Enhancing Ecological Understanding: The Impact of Concept Mapping on Secondary Schools Students' Achievement in Ecology in Katsina State, Nigeria
*1Salisu Abubakar, 2Kayode John Olasehinde and 3Ibrahim Sukola Tambaya
1,2&3Department of Science Education, Federal University Dutsin-Ma, Katsina State, Nigeria. Email: asalisu9@fudutsinma.edu.ng1* kolasehinde@ fudutsinma.edu.ng2 & sibrahim@ fudutsinma.edu.ng3
Abstract
This quasi-experimental study investigated the effect of a concept mapping instructional strategy on the attitude and academic achievement of senior secondary Biology students in Ecology in Katsina State, Nigeria. Employing a pre-test, post-test design, a sample of 142 SSII students from two public co-educational schools was purposively assigned to experimental (concept mapping, n = 80) and control (traditional lecture, n = 62) groups. Data were collected using a validated 30-item Ecology Achievement Test (EAT) with reliability coefficients of 0.84. Analysis using independent t-tests at α=0.05 revealed that students in the experimental group achieved significantly higher post-test scores (M = 41.56, SD = 8.09) than the control group (M = 28.00, SD = 6.49), t (140) = 21.967, p = .000. Furthermore, no significant gender-based differences were found in achievement t (78) = 23.457, p = .946) within the experimental group. The results highlight the pedagogical value of concept mapping in promoting meaningful learning towards Biology. It is recommended that this strategy be integrated into science teacher training and curriculum development.
Keywords
Academic Achievement, Biology Education, Concept Mapping, Ecology, Instructional Strategy
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