EFFECTS OF SELF-LEARNING AND EXPLICIT INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES ON THE ACHIEVEMENT OF BIOLOGY STUDENTS IN DELTA CENTRAL SENATORIAL DISTRICT, NIGERIA

This study was carried out to investigate the effects of self-learning and explicit instructional strategies on the achievement of biology students in Delta Central Senatorial District. The study adopted the pre-test post-test control group quasi-experimental design. Seven research questions and seven hypotheses were raised and formulated to guide the study, respectively. A sample of three hundred and thirty-five senior secondary II students randomly selected from six public mixed secondary schools xusing simple random sampling techniques was used for the study. The instrument used for data collection was the Biology Achievement Test (BAT). The reliability of the BAT was established using Kuder-Richardson formula 21 which yielded a coefficient of 0.87. The data obtained were analysed using Means, Standard Deviation, paired sample t-test, Scheffe post hoc test and Analysis of Covariance at 0.05 level of significance. The results obtained revealed that there was a significant effect of self-learning and explicit instructional strategies on biology students’ achievement, compared to the lecture method; there was a significant difference in the achievement of biology students taught with self-learning and explicit instructional strategies in favour of students taught with explicit instructional strategy; there was no significant difference between the mean achievement scores of male and female students taught biology using self-learning and explicit instructional strategies; there was no significant effect of the interaction of teaching method and sex on biology students achievement. Based on the findings, it was concluded that self-learning and explicit instructional strategies are effective strategies in boosting students’ achievement in biology. It was, therefore, recommended that science teachers, especially biology teachers, should expose biology students to self-learning and explicit instructional strategies that promote active participation and ultimately enhance achievement.

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