Biology

This study investigated the effects of classroom interaction patterns on senior secondary school students' achievement in ecology. A quasi-experiment of the pre-test, post-test non-equivalent control group design was adopted. Three groups were involved in the study. The first group was subjected to competitive interaction; the second group was subjected to cooperative interaction while the third group was subjected to individualistic interaction method. A total of ninety-three students (50 males and 43 females) from three intact classes were used for the study. The Ecology Achievement Test (EAT) was utilized as the data collection tool, with a reliability coefficient of 0.96. Research questions were answered using mean and standard deviation while the hypotheses were tested using analysis of Co-variance (ANCOVA) at a 95% confidence level. Findings revealed that students taught ecology in a cooperative classroom had higher mean achievement scores than those taught in individualistic and competitive classrooms interaction patterns. Furthermore, it was discovered that cooperative classroom interaction patterns had a significant effect on students' mean achievement scores in ecology. It was recommends that biology teachers prioritize the use of cooperative classroom interaction to facilitate biology instruction because of its proven efficacy in advancing students' achievement in ecology.

This study was carried out to find the Effects of Heuristic Method of Instruction on the Achievement of Senior Secondary School Students in Computer Studies. The study was conducted in Ebonyi North Education, Abakaliki in Ebonyi State. Three Research questions and three Null Hypotheses guided the study. The study adopted a quasi-experimental design and employed a pre-test post-test non-equivalent control group design with one experimental and one control group. Two hundred (200) SSII students were used; one hundred and one (101) male students and ninety-nine (99) female students were drawn from six (6) senior secondary schools (2 boys' schools, 2 girls' schools and 2 coeducational) through simple random sampling. Out of the six schools, three schools (one girl's school, one boys' school and one coeducational) were assigned as the experimental group and the others as the control group. From computer science scheme of work, Basic Concept of Computer Hardware was taught to the students using their respective computer studies class teachers. The experimental group was taught using Heuristic method of instruction while control group were taught using the conventional method. The teaching was carried out during normal school hours using the normal school timetable. At the onset, a pre-test was administered to the students in the two groups and data were recorded. At the end of the experiment, post-test was also administered and data were recorded. The research questions were answered using mean and standard deviation while the Hypotheses were tested using Analysis of Co-Variance (ANCOVA) at 0.05 alpha level. The instrument used for collection of data was Computer Studies Achievement Test (CSAT). The instrument was subjected to both content and face validation with reliability coefficient of 0.98 using K-R 20 approach. The result of the findings revealed that students exposed to Heuristic method of instruction performed better than those taught with conventional method. Also the male students performed significantly better than the female students. Based on the findings of the study, the heuristic method of instruction promoted higher achievement. Hence, it was recommended that Heuristic method of instruction should be adopted in teaching computer studies in secondary schools to enhance students' academic achievement.

This study evaluated the content coverage and readability of science textbooks in use in Nigerian secondary schools. The study utilized an evaluation design. The study was limited to the core sciences studied at both the junior and senior secondary schools. They are Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Basic Science. A total of one thousand eight hundred and forty-eight research subjects comprising one thousand eight hundred students and forty-eight science teachers were used for the study. Two research questions and one null hypothesis guided the study. The research questions were answered using the quantitative model for textbook evaluation developed by Emerole (2008) while the hypothesis was tested at 0.05 level of significance using Chi-square test of goodness of fit. The finding revealed that all the science textbooks evaluated covered the contents of the core curriculum. The result of data analysis revealed that three out of four evaluated textbooks in biology are readable. Modern Biology for Senior Secondary Schools had readability mean score of 38.41%, Essential Biology for Senior Secondary Schools had 72.4%, College Biology for Senior Secondary Schools had 66.29% while Comprehensive Biology for Senior Secondary Schools had readability index of 60.1%. The data on readability for physics, chemistry and basic science indicate that they are readable. Based on the findings the researchers made specific recommendations with respect to the textbooks recommended for use in the four subject areas in Nigerian secondary schools. This will provide a template and guide for ministry of education in recommendation of science textbooks for secondary schools. In addition, it will serve as a basis and guide for review of science textbooks in use in both junior and senior secondary schools.