instructional strategies and effective teaching and learning of Biology in secondary schools

Instructional Strategies and Effective Teaching and Learning of Biology in Secondary Schools

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine instructional strategies and effective teaching and learning of Biology in secondary schools in Ibesikpo Asutan L.G.A of Akwa Ibom state. Two research hypotheses were raised to guide the study. Survey research design was adopted for the study.

The population for this study were all the Biology teachers and all SS2 Biology students in the study area, while a sample size of twenty (20) teachers and one hundred and eight (180) students were selected from ten schools using simple random sampling technique. The instrument for data collection was questionnaire while the data collected were analyzed using Chi-square statistical tool. The result revealed that demonstration and discovery instructional strategies promote effect teaching and learning of Biology. 

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1   Background to the Study

Teaching brings about understanding; it involves a teacher, learners, subject matter and teaching materials. Therefore to bring about learning, the teacher engages in certain activities such as talking, demonstration, directing and giving instruction. According to Adediran (2014), all these are the various strategies to bring about learning.

Teaching strategies are all the things the teachers uses to aid the learners in their learning process. It could also be refers to as the means used by a teacher to bring about effective learning. Kimwori (2014) opined that teaching strategies could also be refers as teaching method. According to him, teaching strategies are the variety of ways in which a learning task is managed to facilitate the process of learning. Ndirangu (2016) maintained that teaching strategies are the general principle pedagogy and management strategies used for classroom instruction.

According to Etuk and Udosen (2019), teaching strategies can be categorized into two broad groups which are; conventional teaching strategies and psychologically based teaching methods. The conventional teaching techniques are those teaching strategies which have been in use over the years by a classroom teachers. Example of conventional teaching strategy include; lecture method, discussion methods, discovery method, demonstration method, field trip and simulation/role playing methods.

On the other hand, psychological based teaching method are those teaching strategies employed based on psychological principles consequent upon numerous research findings that emphasise individual/differences, learners need, motivation and interest. Examples of these strategies include team teaching, individualized instruction and Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI).

Ndirangu (2016) further classified teaching strategies into teacher-centered and student-centered. He also asserted that there is no specific strategy of teaching which is generally accepted to be use the teacher. According to him the choice of a particular teaching strategy to be adopt by the teacher is determined by number of factors such as the content to be taught, the objectives of the lesson, the age and maturity of the learners, resources availability and the teacher competencies on a particular strategy.

Instructional Strategies and Effective Teaching and Learning of Biology in Secondary Schools

Effective teaching in secondary schools according to Adediran (2014) should emphasize the use of activity-oriented instructional strategies that will make students achieve their learning objectives.hte population of a functional and productive citizenry which is a major focus of secondary school education entails that secondary education concerns itself with inculcating creativity, competency, critical thinking and decision making skills in the learners.

The instructional methods adopted by the teacher do influence the learning effectiveness among students either positively or negatively. Students’ poor performance in external examination could be result of poor instruction strategies and neglecting of students learning styles. However, different instructional strategies has been introduced but not all the teaching strategies could improve students’ academic achievement (Nkechineyer & Arokogu, 2018).

Biology is the study of plants and animals; it is a science subject offered at senior secondary school level in Nigeria and it is among the subject taken at senior school certificate examination (SSCE). The teaching of science in general and Biology in particular required the activity based teaching methods which enable active participation of students in the teaching learning process. Thus, this is why this work aimed at examines instructional strategies and the teaching/learning of Biology in secondary schools.

1.2   Statement of the Problem

Biology is one of the important science subjects offered in secondary schools. It is a compulsory subject to anyone who wishes to study any science oriented course in higher institution. It is important to note that in spite of the importance of Biology, students’ performance in this subject have continued to record a persistent and depressing downward trend (Ikitde and Edet (2013).

Several factors have been identified as affecting students’ academic achievement; these factors include inadequate instructional resources poor laboratory resources, lack of science textbooks, poor instructional strategies and others, to mention but few. To overcome these problems of students poor performance in Biology in secondary school, there is need to examine instructional strategies and the teaching/learning of Biology in secondary schools which is the focus of this study. 

1.3   Purpose of the Study

The general purpose of this study is to examine instructional strategies and effective teaching and learning of Biology in secondary schools in Ibesikpo Asutan L.G.A. Specifically, the study aim at;

1. Examine the effect of demonstration instructional strategy on effective teaching/learning of Biology in secondary schools.
2. Access the effect of discovery instructional strategy on effective teaching/learning of Biology in secondary schools.

1.4   Statement of Hypotheses

The following null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study;

1. There is no significant effect of demonstration instructional strategy on effective teaching/learning of Biology in secondary schools in Ibesikpo Asutan L.G.A.
2. There is no significant effect of discovery instructional strategy on effective teaching/learning of Biology in secondary schools in Ibesikpo Asutan L.G.A.

1.5   Significance of the Study

The findings of this study will be of great benefit to the teachers, students and educational stake holders in the following ways; the teachers will be aware of suitable teaching strategies that promote effective teaching of Biology. The teachers will also start to make use of these instructional strategies that enhance the teaching of Biology; the students will also benefits in that their academic achievement will be improved when the teachers make used of suitable instructional strategies during lesson delivery.

The students will also developed positive attitude toward the learning of Biology. The educational stake-holders will use the findings of this study to make policy that promote effective teaching and learning of Biology. Moreover, the findings of this study will also serve as a point of referenced to other researchers.

1.6   Delimitation of the Study

This study is delimited to instructional strategies and effective teaching/learning of Biology in secondary schools in Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government Area. The target population for this study are all the Biology teachers and all Senior Secondary Two (SS2) students in the study area.

1.7   Limitation of the Study

The following challenges were confronted by the researcher in the process of conducting this research.

1. Time constraint: The period of time given for the completion of this study was not enough because the researcher had other academic activities to carryout as at the time of this study.
2. Financial constraint: The high cost of transportation to visit the selected schools for this study constitute a great problem to the researcher.
3. School Location: Some schools visited by the researcher was located in the rural area so bad road network was nother problem.

1.8   Definition of terms

The following terms were defined as they are utilized in this study for easy understanding of this study.

1. Instructional strategy: This refers to all the means, skills and methods adopted by a teacher in the teaching/learning process.
2. Teaching: This is the act of transferring knowledge from one person (teacher) to another (learner).
3. Learning: This refers to the process of receiving information/knowledge from the instructor.
4. Biology: It is a science subject that deals with the study of life.
5. Ibesikpo Asutan: This is one of the thirty one local government area in Akwa Ibom State.

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