The Impact of Students Generated Analogies on Student’s Achievement in Biology
CHAPTER ONE
Objective of the study
The objectives of the study are;
- To find out if there are differences in performance between the male and female students taught using student-generated analogy.
- To findthe impact of student-generated analogy on student’s achievement in biology
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Teaching Biology at Senior Secondary School Level
Teaching is regarded as the art of imparting knowledge, skills and attitudes in a person in order to bring about a desired change in behaviour that is relatively permanent. Smith, (2011), defined teaching as the process of carrying out those activities that experience has shown to be effective in getting students to learn from his own perspective. Aina (2009) described teaching as an articulated attempt by the teacher to help students acquire skills, attitude, knowledge, idea to better their worth in life. This means that the teachers’ task is to create or influence desirable positive changes in behaviour and academic achievement of the students. In view of this, the success of any teaching effort is measured by the degree to which the teacher is able to achieve the desired objectives. To achieve these objectives of teaching, the teacher must know the types of learning outcomes expected from the learners and the best methods to employ that will bring about such changes in students’ behaviour and academic achievements. Thus, teaching is the only gateway through which the aims and objectives of science education can be achieved using different instructional methods consistent with the nature of science. The emphasis of modern science teaching and learning is on learners’ active participation in the learning process. Moyer et al (2007) pointed out that “science viewed in this way, that, science as not just a body of knowledge but rather a process for producing knowledge”. The foundational concern has been on how to make the teaching and learning more effective and meaningful so as to achieve the educational goal of the nation (Odoh, 2013). This latter view of science therefore calls for a change from the transmission method of presenting science to students to allowing the students to interact with the natural world to create knowledge. The teaching of biology requires the teacher should be knowledgeable in the various method and strategy for teaching biology include; lecture, enquiry ,discovery, guided discovery, project laboratory, field trips/excursion, cooperative, individualise method of teaching. The advantages, disadvantages and suggestion for the effective use of such method were highlighted by (Aina, 2009). Biology is a widely read subject in schools probably because of its greater relevance to man and other organisms than any other science subject. The importance of biology to man is seen in its application in agriculture, medicine and psychology. At the secondary school level, whether the school is purely commercial, technical or comprehensive, the study of biology is compulsory This is not so with other sciences. It becomes necessary therefore, not only to produce teachers who can teach biology but to teach would-be teachers how the subject can be presented through the use of appropriate methods of teaching.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design
The researcher used descriptive research survey design in building up this project work the choice of this research design was considered appropriate because of its advantages of identifying attributes of a large population from a group of individuals. The design was suitable for the study as the study sought the impact of students- generated analogies on students achievement in biology
Sources of data collection
Data were collected from two main sources namely:
Primary source:
These are materials of statistical investigation which were collected by the research for a particular purpose. They can be obtained through a survey, observation questionnaire or as experiment; the researcher has adopted the questionnaire method for this study.
Secondary source:
These are data from textbook Journal handset etc. they arise as byproducts of the same other purposes. Example administration, various other unpublished works and write ups were also used.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION OF DATA
Introduction
Efforts will be made at this stage to present, analyze and interpret the data collected during the field survey. This presentation will be based on the responses from the completed questionnaires. The result of this exercise will be summarized in tabular forms for easy references and analysis. It will also show answers to questions relating to the research questions for this research study. The researcher employed simple percentage in the analysis.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was on the impact of students- generated analogies on students achievement in biology. In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing the challenges of students- generated analogies on student’s achievement in biology
Summary
This study was on The impact of students- generated analogies on student’s achievement in biology. Two objectives were raised which included: To find out if there are differences in performance between the male and female students taught using student-generated analogy and to find the impact of student-generated analogy on student’s achievement in biology. In line with these objectives, two research hypotheses were formulated and two null hypotheses were posited. The total population for the study is 200 staff of selected secondary schools in Oredo local government of Edo state. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. A total of 133 respondents made up principals, vice principals administration, senior staffs and junior staffs were used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies
Conclusion
Slow learners taught ecology concepts using cooperative learning enriched with analogy perform better than thus taught using lecture method. Slow learners taught ecology concepts using cooperative learning enriched with analogy exhibit high level of retention ability in ecology concepts than those taught using lecture method. Male slow learners taught ecology concepts using cooperative learning enriched with analogy did not differ significantly from their female counterpart
Recommendation
Science teachers should consider different ability level in the class when choosing method or strategy so as to cater for different ability groups in the class.
Professional associations like Science Teachers Association (STAN), Mathematics Association of Nigeria (MAN) and research centers like Nigerian Educational and Research Development Council (NERDC) should incorporate cooperative learning enriched with analogy in their science curriculum at the primary, junior and senior secondary schools levels to encourage the use of the of cooperative learning enriched with analogy
References
- Abdullahi, A. (1982). Science Teaching in Nigeria. Ilorin, Atto Press Ltd., Nigeria
- Abimbola, I.O. (2002). Basic Philosophy of Science for University Students, Osogbo: Olatunbosun Publishers.
- Abimbola, I.O. and Mustapha, M.T. (2002). The Use of Analogies in Communicating Difficult Science Concepts to Secondary School Students. Journal of Nigeria Teacher Today, 1(8), 279-289 addition and Subtraction Skils at Primary School level. Journal of Studies in Science and Mathematics Education 1(1), 141-146.
- Adeyemi, A.B. (2008). Effects of Cooperative Learning and Problem Solving Strategies on Junior Secondary School Student’s Achievement in Social Studies. Electronic Journal of Research in Educational Psychology, 6(3):691-708.
- Ado, I.B. and Akinbobola, A.O. (2009). Teaching Simple Interest Using Constructivist Approach. Journal of Issues on Mathematics 12 (1&2), 47-52.
- Aina, M.E. (2009). General Teaching Method: Lagos National Open University of Nigeria. www.noun.edu.ng
- Ajaja, O.P. (2013) Which Strategy Best Suits Biology Teaching? Lecturing, Concept Mapping, Cooperative Learning or Learning Cycle. Electronic Journal of Science Education, 1(17), 1-37.
- Ajaja, O.P. and Eravwoke, O. U. (2010). Effects of Cooperative Learning Strategy on Junior Secondary School Students Achievement in Integrated Science. Electronic Journal of Science Education, 14(1), 1- 18.
- Ajaja, O.P., and Eravwoke, U.O. (2012). Effects of 5E learning Cycle on Student’s Achievement in Biology and Chemistry. Cypriot Journals of Educational Sciences, 7(3), 244 – 262.
- Akbar, N., Hluk, O. and Badrin, B. (2013). Effectiveness of Analogy on Students Understanding of Chemical Equilibrium. Western Anatolia Journal of Educational Science, 4(15), 525-534.
- Akinbobola, A.O. and Afolabi, F (2009). Constructivist Problem Based Learning Technique and the Academic Achievement of Physics Student with Low Ability Level in Nigerian Secondary Schools. Eurasian Journal of Physics & Chemistry Education, 1(4), 55-61.
- Akinobola, A.O. and Falashade, A. (2007). Constructivist Problem-Based Learning Techniques and the Academic Achievement of Physics Student in Nigerian Secondary School. Journal of Physics and Chemistry Education 1(1), 45-51 91
- Akubuilo, D.U. (2004). The Effect of Problem-Solving Instructional Strategy on Student Achievement and Retention in Biology with the Respect of Location in Enugu State. Journal of Science Teacher Association of Nigeria, 39(1&2), 94-100.