Impact of Problem Solving and Lecture Method in Biology Students Performance in Secondary Schools in Otukpo Municipal Council, Benue State
CHAPTER ONE
Objectives
- To investigate the impact of problem solving and lecture method on students academic achievement in senior secondary school biology in Otukpo.
- To investigate the impact of problem solving and lecture method on students’ academic achievement due to gender.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Science Instructional Strategies
Science teaching generally and teaching of Biology in particular cannot be effectively done unless instructional materials are employed. There are various methods of teaching Biology, some of which are Lecture, Demonstration, Field-trip and Laboratory method. James (2012) viewed Lecture method as one of the most popular method of instruction commonly used for science teaching. He described lecture method as that traditional approach which is referred to as didactic approach, thus can be defined as a teaching technique in which one person usually the teacher presents a spoken discourse on a particular subjects. More than 80% of scientific information and principles are delivered as lectures (Bichi 2012). Teachers embrace this method for easy coverage of the school syllabus. It is characterized by one-way flow of information from the teacher who is always active, while the students are always passive. The method saves time and energy. It allows easy handling of large classes without much stress and is not expensive as only the chalkboard is required. In its true nature the lecture approach is not effective for science teaching. Usman (2012), James (2012) and Bichi (2012) all argued against it because it does not promote meaningful learning of science. The students easily become restless and disruptive since their attention span is very limited.
Demonstration is another method in science teaching; which Anaso (2018) simply described as ’to display something’. This approach involves showing a particular procedure or skill to the students who after careful teaching and learning and interaction repeat and practice the same process shown to them. Demonstration approach can be used when the available resources, equipment cannot go around for all the students in the class. The teacher or some groups of students usually carry it out. The method is less costly in term of materials and it can be used to teach certain techniques or skills, theory and practice. It allows teachers to handle activities that could be harmful to students if carried out by them. However, demonstration does not allow students to develop their skills or manipulation and therefore do not satisfy all there psychomotor domain. Students always have problems in seeing the details of the objects or activities being carried out during demonstration (Anaso, 2018 and Obeka 2010).
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Design
The research design adopted for this study is quasi-experimental design. The reason for this is that, no comparison of any kind is involved. Rather, the intention is to reveal the effects of problem solving and lecture method on student’s academic achievement in biology. As an experimental design, the sampled population shall be divided into two group viz experimental group and control group. The experimental group shall be given a treatment while the control group will not be given any treatment.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION OF RESULTS
Research Question 1: What is the impact of problem solving and lecture method on students academic achievement?
CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Conclusion
From the results obtained in the study on the impact of problem solving and lecture method on student’s academic achievement biology in, it was found that students taught biology using improvised instructional materials performed better than students taught using conventional material; male students did not perform better than their female counterparts in Biology; rural students performed better than urban students in biology; The results do not suggest ordinal interaction impact between mode of method and gender on students’ achievement in biology. This was because at all the levels of gender, the mean scores were higher for student’s improvised demonstration instructional material; the result suggests ordinal interaction effects between modes of method and location on students’ achievement in Biology; this was because at all the levels of location, the mean scores were higher for student’s improvised problem solving and lecture method material compared to conventional materials with lower mean scores; there was significant difference in the mean score of students taught using students improvised problem solving and lecture method material and those taught using conventional instructional materials; there was no significant difference in the mean achievement scores of male and female students in biology; there was significant difference in the mean achievement scores of urban and rural students in biology; The interaction the impact of method and gender on students mean achievement scores in Biology was, therefore, not statistically significant. The interaction the impact of method and location on students’ mean achievement scores in Biology was, therefore, not statistically significant.
Education implication
The findings of this study have implications for science education particularly in teaching biology in secondary schools. The implications of this study border on development of more demonstration instructional materials for teaching biology. The study revealed that it was students taught using improvised instructional materials performed better than students taught using conventional material; male students did not perform better than their female counterparts in Biology; rural students performed better than urban students in biology; The results do not suggest ordinal interaction the impact between mode of method and gender on students’ achievement in biology. This was because at all the levels of gender, the mean scores were higher for student’s demonstration instructional material; the result suggests ordinal interaction effects between modes of method and location on students’ achievement in Biology; this was because at all the levels of location, the mean scores were higher for student’s improvised demonstration instructional material compared to conventional materials with lower mean scores; there was significant difference in the mean score of students taught using students improvised instructional material and those taught using conventional instructional materials; there was no significant difference in the mean achievement scores of male and female students in biology; there was significant difference in the mean achievement scores of urban and rural students in biology; The interaction impact of method and gender on students mean achievement scores in Biology was, therefore, not statistically significant. The impact problem solving and lecture method of method and location on students’ mean achievement scores in Biology was, therefore, not statistically significant.
Recommendations
Based on the findings of this study, and their demonstrations, the following recommendations are made.
- The teaching of Biology in secondary school should be conducted in a manner that students will effectively understand and learn the concept taught. It should be practical as the use of problem solving and lecture method has play greater role in students’ achievement in biology.
- Teacher should try to problem solving and lecture method and encourage students to do the same. This will gives students enough understanding of Biology concepts as the child’s local environment will be use to source for the
- There should be cordial relationship between policy makers and schools for the provision of essential resource materials, like laboratory, glass wares, reagents, microscope, burner,
- It is suggested that regular meaningful workshop on improvisation technique for Science teachers should be conducted to improve and update their competence in teaching.
- At the local education authority level, effort should be made from time to time to organize workshops for Biology teachers on improvisation and needs for the use of instructional materials. This is to compliment the efforts of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for re-training of Science
