The Influence of Concept Mapping and Students Academic Performance in Biology in Secondary Schools
The Influence of Concept Mapping and Students Academic Performance in Biology in Secondary Schools
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine Concept Mapping method and students’ academic performances. Two research hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. Quasi experimental research design was adopted for the study. The population was all the SS2 Biology students in the study area. Sample size of one hundred and eighty (180) students was selected using Intact Classes.
The instrument for data collection was Biology Achievement Test (BAT). The data collected were analysed using t-test statistical tool. The result revealed that students taught with Concept Mapping method performed better than those taught using Conventional teaching methods. The finding also shows no significant difference between the academic performances of male and female Biology students taught using concept mapping method.
The Influence of Concept Mapping and Students Academic Performance in Biology in Secondary Schools
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Continuous decline in the performance of senior secondary school science students has heightened the anxiety of every stake holders in the educational sector. With the teachers at the center of the storm, it is necessary for them to explore strategies for improving cognition and retention by students in each subject area (Enobong, 2010).
To remember information longer and to be able to use it more effectively, the teachers need to move that information into students’ long-term memory (Johnson and Raven, 2013). To achieve this purpose, concept mapping plays a very vital role in teaching. Poor teaching methods have been found to be the main cause of negative impact of Biology education (Gbamanja, 2015). The learning of Biology effectively and to retain the knowledge obtained for a long time, the teacher needs to adopt a teaching method that can help the students in doing this, one of such methods is Concept Mapping.
According to Ekwere (2012), Concept Mapping is a Diagrammatic Presentation of an idea, skills, or concepts for the purpose of organizing and developing knowledge structures in students’ memory. Concept Mapping therefore involves linking the macro to the micro, the general to the specific, and the simple to the complex. It ensures that complexities in explanation are broken into chains of simpler concepts which can be easily recognized.
Concept Mapping can also be seen as the means of organizing ideas. It is a learning strategy that students find useful in understanding complex ideas and clarifying ambiguous relationships. Concept Mapping has been defined as a meta learning (Wander, 2011), the process of development of which can be traced to the well-known work of Novak (2015).
Meta cognition which is a strategy used in self directed learning, the mental processes that assist learners to reflect on their thinking by internalizing, understanding and recalling the content to be learned (Borich, 2014). They include invisible thinking skills such as self-interrogation, self-checking, self-monitoring, and analyzing, as well as memory aids for classifying and recalling content.
The Influence of Concept Mapping and Students Academic Performance in Biology in Secondary Schools
Based on educational psychology theories of how we organize information, concept maps are hierarchical with broader more general items at the top and more specific topics arranged below them. Concept mapping helps students to understand ideas by showing them the connection between one idea to another idea. It does not only identify the major ideas of interest from a chapter, but also shows the relationships among the ideas.
Concept mapping is based on Ausubel’s theory of learning which emphasized the difference between meaningful and rote learning. Ausubel argued that meaningful learning builds one’s cognitive structure by assimilating new concepts into one’s existing conceptual structure. Since the introduction of this concept, it has become a very useful tool in the teaching and learning processes, and particularly in science education research.
Many researchers discussed the positive impact of using concept maps on instruction and learning in secondary school learning of Biology. Kinechin (2014) demonstrated the relevance of concept mapping for teachers planning and preparing of a lesson and creating platform for meaningful learning to students.
Markow and Lonning (2011) tested the effect of Concept Mapping construction on concept understanding in secondary school Biology. They found that students had a strong positive attitude towards using concept maps for better understanding of Biology concepts.
The Influence of Concept Mapping and Students Academic Performance in Biology in Secondary Schools
Many researchers have been conducted on how conventional teaching methods influence the academic performance of students in secondary schools. But little research has been done on the impact of Concept Mapping on the academic performance of students in secondary schools.
This becomes one sided finding and has therefore created an imbalance in research efforts on the extent it can go in influencing the learning of school subjects. The purpose of this study is therefore to examine the influence of concept mapping on students’ academic performance in Biology.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
This study of the direct response to the deteriorating performance of students in Biology in both Senior School Certificate Examination and Unified Tertiary matriculation Examination. The poor performances of students has been traced to be caused by the poor state of resources for teaching and learning Biology. The state of the Biology laboratories in secondary schools ranges from total absence of laboratories to ill-equipped ones.
This situation therefore calls for a search for alternative methods that can help in teaching Biology effectively in the absence of laboratory and still guarantee effective learning by students. The notion that concept mapping makes students to remember information longer and be able to use it more effectively because the information is moved into the long-term memory makes this method the possible alternative in the teaching of Biology even in the absent of laboratory. This is why the researcher is motivated to examine concept mapping and students academic performance in Biology.
The Influence of Concept Mapping and Students Academic Performance in Biology in Secondary Schools
1.3 Purpose of the Study
The general purpose of this study is to examine concept mapping and students’ academic performance in Biology in secondary schools in Ibiono Ibom L.G.A. Specially, the study aimed at:
- Examine the difference in the academic performance of Biology students when taught with Concept Mapping Method and when taught with Conventional teaching method (Lecture method).
- Examine the difference in the academic performance of Biology students based on gender when taught with Concept Mapping method.
1.4 Research Hypotheses
The following null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study;
- There is no significant difference in the academic performance of Biology students taught with Concept Mapping method and those taught with Conventional teaching method.
- There is no significant difference between the academic performance of male and female Biology students when taught with Concept Mapping
1.5 Significance of the Study
It is hopeful that the findings of this study will be useful in the following ways:
- It will help in improving the academic performance of students and memory retention of information for a long time.
- It will be useful to teachers by improving their teaching abilities.
- The educational planners will see the findings of this research as needful to be incorporate in the new secondary school curriculum for science.
- This study will also served as a reference material to anyone who will conduct a research on the same or similar topic.
The Influence of Concept Mapping and Students Academic Performance in Biology in Secondary Schools
1.6 Delimitation of the Study
This study is delimited to concept mapping and students’ academic performance in Biology in secondary schools in Ibiono Ibom L.G.A. The target population are all the SS2 Biology students in the study area. The study considered the lecture method, concept mapping method. Moreover, students’ gender is also considerer.
1.7 Limitation of the Study
The following challenges were confronted by the researcher in the course of conducting this study:
- Financial Constraint: Due to high cost of transportation in visiting the selected schools for this study, finance was one of the challenge.
- Time Constraint: The time given for the completion of this study was not enough because the researcher had other school activities to carry out as at the time of this study.
- School Location: The distance between the schools selected was so wide spread. Moreover, some of the schools were located in the rural area. So long distances and bad road network was another challenge faced by the researcher.
The Influence of Concept Mapping and Students Academic Performance in Biology in Secondary Schools
1.8 Definition of terms
The following terms were defined as they are utilized for this study for easy understanding:
(i) Concept mapping: This is a teaching strategy which involves diagrammatical representation of ideas to help students understand and retain information longer.
(ii) Lecture method: This is an oral presentation of information to the students while the students listen and take down note.
(iii) Conventional teaching method: These are methods of teaching that have been in use over the years by classroom teachers. E.g. lecture method, demonstration method etc.
(iv) Academic performance: This is the extent to which a student has achieved the short or long term educational goals.
(v) Biology: Is the natural science that studies life and living organisms.
For More Visit : https://researchkings.com.ng/
The Influence of Concept Mapping and Students Academic Performance in Biology in Secondary Schools
The Influence of Concept Mapping and Students Academic Performance in Biology in Secondary Schools
The Influence of Concept Mapping and Students Academic Performance in Biology in Secondary Schools
The Influence of Concept Mapping and Students Academic Performance in Biology in Secondary Schools
The Influence of Concept Mapping and Students Academic Performance in Biology in Secondary Schools
The Influence of Concept Mapping and Students Academic Performance in Biology in Secondary Schools
The Influence of Concept Mapping and Students Academic Performance in Biology in Secondary Schools
The Influence of Concept Mapping and Students Academic Performance in Biology in Secondary Schools
The Influence of Concept Mapping and Students Academic Performance in Biology in Secondary Schools
The Influence of Concept Mapping and Students Academic Performance in Biology in Secondary Schools
The Influence of Concept Mapping and Students Academic Performance in Biology in Secondary Schools
