Effect of Concept Mapping and Outline Note-Taking Patterns in Students Academic Achievement in Geography in Secondary Schools in Enugu South Lga of Enugu State

Abstract

The WAEC Chief Examiner’s report of 2013 pointed out that mass failure in geography had badly affected students who have the desire to study science related subjects in our Universities. The poor image of geography among students was attributed partly to its wide content and partly to the old fashioned approach to its teaching. This study therefore was on the effect of note-taking patterns on the academic achievement in geography on the students. A non-equivalent quasi-experimental research design was adopted by the researcher. Two hundred and five students in three intact classes from three secondary schools in Enugu South of Enugu State formed the sample. Two intact classes where randomly assigned experimental group one and taught with concept mapping notes; experimental group two and taught with outline notes. The third intact class was the control group and taught with the conventional notes. Two research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. Test of Geography Achievement and Retention (TOGAR) was used for data collection. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions while the hypotheses were test using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). The result of the study revealed that the students of the experimental groups achieved better than the control group with those taught using concept mapping being the best. Recommendations were made.

Keywords: Concept Mapping, Geography, Note-taking, Conventional Method