Investigating Teaching Methods Employed by Teachers and Learning Styles of Students in Biology at the Senior High School Level in the Cape Coast Metropolis

Abstract

The study adopted a descriptive survey approach with a total population of 250 first year students from three Senior High Schools. The sample which consisted of a the control group of 30 first year students and an experimental group of 90 first year students was selected using simple random sampling technique. In the experimental group, the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) approach was used while the Traditional Learning Based (TLB) method was used in the control group. The research instrument was a 20-item questionnaire which sought information from the respondents on whether they had their own strategies for studying the subject and which kinds of teaching method they found helpful to them. The findings of the study revealed that students have learning strategies for studying biology. However, due to the nature of the course, these strategies were not effective. It was also revealed that variations in teaching method were helpful in aiding understanding of the subject. Based on the findings of the study, a number of recommendations were made which will go a long way to help policy makers, biology teachers and students work together to get the most out of the subject. Children ask themselves questions and answer the questions to enhance their own understanding of the concept learnt, this statement is further attested by Johnson (2008) that, ask yourself questions to enable you to understand new principles and concepts. The concepts and principles of science cannot be efficiently grasped if wrong study habits are adopted, and the students’ learning styles are not considered. Students learning abilities of science could also be strengthened and performance improved if suitable teaching methods and strategies are employed by teachers to teach biology in class.Therefore, the purpose of this study was to find out students’ general approach to the study of biology in the Senior High Schools and also investigate methods employed by teachers to teach students in the Cape Coast Metropolis of the Central Region of Ghana.

Keywords: Grasp, personal technique, balloting, oddity, and infirmity.