There is no significant interaction effect of gender and strategies on the mean achievement scores of students in Biology

Hypotheses

The following null hypotheses guided the study and were tested at 0.05 level of significance.

HO1: There is no significant difference in the mean achievement score of students taught Biology using concept mapping Instructional scaffold and those taught using conventional method.

HO2: There is no significant difference in the mean achievement scores of male and female students in Biology.

HO3: There is no significant interaction effect of gender and strategies on the mean achievement scores of students in Biology.

158 Method:

The design of this study was quasi- experimental. The specific design was Non- Equivalent Control Group Design. The design was adopted because intact classes were used as it was not possible to have complete randomization of the subjects. The sample consisted of one hundred and forty (140) SS 11 Biology students drawn using purposive sampling techniques from two Co-educational Secondary Schools in Udi and Ezeagu Local government areas. This comprise of 62 students from School 1 made up of 30males and 32 females, and 78 Students from School 2 made up of 35 males and 43 females. The two Co-educational Secondary Schools were drawn from 15 Co- educational government owned Senior Secondary Schools in Udi education Zone of Enugu State. Purposive Sampling was used because the researcher wanted School that will lend themselves to the experiment and for proximity for easy monitoring. The two sampled Schools have well qualified Biology teachers with at least Master degree in education, and the two schools have two streams of SS 2 Classes. The researcher used two intact classes from one school as the experimental/treatment and two intact classes from the other school as the control group.The instrument used for the study is Biology Achievement test (BAT) developed by the researcher based on the biology topic taught. The instrument was subjected to content and face validation. In the content validity, the researcher carefully prepared a test blue- print or table of specification where both the cognitive levels as well as the subject content were aligned on a two grid table. In the second stage of ensuring that the instrument is valid, the researcher consulted three experts in the Department of Science Education from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and one from the Department of Science Education, Enugu State University of Science and Technology. Two experienced Biology teachers from schools in Udi Education Zone of Enugu State were given the BAT for both face and content validation. A marking Scheme was prepared by the researcher and was equally validated by two Biology teachers from Udi Education Zone of Enugu State and four specialists from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Their corrections and suggestions were strictly followed. The topics taught during the study Comprised: respiratory system in animals, respiratory system in plants, classification of living organisms, transport system in animals, circulatory system in animals. The items were trial tested on thirty (30) SS 2 Biology Students in a school different from those used for the study. The reliability was computed using

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Kuder- Richardson (K-R20). The instrument had a reliability index of 0.89 which guaranted the use of the instrument for the study.

Experimental procedure:

The regular biology class teachers were used for the study in both experimental and control groups. Training was given to the biology teacher who took the experimental group on the application of the instructional approach. Prior to this, the biology teacher was given the validated lesson plan to enable her get used to the lesson plan. A sample lesson plan on the effective teaching of classification of living organisms using concept map is attached at the end of the lesson plan for illustration. The researcher vetted the lesson plan prepared by the biology teacher who took the control group to ensure that the teacher did not deviate from the procedures of instructions commonly used by biology teachers. Biology Achievement test (BAT) was used for both Pre-test and Post-test. The treatments consist of teaching a selected biology concept using scaffolding. Data generated were analysed using Mean, standard deviation and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). In Scaffolding, the teacher who is the builder can use the gifted and fast learners as Scaffold to aid or build up the slow learners, having understood the teacher fast, they can lend support to both the slow learners and the teacher. The gifted Students then serve as go- between through interactions with the slow learners after the class. Students learn better and faster from each other.

Research Question 1:

What is the effect of and concept mapping as instructional scaffolding on students’

mean achievement scores in Biology?

Table 1: Mean and Standard Deviation of Biology Students’ Scores for the Experimental and control Groups.

Variable Pretest Posttest

Strategies N SD SD Adjusted

Mean Scaffolding

(experimental)

62 11.44 2.05 30.40 4.83 30.47 Conventional(control) 78 11.46 2.06 24.36 5.74 24.47

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Table 1 shows that the experimental Pre-test and Post-test mean scores are 11.44 and 30.40 with standard deviation scores of 2.05 and 4.83 respectively. However the control group has pretest and posttest mean scores of 11.46 and 24.36 with standard deviation scores of 2.06 and 5.74 respectively. The result in Table 1 also shows that the adjusted mean scores for the treatment group is 30.47 while that of the control group is 24.47 indicating that the students taught Biology using Concept Mapping as scaffolding strategy performed better than those taught with the conventional method.

Hypothesis 1: There is no significant difference in the mean achievement scores