Effects of collaborative concept mapping teaching approach on secondary school students’ achievement and motivation to learn biology in Nakuru North Sub-County, Kenya.

Abstract

Biology is a key science subject in the Kenyan Secondary School Curriculum. However, evidence available indicates that students’ achievement in the subject has been poor. One of the factors attributed to this poor achievement is the teaching approaches used by teachers, with teacher-centered approaches being pre-dominant. This study sought to address the problem of ineffective instruction by teachers by investigating effects of Collaborative Concept Mapping Teaching Approach (CCMTA) on secondary school students’ achievement and motivation to learn Biology. The study used a Quasi-experimental research design, the Solomon Four Non-Equivalent Control Group Design. The study sample comprised of 202 Form two biology students and four biology teachers in four secondary schools who taught the topic “Gaseous exchange in plants and animals”. Purposive sampling technique was used to select the four schools from which a single stream per school was selected by simple random sampling. The streams comprised of 47, 54, 55 and 46 students respectively. The four schools were randomly assigned into two experimental and two control groups and coded as E1 & E2, C1 & C2 respectively. A Biology Achievement Test (BAT) and Students’ Motivation Questionnaire (SMQ) were used for data collection. Five educational research experts validated the research instruments. Three experienced biology teachers who are examiners with Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) were also involved in validation of research instruments. The research instruments were piloted and Cronbach Alpha Coefficient used to estimate their reliability. The achievement test (BAT) yielded a reliability of 0.86 while students’ motivation test (SMQ) had a reliability of 0.84. Groups E1 and C1 were pre-tested prior to the treatment. The treatment lasted three weeks after which all groups were post-tested. One-way ANOVA, t-test and ANCOVA were used to analyze the data generated with the aid of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) science scores for the sampled groups were used as covariates to adjust for possible pre-existing differences. Four hypotheses were tested at 0.05 α level of significance. The results indicate that there was a statistically significant difference in achievement and motivation to learn biology between the experimental and control groups in favor of experimental groups. Students’ gender had no significant effect on achievement and motivation when they are taught through CCMTA. Adoption of CCMTA is recommended as appropriate for the teaching and learning of school Biology. The findings derived from this study provide a basis for improvement of in-service and pre-service biology teacher training programmes. Biology teachers may also benefit from the findings of this study through application of CCMTA to enhance learners’ achievement and interest in Biology and subsequent entry into careers that require biological knowledge and skills.