EFFECT OF CONCEPT MAPPING ON STUDENTS ACHIEVEMENT AND INTEREST IN BIOLOGY

ABSTRACT

The study investigated the effect of concept mapping instructional strategy on students’ achievement and interest in Biology in secondary schools in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State. Six research questions were posed and six null hypotheses were formulated and tested. The design adopted for the study was a quasi-experimental, specifically; the non- equivalent control group design. The population of the study is the entire senior secondary II (SSII) Biology students in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State. The sample consisted of 80 students of two intact classes from two purposively selected co-educational secondary schools in Nsukka Local Government and were used for the study. The main instruments used for data collection were the Biology Achievement Test (BAT) and Biology Interest Inventory (BII). Data obtained were analyzed using mean and standard deviation to answer the six research questions while analysis of covariance was used to test the six null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The results showed among others that students that were taught Biology using concept mapping instructional strategy achieved better than their counterparts taught with the lecture method; Students that were taught Biology using concept mapping instructional strategy had higher interest score than their counterparts taught with the lecture method and that there is a significant difference between the mean achievement scores of the students taught Biology with concept mapping instructional strategy and those taught with lecture method in favour of the experimental group. Gender was found not to be a significant factor for students’ achievement and interest in Biology. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended among others that teacher educators should focus on preparing Biology teachers to acquire appropriate skills and confidence needed for concept mapping instructional strategy.