Effects of Hands-On-Instructional Strategy on Academic Performance of Senior Secondary School Students in Biology in Ondo State

Abstract

Examining how gender and school location influenced students' academic performance with a hands-on instructional technique was the specific focus of this study. The study employs a quasi-experimental design with a control group, a post-test, and a pre-test. Every single biology student in Ondo State's secondary schools (SSII) served as the study's population. We used a sample of 69 high school students who were majoring in biology. A multi-stage sample approach was used for the sampling technique. The twenty-five (25) multiple-choice questions that made up the Biology Performance Test were the instrument that was utilized to gather data. Professionals in the area of science education validated the instrument's content and face validity. The reliability coefficient for the instrument was 0.81, as calculated by the test-and-retest procedure. To address the research topic, the researchers utilized descriptive statistics, namely the mean and standard deviation. On the other hand, hypotheses were tested using inferential statistics of the t-test at a significance level of 0.05. Students' pre-test mean scores in the hands-on-instructional method group were not significantly different from those in the control group, according to the study's results. Furthermore, this study's results showed that students' academic performance improved following treatment while using the hands-on instructional technique. Also, when comparing the academic achievements of male and female pupils, no significant difference is seen. In addition, pupils from urban and rural areas do not significantly differ in their performance. Teachers should be motivated to provide students with proper instruction and promote equity in students' approaches, according to the findings. To help students better grasp biological principles, the curriculum should use the hands-on-instructional approach.