Influence of classroom interaction patterns on achievement in biology among senior secondary school students

Abstract

The study investigated the influence of classroom interaction patterns on achievement in biology among Senior Secondary School Students in Anambra State. One research question and one null hypothesis tested at 0.05 level of significance guided the study. A causal comparative or (expost-facto) design was used; a population of 10, 206 SSII Biology students in government owned Secondary Schools in three education zones namely; Awka, Nnewi and Onitsha of Anambra State. The sample consisted of 265 SSII biology students (141 males and 124 girls) drawn from 10,206 biology students. Purposive and random sampling technique was used for the study. Six (6) single sex schools (2 males, 2 females and 2, co-educational) were purposively sampled from the three education zones. Two instruments were employed for data collection namely: Biology Achievement Test (BAT) constructed by the researchers and an adapted questionnaire titled “Previous Classroom Interaction Categorization Test (PCICT) designed to evaluate the level of participation of the teachers compared with  students for each pattern of interaction in their precious biology classroom activities. BAT and PCICT were validated by two biology educators and two expert in measurement and evaluation all from Science Education Department, University of Nigeria Nsukka. BAT reliability coefficient was established using Kuder-Richardson 20 (K-R2O) method which gave 0.86 and PCICT reliability was established using Pearson Product Moment Correlation coefficient which gave an index of 0.80. Data were analyzed using mean, and standard deviation to answer the research questions while one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to test the null hypothesis. Result showed among others that classroom interaction patterns significantly influenced students’ achievement in biology. Recommendations and conclusion were highlighted. Keywords: Classroom interaction patterns, Achievement, Biology, Students