EFFECTS OF HANDS-ON APPROACH ON STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AND INTEREST IN BIOLOGY IN CALABAR SOUTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF CROSS RIVER STATE

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ABSTRACT

The work investigated the effect of Hands –on approach on students’ Academic performance and interest in Biology in Calabar South Local Government Area of Cross River State. Three research questions and three null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. A review of literature related to the study was conducted. Pretest and posttest quasi experimental design was adopted for the study. Simple random sampling technique was adopted. Two instruments: Biology Achievement Test (BAT) and Students Interest Inventory (SII) were used for data collection, the instruments were subjected to face and content validity and reliability using a Test retest reliability table established at 0.85 and 0.76 for BAT and SII respectively. Mean and Standard Deviation were used to answer the research questions, hypotheses were tested at 0.05 using the independent t-test at 98 degree of freedom and 49 degree of freedom. The result of the findings revealed that, Students taught using hands-on approach out-performed and have positive interest in biology than those taught biology using conventional method. It also revealed that male students performed better than their female counterparts.  Based on the result, the following recommendations were made: policy makers should encourage Biology teachers in their respective schools to often use the Hands-on approach in teaching Biology in schools, There is need for in service training of biology teachers to the use of hands-on approach in teaching biological concepts, Learning should be more student centered to enable them build positive interest and attitude in the subject matter, Biology Teachers should encourage female students to be active and participate in the classroom like their male counterparts.

EFFECTS OF HANDS-ON APPROACH ON STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AND INTEREST IN BIOLOGY IN CALABAR SOUTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF CROSS RIVER STATE