Constructivist-based approaches to teaching typically make extensive use of problem-based learning (PBL) and learning-by-doing (LBD) which were used to investigate their effects on psychoproductive skills in Agricultural science in secondary school. The research design adopted was a pretest, post-test, non-randomised control group quasi-experimental. The sample comprised eighty-four students from three schools (intact classes) with thirty-one, twenty-three and thirty in experimental 1, 2 and control groups respectively. The Psycho-productive Skills Performance Test (PSPT) and Psycho-productive Skills Performance Rating Scale (PSPRS) were the two instruments developed by the researchers and administered as pre and post tests. The PSPT was subjected to content validity and item analysis, its reliability test through spilt-half method gave a co-efficient value of 0.74 and for the PSPRS, using Cohen's Kappa statistic when subjected to inter-rater reliability it gave a value of 0.84. The data collected were analysed with the use of frequency counts, percentages, mean, standard deviation, t-test and ANOVA. The results reveal significant effect of instructional strategy on psycho-productive skills performance in Agricultural Science. Furthermore, it shows no significant effect of parents' education level on the students' psycho-productive skills performance in Agricultural Science. Arising from the findings, it was recommended among others that PBL and LBD learning strategies should be incorporated in the teacher education programmes as part of their training.
The study investigated the trend of performance of students in selected Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) subjects in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) conducted by Ogun State Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Nigeria. The study adopted an ex post facto research design to carry out the trend analysis of students’ results in the examination from 2011 to 2015. All the students that enrolled and sat for the BECE examinations constituted the target population while the students that sat for the selected STEM subjects (Mathematics, Basic Science, and Basic Technology) within the years under review constituted the sample for the study. The results of these students were collected and analyzed using Microsoft Excel with its in-built trend line capabilities. The results showed that students performed well in the selected STEM subjects in the years under review. Furthermore, the study revealed that while performance in other subjects will continue to improve steadily, performance in mathematics will dwindle between 2016 and 2018 and then will begin to steadily improve from 2019 to 2020. It is recommended that the government should continue to support teaching and learning of STEM subjects in all tiers of education.
Scientific and technological skills are needed for survival and economic prosperity in the 21st century. However, students persistently perform poorly in science subjects at the senior secondary school level. Thus, this study determined the mediating influence of cognitive style on the relationship between academic motivation and students’ academic achievement in senior School Biology in Remo North Local Government Area of Ogun State. The descriptive survey research design was adopted to conduct the research. The sample consisted of 180 students randomly selected from ten public senior secondary schools out of the 13 public schools present in the local government area. Data were collected using three instruments: Cognitive Style Questionnaire (r=0.71); Academic Motivation Scale (r=0.72); and Students’ Achievement Test in Biology (r=0.82). The data collected were analysed using regression and t-test statistics at 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that cognitive styles significantly mediated the relationship between academic motivation and students’ academic achievement in Biology. It was also found that there was no significant difference in the mean achievement scores of field-dependent and field-independent learners. The study concluded that cognitive style is a potent factor in the learning of Biology in senior secondary school. Although students can be motivated to learn, aligning instructional activities with their cognitive style by biology teachers is more important than motivation. Therefore, school counsellors should always help to classify students into their cognitive styles at the beginning of the session to enable teachers to tailor instructional activities to meet their learning needs.
Despite the importance of \biology for sustainable development, students’ performance in the subject has been inconsistent. Several interventions have been used to improve students’ learning of Biology but the inconsistency in performance persists. Thus, this study investigated the use of hands-on learning in enhancing students’ academic achievement. The research adopted a pretest-posttest control group quasi-experimental research design with 2x2 factorial. The study also examined the moderating effect of gender on academic achievement. Fifty-eight students offering Biology in the intact classes of two randomly selected schools participated in the study. The data was collected using a 25-item Biology Achievement Test for Students (BATS) subjected to face and content validities, and reliability test. The test-retest reliability method yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.68. The data analyses revealed a significant difference in the effect of strategy on the academic achievement of students in Biology (F (1,53) =8.595), p=0.05, but in favour of the conventional method of teaching. Further findings showed no significant difference in the effect of gender on the academic achievement of students (F (1,53) = 0.980), p>0.05. The researchers noted that hand-on activities are important for Biology learning and recommended that school authorities should allocate adequate time for that purpose.
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