TEACHING METHODS AND STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN GENETICS.

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of Concept Mapping Teaching Approach on students’ achievement in Genetics. The research design for this investigation was an experimental study design that employed pre-test and post-test control group design. The population for the study was all the 1,500 students of Hwidiem Senior High School located in Ahafo in the Asutifi North District of Ghana. Purposive sampling technique was used to select three classes that formed the sample. Together, 108 students including 22 boys and 86 girls were selected. Group A, the control group, was made up of 20 boys and 13 girls offering general science as their major course. The experimental groups (B and C) were made up of 30 girls and a boy and 34 girls and a boy respectively; all of which offered home economics as their major course. The data for this study was collected using the instrument Genetics Achievement Test (GAT). Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the estimated marginal means, standard deviation and standard error estimates while student t-test statistics was used to test the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to analyze the differences in post-test mean scores of the groups. The results of this study show that Concept Mapping Approach of Teaching resulted in significantly higher students’ achievement in Biology. The results of this study may be beneficial to Biology teachers, teacher trainers and curriculum developers in improving teaching-learning process and achievement in Biology.