Effect of Guided and Unguided Discovery Methods on Senior Secondary One Students' Retention in Biology in Nsukka Education Zone

Odo, Martha Chigozie; Neboh, Olive I

Research ArticleOpen Access

Effect of Guided and Unguided Discovery Methods on Senior Secondary One Students' Retention in Biology in Nsukka Education Zone

Martha C. Odo¹^*, Olive I. Neboh¹

¹Department of Science Education, Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), Enugu, Nigeria

* Corresponding author: Martha C. Odo

Abstract

The research investigates effects of guided and unguided discovery methods on students' retention in biology in Nsukka education zone. The sample comprises 155 SS1 students from secondary schools in Nsukka Educational Zone of Enugu State. The experimental group was exposed to guided discovery method while the control group was exposed to unguided discovery method. Data we re collected using Biology Retention Test (BRT) which was validated by three experts, content validity was ensured using Test Blue Print (TBP) and Reliability indices of 0.89 was obtained using Kuder Richardson formula 20 (K-R-20). The research questions were answered using mean and standard deviation while the research hypotheses were tested using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) at.05 level. The findings revealed that there is a significant difference in the mean retention score of students taught using guided discovery method and those taught using unguided discovery method. Based on the finding, the researcher recommends among others that Biology teachers should adopt the use of guided discovery method of teaching over the unguided discovery method for e nhancing academic retention. It also establishes that science educators and curriculum planners should incorporate innovative pedagogical strategies like guided discovery method in science teaching.

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Publication history

Published: 1 July 2023

Copyright & licence. © 2023 the author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the CC BY 4.0 licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Research ArticleVol. 4, No. 1 (2023)

Effect of Computer Assisted Instruction on Students' Academic Achievement and Retention in Nutrition Content of Secondary School Biology in Onitsha Education Zone

Mary B. Nwankwo

This study was conducted to determine the effect of computer assisted instruction on student academic achievement and retention in nutrition content of secondary school biology in Onitsha Education Zone of Anambra State. The study adopted a quasi - experimental design using prettest and posttest. The population for the study consisted of 5,626 SS1 Biology students in all the 32 secondary schools in Onitsha education zone of Anambra State with a sample size of 252 biology students (116 male and 136 female ) undertaken using multi -stage sampling technique. Four research questions and four corresponding null hypotheses guided the study. The instrument for data collection was a Biology Achievement Test developed from nutrition in living organisms with multiple choice questions consisting of 50 items with options lettered A -D. The instrument was validated by three experts while the reliability of the instrument was determined usin g Kuder Richardson's formula 20 technique. The internal consistency reliability index was 0.74. The data collected were analyzed using mean scores. The hypotheses formulated for the study were tested at 0.05 level of significance using Analysis of Covariance. Findings of the study revealed that the students taught Biology using Computer assisted instruction, CAI achieved higher than students taught using lecture method. Also, there is a significant difference between the mean academic achievement scores of students taught nutrition in living organisms using CAI and that of those taught using lecture method. It was recommended that the government should assist Biology teachers in the use of CAI for effective services delivery in secondary schools in Anambra State.

JOSCED1 July 2023pp. 43–5600

Research ArticleVol. 4, No. 1 (2023)

Effect of Peer Instructional Strategy on Academic Retention of Senior Secondary School Biology Students in Enugu Education Zone

Matthew D. Idoko

The study examined the effect of Peer Instructional Strategy (PIS) and expository method (EM) on the retention of Secondary School Biology Students. The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of peer instructional strategy relative to expository method on the retention of secondary school Biology students. The area of the study was Enugu Education Zone of Enugu State. Two research questions and hypotheses guided the study. The study was a quasi-experimental research with pretest-posttest, non-equivalent groups research design; involving 528( 227 male and 301 female senior secondary school 2 Biology students drawn from six randomly selected co -educational schools out of the ten secondary schools in Enugu Education z one that met the inclusion criteria. Two intact classes from each of the 6 schools were randomly assigned to either PIS or EM group by balloting. The instrument for the study was a researcher -made Biology Achievement Test (BAT), validated by three experts. C ontent validity was ensured using text blueprint. The Pearson's product moment correlation c oefficient was used to carry out test -retest reliability of the instrument, r = 0.74. The BAT was administered 2 weeks after posttest. The results showed that PIS group significantly performed better than EM group in terms of academic level of retention. The researcher recommends PIS should be used in teaching and learning of Biology.

JOSCED1 July 2023pp. 197–20500

Research ArticleVol. 5, No. 1 (2024)

Biology Teachers' Academic Self-Concept and Academic Stress as Predictors of Academic Achievement of Secondary School Biology Students in Enugu Education Zone

Ijeoma C. Ede, Abigail C. Obodo

This study focused on teachers' academic self-concept and academic stress as predictors of academic achievement of Biology students' in Enugu Education Zone. Six (6) null hypotheses were postulated for the study. The study adopted ex-post-facto research design. The population of study comprised 74 Biology teachers in 33 public secondary schools in Enugu Education Zone with SS 2 biology students' population of 4,737. The sample consisted of all the Biology teachers' in the Zone and a sample of 10% of the students' were sampled from the Biology teachers' classroom. The instrument used for data collection were three (3) Marsh teachers' academic self-concept scale, Balamurugau and Kumaran academic stress scale and Students' scores from their promotion examination 2022/2023 academic year were used to measure their academic achievement in Biology. The instruments were validated by three experts and the internal consistency reliability was determined though Cronbach Alpha method. The teachers' self-concept scale yielded a reliability index of 0.92 while teachers' academic stress scale yielded an index of 0.88 coefficients. The data collected were analysed using Simple and multiple regression analysis with Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22. The findings of the study showed that: Teacher academic self-concept significantly and positively predicted students' academic achievement in Biology in Enugu Education Zone; likewise, teachers' academic stress significantly and negatively predicted students' academic achievement in Biology in Enugu Education Zone. Based on these findings it was recommended amongst others that Biology teachers should arrange learning activities, in such a way that it will help students to be self-directed in their learning in order to have significantly positive achievement in Biology.

JOSCED1 July 2024pp. 142–15700