Effects of Instructional Simulation on Secondary School Students’ Achievement in Biology

Abstract

This study explored the effect of instructional simulation on secondary school students’ achievement in biology. The study adopted a pretest, post-test, non equivalent control group design. Three research questions and three null hypotheses guided the study. A total of one hundred and thirty nine (139) secondary school biology students drawn from two coeducational schools in Abakaliki Education zone were used for the study.  One school was assigned to treatment group, while the other school was assigned to control group through a simple toss of the coin. The treatment group was taught biology using simulated teaching method, while the control group was taught the same topics using the conventional teaching method. A Biology Achievement Test (BAT) was used for data collection.  The biology achievement test was developed by the researcher. The instrument was subjected to both face and content validation. The instrument was also subjected to test of internal consistency and item analysis. A reliability index of 0.94 using the K-R 20 approach was obtained after pilot test of the instrument. Three research questions and three null hypotheses guided the study. Research questions were answered using adjusted mean while the hypotheses were tested at 95% confidence level using the Analysis of Co-variance (ANCOVA). Summary of result reveals that simulated instructional approach fostered higher achievement in biology than the conventional approach. Instructional simulation approach is therefore superior to conventional approach in facilitating higher achievement in biology among secondary school students. The study further revealed that the difference in the mean achievement scores of male and female students taught biology using the simulated instructional approach is not statistically significant. In addition there was no statistically significant interaction between gender and instructional approaches on students’ mean achievement scores in biology

Key Words: Simulation, Biology, Quasi-experiment, experiential, school achievement, intact classes