 Conclusion 
5.3 Recommendations 
References
Appendix
ABSTRACT
The research work focused on "Influence of Artificial Intelligence on Pupils' Motivation and Academic Performance in Social Studies in Kuje Area Council, Abuja FCT". The research purpose was to specifically: assess the extent to which AI resources are being used for the purpose of teaching and learning; assess the perceived impact of AI on the pupils' motivation; establish the influence of AI on pupils' academic performance; and identify the barriers hindering the effective use of AI in social studies classrooms. A descriptive survey research design was adopted and the population of 232 social studies teachers, in some selected social studies primary and junior secondary schools in Kuje Area Council, Abuja FCT was selected. A sample of 147 respondents were determined using Taro Yamane formula and 141 valid responses were analysed. Data collection was carried out by using structured questionnaire based on a four-point Likert scale while data analysis was performed using mean, standard deviation and Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) at a 0.05 level of significance. The results showed that the use of AI resources in teaching social studies is increasing, with mean scores ranging from 2.90 to 3.10, which can be seen as high levels of effectiveness in the process of integrating AI in class learning. The study also revealed significant positive relationships between the utilisation of AI and pupil's academic performance (r = 0.63, p < 0.05), and the utilisation of AI and pupil's motivation (r = 0.58, p < 0.05) indicating AI improves the interest and achievement of pupils in learning. However, barriers such as poor infrastructure, inadequate teacher training and poor internet access were identified. The study concluded that AI is a significant factor in enhancing the effectiveness of teaching, engagement of pupils and learning performance in social studies. It recommended education authorities to invest in digital infrastructure, promote AI literacy among teachers, and have supportive policies to promote innovative teaching practises using artificial intelligence in primary and secondary schools.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION (Preview)
1.1 Background of the Study
The accelerated process of technological development has radically altered virtually every area of human life, such as communication and governance, education and industrial processes. One of the most revolutionary advances of this digital era is Artificial Intelligence (AI) - a branch of computer science that aims to programme systems that can exhibit behaviours that generally involve human intelligence, such as the ability to learn, reason and problem-solve. Although an area of computer science in the beginning, AI has since grown into a force for change in most industries, where machines have been given the capability of performing cognitive tasks that were once thought to be unique to humans. As AlShibli et al. (2025) emphasise AI isn't a mere technological tool, but a paradigm shift that affects the way that individuals interact with information and make decisions. Consequently, Lu and Lin (2024) define Artificial Intelligence (AI) as an enabler of adaptive learning environments redefining pedagogy in terms of efficiency, personalization and innovation across the world's education systems.
As an institution of society the education has always been concerned with motivating the students and developing their academic ability. Pupils' motivation and academic performance are prominent constructs in educational psychology and are important factors influencing learners' engagement, persistence and performance. Motivation refers to the internal and external factors in the cognitive processes of the pupils that make them aroused and orientated towards the learning process and academic performance refers to the observable performance of the learning processes of the pupils. Xie et al. (2020) refers to this close relationship between motivation and learners' engagement and self-regulation in association with the way learners put efforts in cognitive and emotional aspects of academic tasks. In like manner Pensier et al. (2024) have observed that motivation and socialisation have a great contribution to success of students, which indicates that learning is not simply a cognitive process but it is an affective and social process. Thus the question of how to increase the pupils' motivation remains a key issue in the educational debate as it has a direct influence on the performance of the pupils and their learning success in life.
The role of Artificial Intelligence in pupil motivation and performance had become a focus and interest of the research in contemporary education. From adaptive learning systems to intelligent tutoring systems, AI technologies can be used to personalise learning and make it more engaging and effective for students. Imran 2025 says that the AI enabled personalised learning can help the increased motivation level of the learners by personalising the learning content as per their pace and preferences. Similarly, Mohamed et al. (2024) stated that the integration of AI tools in higher education has a significant impact on the motivation of the learners, and the efficiency of learning through providing learners with immediate feedbacks and encouraging autonomy. This result is compatible with the results of Galindo-Dominguez et al. (2025) who, according to the self-determination theory, determined that AI applications can spur intrinsic motivation to the extent that they enable learners to feel competent and related. Thus, AI is not only the technology intervention but it is also an inspirational booster that can transform the way our students think about and approach learning tasks.
With the use of AI, there are new possibilities for contextual and interactive learning opportunities in the social studies learning process. The technologies that can simulate real life situations and promote critical thinking are of the greatest assistance to social studies education which focuses on civic competence, social investigation and cultural understanding. Almogren et al. (2024) suggests the benefits of AI-based platforms because it enables visual learning and experience-based learning which can help in better understanding abstract social concepts. On the other hand, Chanpokin and Lomarda (2025) highlight that the use of AI can improve students' performance because it allows the creation of learning environments with dynamic climates in which students can communicate with virtual simulations and virtual tutors. By using AI tools in the social studies curriculum, teachers can ensure that the students they are teaching will have greater analytical skills and motivation, which leads to better performance in the classroom. Therefore, AI is no longer a pedagogical tool, but a change medium in value where social knowledge and values are absorbed.
However, the range of application of artificial intelligence resources in the teaching and learning of social studies varies considerably from educational environment to educational environment. Adewale et al. (2024) stated that the level of readiness of the institution, whether digital infrastructure is available, and the competence of teachers in incorporating technology are some of the factors that determine the successful implementation of AI in the schools. In line with this, Du and Lv (2024) found that the factors of perceived usefulness, ease of use and technological support have an effect on the acceptance and use of generative AI by students in the domain of elementary education. These results indicate that although AI has huge transformative potential in the context of education, AI is not yet used in a consistent manner, and needs to be considered carefully within the context of implementation. As mentioned by Bressane et al. (2023), the successful use of AI is characterised by a strategic match between pedagogy, technology and various needs of the learner. Thus, the extent to which the AI resources are incorporated corresponds to the extent to which such technologies will have an impact on the educational experiences.
Another example of how AI is changing modern learning is the perceived impact of AI on the academic motivation of students. Galindo-Dominguez et al. (2025) provide evidence that the AI-based interventions can be a significant contribution to increase the level of motivation of the adolescents through matching the tasks to their psychological needs for autonomy and competence. In addition, in the study of Wei et al. (2025), it was concluded that in the language learning situations, the AI chatbots have improved the motivation and performance of the learners because of its interactive feedback and personalised encouragement. In a field like social studies education where abstract reasoning and socio-emotional engagement are so important, these motivational benefits may be particularly important. In accordance with these views, Namaziandost and Rezai (2024) say that the AI-based learning environments improve academic emotion regulation and learner autonomy, which are two components of motivation. Thus, AI can be looked at as a cognitive and affective facilitator in the motivation system of learning.
Moreover, artificial intelligence has already been proven to have an impact in the performance of students in various fields of education. And other studies such as Zakaria et al. (2024) and Kamau (2025) have shown a positive correlation between the integration of AI and academic achievement, where students have shown increased understanding, retention and problem-solving skills. Liu et al. (2025) in a meta-analysis of artificial intelligence (AI) for K-12 and higher education have affirmed that AI interventions have overwhelmingly been found to have greater learning effects due to adaptive and feedback nature of AI interventions. In terms of social studies, such adaptive mechanism can assist pupils to encounter various perspectives and also to have analytical thinking skills required for success in academic disciplines. These findings support the case that the effect of AI extends beyond convenience - it generally translates into measurable educational gains, in terms of enhancing the cognitive and metacognitive capabilities of learners.
Finally, in Kuje Area Council, Abuja FCT, for example, the use of social studies through the aid of AI is an emerging and developing trend. As Chanda et al (2025) highlighted, for successful implementation of AI teaching assistants, institutional capacity and teacher's disposition towards interaction with technological innovations is required. Likewise, the work of Hu et al. (2024) simplifies the hypothesis to the fact that the learning outcomes mediated by AI are moderated by learner attitude on the motivation for future education and knowledge acquisition being in line with the aspirations of the pupils in developing environments like Kuje. Thus, the learning culture of Kuje Area Council offers a distinctive context to explore the implications of the AI technologies in terms of motivation and performance in social studies where there is an interplay of cultural diversity and socio-economic variables in the digital transformation. In this light, this research study, therefore, investigates the dynamics of teaching and learning based on the use of artificial intelligence among the pupils in the region.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
While the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in education has revolutionised how education is delivered and how learners learn, its use in basic education, especially in social studies, is barely being implemented and is far from equitable in most developing contexts. In Kuje Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria, and as a whole, educational institutions are starting to realise the potential of AI to improve pupils' engagement and academic performance but there is still limited empirical knowledge of what it is and the use/impact of AI in practise. According to studies such as those of Adewale et al. (2024) and Du and Lv (2024), although AI has been used in higher education and technologically advanced education systems to enhance performance and motivation, its penetration into elementary and middle schools education is relatively new. The evidence shows that while the trend of AI pedagogy is the global trend, the local reality in the social studies classrooms is that they still remain largely traditional. Ideally, AI technologies should be integrated as interactive learning tools that can personalise instruction, improve motivation, and improve academic performance of pupils (Galindo-Dominguez et al., 2025; Mohamed et al., 2024). However, concrete evidence on the manifestations of such outcomes in the Nigerian context is still lacking and there is a need for context-specific studies that establish the extent to which AI is being used and the resultant impact on learners' learning in social studies.
While literature has established that AI can help increase motivation and enhance academic performance (Imran, 2025; Zakaria et al., 2024), the majority of these studies have been conducted in higher education and technologically advanced settings, and there is a gap in the research on primary education systems in sub-Saharan Africa. Furthermore, as Bressane et al. (2023) and Chanpokin and Lomarda (2025) suggest, the ability of AI to improve learning outcomes is subject to environmental, infrastructural and pedagogical factors which vary from region to region. However, it illustrates a crucial empirical gap in the understanding of the effect of AI on pupils' motivation and learning outcomes in foundational subjects (such as social studies), which are needed for civic and cultural development. The present study therefore attempts to fill this gap by investigating the extent of usage of AI resources, its perceived motivational effect and its effect on the academic performance of pupils' in social studies using Kuje A.C. teaching and learning of social studies in Abuja F.C.T. Through this, it seeks to offer context-driven insight that can inform the educational stakeholders to better integrate AI in basic education.
1.3 Objectives of the Study
The main objective of this study is to examine the influence of Artificial Intelligence on pupils’ motivation and academic performance in social studies in Kuje Area Council, Abuja FCT. Specifically, the study seeks to:
1.Evaluate the extent to which artificial intelligence resources are utilized for the teaching and learning of social studies in Kuje Area Council, Abuja FCT.
2.Examine the perceived impact of artificial intelligence in boosting pupils’ academic motivation toward social studies in Kuje Area Council, Abuja FCT.
3.Investigate the influence of artificial intelligence on pupils’ academic performance in social studies in Kuje Area Council, Abuja FCT.
4.Identify the barriers hindering the effective use of artificial intelligence for teaching and learning social studies in Kuje Area Council, Abuja FCT.
OTHER PARTS OF CHAPTER ONE INCLUDE:
1.4 Research Questions
1.5 Research Hypotheses
1.6 Significance of the Study
1.7 Scope and Delimitation of the Study
1.8 Operational Definition of Terms
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE (Preview)
This chapter critically examines relevant literature that would assist in explaining the research problem and, furthermore, recognizes the efforts of scholars who had previously contributed immensely to similar research. The chapter intends to deepen the understanding of the study and close the perceived gaps. This chapter, therefore, focuses on the concept of artificial intelligence, the concept of pupils’ motivation, academic performance in Social Studies, the influence of artificial intelligence on pupils’ motivation and academic performance, etc. The chapter covers the following subheadings:
2.1 Conceptual Framework
2.2 Theoretical Framework
2.3 Empirical Review
2.4 Summary of Literature Review
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY (Preview)
Research Design: The study adopted a descriptive survey research design.
Population of the Study: The population of the study comprises Social Studies teachers in selected public and private primary and junior secondary schools in Kuje Area Council, Abuja FCT.
Sample Size Determination: The study adopted the Taro Yamane formula to determine a sample size of 147 respondents.
Sampling Technique: The study employed a stratified random sampling technique to select the respondents.
Research Instrument: The study utilized a structured questionnaire as the instrument for data collection.
Methods of Data Analysis: The collected data were analyzed using frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations to summarize and present the demographic characteristics of the respondents and their responses. Inferential statistics, such as Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient (r), were used to test the hypotheses at a 0.05 level of significance.
CHAPTER FOUR: DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
MAJOR FINDINGS (Preview)
i. The study found that artificial intelligence resources are moderately utilised for teaching and learning social studies in Kuje Area Council, Abuja FCT, as evidenced by the item mean scores ranging from 2.72 to 2.86, all of which are above the acceptance benchmark of 2.50. This indicates that AI resources are gradually being incorporated into social studies instruction, although their utilisation remains limited.
ii. The study found that artificial intelligence has a positive influence on pupils’ academic motivation towards social studies in Kuje Area Council, Abuja FCT, as evidenced by the mean scores ranging from 2.93 to 3.01, which are above the acceptance benchmark of 2.50. The corresponding hypothesis test further showed a correlation coefficient (r) of 0.58, t-value of 8.42, and p-value of 0.000 (p < 0.05), leading to the rejection of the null hypothesis. This indicates a significant positive relationship between the utilisation of AI and pupils’ academic motivation.
iii. The study found that artificial intelligence positively influences pupils’ academic performance in social studies in Kuje Area Council, Abuja FCT, as evidenced by the mean scores ranging from 2.99 to 3.07, which are above the acceptance benchmark of 2.50. The corresponding hypothesis test further showed a correlation coefficient (r) of 0.63, t-value of 9.87, and p-value of 0.000 (p < 0.05), leading to the rejection of the null hypothesis. This indicates a significant positive relationship between the utilisation of AI and pupils’ academic performance in social studies.
iv. The study found that inadequate access to AI facilities, insufficient teacher training, poor internet connectivity, high technology costs, and limited administrative support are major barriers to the effective utilisation of artificial intelligence for teaching and learning social studies in Kuje Area Council, Abuja FCT, as evidenced by the mean scores ranging from 2.99 to 3.18, which are above the acceptance benchmark of 2.50. Poor internet connectivity recorded the highest mean score of 3.18, indicating that it is the most prominent barrier to the effective integration of AI into social studies education in the study area.
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
This chapter covers the following outline:
5.0 Introduction
5.1 Summary 
5.2 Conclusion
5.3 Recommendations
References
Appendix

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