JOURNAL OF EDUCATION (EKSUJOE)

EFFECTS OF SCAFFOLDING ON BIOLOGY STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENTS AND MOTIVATIONS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN DELTA CENTRAL SENATORIAL DISTRICT

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of scaffolding instructional strategy on Senior Secondary School Students’ achievements and motivations in Biology. A quasi-experimental protest-post-test control group design was adopted.  The population comprised all Senior Secondary School II (SSS II) Biology students in Delta Central Senatorial District, Nigeria, with a target population of 28, 745 students from government owned schools. A sample of 162 students was selected using a combination of purposive and random sampling techniques. Two instruments were used for the data collection: Biology Achievement Test (BAT) and Biology Motivation Questionnaire (BMQ). The instruments were validated by experts, and reliability coefficients of 0.82 (KR-20) and 0.86 (Cronbach’s Alpha) were obtained for BAT and BMQ, respectively. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions, while independent samples t-test was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance.

Pre-test results established homogeneity of the experimental and control groups. Post-test results revealed that students taught Biology using scaffolding instructional strategy achieved significantly higher and were more motivated than those taught using the conventional lecture method. The study concluded that scaffolding instructional strategy is effective in enhancing students’ achievements and motivations in Biology and recommended its adoption in secondary school classrooms.