1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the study

In all the history of education science has held its leading position among

all school subjects because it is considered as an indispensable tool in the

development of the educated person. Educators give special recognition to

biology among the sciences because of its educational values its close

relation to man as a living organism its peculiar field of experimentation

and interrelationships with the other sciences (Akinmade 1987). As a result

of this biology occupies a relatively pivotal position in the natural sciences

and it is one of the requirements to professions such as medicine pharmacy

agriculture dentistry and many others. It is for this reason that Bibby (1964)

advocated for adequate biology education for every child in the

contemporary world dominated by science.

The importance accorded science and for that matter biology in the school

curriculum from the basic level to the senior high level reflects accurately

the vital role played by the subject in contemporary society. The importance

of the subject is not restricted to the development of the individual alone but

for the advancement of the social economic and political goals of countries

all over the world.

In Nigeria biology as a subject is known to have the highest number of

student enrolments in recent years in senior high schools. Research findings

of Abdullahi (1982) have indicated that student enrolments in biology from

1977 to 1989 have always surpassed the combined enrolment in other

science subjects. These high enrolments in biology figures indicate that

biology is popular among the other sciences. However this number does not

match the students' achievement in the subject.

Since the inception of the senior secondary school (SSS) programme as one

of Nigeria’s educational reforms in 1987. The Chief Examiners’ Reports

from the West African Examination Council (WAEC) have consistently

indicated poor performance of SSS students in the science (WAEC 1994;

1995; 1996; 2002; 2003; 2004; 2005). Most students fail or get low quality

grades in biology more than in the other science subjects such as physics and

chemistry.

The Chief Examiners’ Reports show that more students fail in biology

because they do not perform creditably in paper 2 and 1 which is a

practical/objectives paper. The biology paper 2 tests skills in drawing

identification and classification analysis of some processes and

interpretation of biological data; while paper 1 test students vast reading and

understanding of the subject matter. This gives the impression that the

students were either not taken through practical work or were not serious

with the practical work or don’t study their biology books. Some weaknesses

identified by the Chief Examiners over the years (1994-2005) for biology are

as follows:

i. Candidates’ answers show that they had not been taken through

adequate practical lessons.

ii. Students’ answers indicate that they had not done any practical work

along the lines of the tested questions.

iii. Candidates wrote unobservable features. Thus they answered the

practical questions from the theory they had learnt.

iv. Their standard of answers is very poor. This indicate lack of proper

reading/understanding of the subject

v. The standard of students’ drawings was poor. This indicated they did

not practice biological drawing as required by the practical

examination.

With these weaknesses in mind the way the biology lessons works are

organized is of great interest and is worth investigating. To investigate

biological phenomenon effectively it is required that students posses the

requisite skills of observation critical thinking and appreciation perform

experiments competently and record data accurately (Bremner 1967).

Akinmade (1987) reported that on the average 78.8 % of the students that

sat the West African Schools Certificate Examinations (WASCE) fail

biology and the situation has not improved with time. For this reason in

recent times there has been public outcry on the declining standard of

science education especially in the area of biology.

In modern life the rule is absolute that any country that disregards the study

of science is doomed to obsolescence (Ogunniyi 1988). The rise of Japan

into the status of an economic giant today (Evans 1991) as well as the

emergence of Singapore Hong Kong Korea Taiwan and Malaysia recently

into economic miracles have all been attributed to the heavy investments

these countries made in the science education of their citizens ( Ranis

1990) .

According to Anamuah – Mensah (1989) by having knowledge in science

education the economy and social –cultural status of the nation will be

transformed. This implies that science education and for that matter biology

is important in producing the required human resources needed for

harnessing the natural resources of the country.

The current approach to science teaching and learning in most secondary

school is most often based on classroom and laboratory work which are

intended to meet examination requirements. Unfortunately the examination-

driven mode of biology teaching and learning has limited the biological

(science) and technological scope and perspectives of the students. The

approach also tends to make the study of biology and for that matter science

uninteresting boring and unenjoyable. Students find it difficult to relate the

theoretical knowledge with the practical realities of life and the use of

manipulative skills. There is also very little orientation for problem -solving

inculcation of investigative skills and counseling on biology career

opportunities. For this reasons this research is aimed at improving senior

students’ performance in biology. Biology is an activity -based subject and

as such students must be made to participate fully in the teaching and

learning process of the subject so that they can understand the concepts

involved better. One way of causing students to fully participate in

activity-based work is through group work during practical lessons.

Practical work is viewed as an essential component of studying the natural

sciences. The “hands- on” approach has the potential to stimulate students’

interest in the subject matter teach laboratory skills enhance the learning of

knowledge and give insight into scientific attitudes and objectives. Practical

work gives students the opportunity to learn and practice all the activities

involved in the inquiry processes of science.

The field of science has become the focal point of man’s interest in the

contemporary world (Saunders 1956). With increasing scientific and

technological advances many countries are strengthening and modernizing

science courses in order to produce more and better qualified candidates for

higher level scientific studies. It is to this effect that the Government of

Nigeria is encouraging students to take up science subjects at “O” Level.

Teaching of science in Nigeria of which Biology is part is aimed at arming

citizens with appropriate scientific strategies to meet the challenges of this

millennium and scientific skills for improvement of their welfare. To

achieve these aims the Government of Nigeria through the Ministry of

Education and Sports (MOES) passed a policy making science subjects

compulsory at “O” Level in 2005. The aim was to make Nigerians

scientifically literate by acquiring skills for creative thinking and problem

solving.

Biology is one of the compulsory subjects offered at “O” Level. It is a key

subject needed by people interested in careers like doctors science teachers

agriculturalists biotechnologists and many others. It is to this effect that

strategies are being put in place to enhance its effective delivery especially

in secondary schools. However over the past years there has been poor

performance in Biology as revealed by Nigeria National Examination Board

(NNEB) results from 2000 to 2004. According to Barugahara (2007) and

Ntambi (2003) poor infrastructure poor science equipment/apparatus

teaching materials lack of laboratories few/no qualified science teachers

poor methods of instruction and lack of money could be the contributing

factors to poor performance.

1.2 Statement of the problem

The education system especially in secondary schools is characterized by

teaching a wide range of subjects in the ordinary level (up to 19 in some

schools). This leads to a more theoretical coverage of subject material. The

situation is not improved by the low teacher to student ratio especially in

most of the government schools. The few teachers on the government

payroll are poorly remunerated. As a result most of them take up part-time

employment or private business enterprises in order to make ends meet. This

sees their commitment to the teaching of science (which demands a lot

sacrifice) greatly reduced.

According to Agboola (2004) report there are a few science laboratories in

secondary schools and are ill equipped. Even the few available resources for

teaching of science are not put to use. All these do not only deny the

students the chance to acquire scientific practical skills but also kills their

interest in science disciplines. The other disheartening issue is the fact that

the national examination board assumes an ideal situation and sets the same

national examinations regardless for the local conditions of study in each

school.

As revealed by Nigeria National Examination Board (NNEB) results from

2000-2004 the performance of Biology at “O” Level has been poor.

Furthermore there has been a constant outcry during conferences and

workshops over the poor performance of students in science subjects of

which Biology is part. (Teachers’ workshop at Kaduna Capital school

Kaduna 1998 Science Teacher’s workshop 2000 and Secondary Science

and mathematics teacher’s Programme SESEMAT 2007 and 2008). This

poor performance has created a negative attitude towards the subject to the

extent that the representativeness of students offering Biology at “A’- Level

and other related courses in higher institutions of learning is poor.

The research carried out (Bandikubi 2003 Kabeera 2003 Ssekiranda

2006 and MOES 2006) point to a number of factors that adversely impact

on students’ performance in science subjects. The factors cited include;

i. Under utilization of instructional resources

ii. Teacher - centered approaches

iii. Lack of self motivation

iv. Class size

v. Negative attitude towards the subject

vi. Poor recruitment and inadequate support and supervision.

vii. Most of the research has been carried out in urban areas while

neglecting the rural areas.

1.3 Purpose of the study

i. To determine the various strategies for improving senior students

performance in Biology.

ii. To determine the influence of lesson planning on the degree of

participation of students during Biology lessons.

iii. To compare performance of rural and urban teachers in lesson

preparation and delivery of Biology lessons.

iv. To relate influence of Biology lesson preparation and delivery to

performance of students.

1.4 Research questions

The investigation was conducted to answer the following specific research

questions:

i. To what extent has teaching strategies by the teacher affect the

biology students’ academic performance?

ii. Does lesson planning influence the degree of participation of students

during Biology lessons?

iii. Does Biology lesson preparation and delivery influence students’

performance?

iv. To what extent has the use of instructional materials during practical

teaching affect the students’ performance?

1.5 Research hypotheses

i. There is no significant differences between the use of strategies for

improving the performance of senior secondary schools students in

Kaduna state.

ii. The use of lesson plans does not significantly improve senior

students’ performance in Biology lessons?.

iii. The use of instructional materials during Biology lessons/practical

does not affect students performance?.

iv. There is no significant relationship between Biology lesson

preparation and delivery and average performance of students.

1.6 Significance of the study

The findings of this study will benefit the teachers school administrators

teacher trainers and policy makers like the Ministry of Education and Sports

in the following ways:

The finding of this study will help the teachers to evaluate themselves and

determine whether lesson preparation and delivery methods are appropriate

as well as the other classroom practices. Therefore they could realize the

need to put emphasis on using lesson guides varied teaching methods and

materials to promote effective learning.

The study will help the school administrators to identify problems facing the

teaching of science subjects such that they put emphasis on supervision

focusing on lesson planning of teachers and delivery procedures for effective

teaching of biology.

The teacher trainers will use the findings of this study to ensure that teachers

receive maximum training in the areas of effective lesson preparation and

delivery of content to students.

The policy makers like Ministry of Education and Sports could use the

results of the research to put emphasis on governing policies for effective

teaching and plan for appropriate financial resources to enhance the teaching

of science subjects like Biology. The findings could as well enable the policy

makers to realize that the ground for high performing and low performing

schools is not leveled so mechanisms could be put in place to enable the

latter schools to improve in their performance.

The results of the study could also enable future researchers to widen the

study in the related field in other areas

1.7 Scope of the study

The study was carried out in Kaduna North Local Government of Nigeria. It

covers all the Government Senior secondary schools the Biology teachers

and students in Kaduna North Local Government Area of the state.

1.8 Limitation of the study

The researcher faced some challenges in the course of the study these

are:

i. Teachers were not transparent enough to the researcher because of

fear that they could be considered as not competent at teaching.

ii. The policies of the selected schools on confidentiality did not favour

the release of vital information to outsider thereby making source of

information more difficult.

iii. False information being provided by the correspondents thereby

slowing down the research work.