Impact of Discussion Method on Performance and Attitude in Biology Among Senior Secondary Students in Zonkwa, Kaduna State, Nigeria
Author: Alexander Jatau, Louis Ugwu & Salomi Kennedy Gwamna
Abstract: This study investigated the impact of the discussion method on performance and attitude in Biology among senior secondary students in Zonkwa, Kaduna State, Nigeria. The targeted populations are all the 1,169 second-year senior secondary biology students. The sample size is 220 SS II students selected from the population using a simple random technique. The research design was a quasi-experimental design involving pretest, posttest, experimental and control groups. The instruments used were; Biology Performance Test (BPT) and Students’ Attitude Questionnaire (SATQ). The reliability coefficient of the BPT and SATQ were 0.72 and 0.74 respectively. Three research questions (RQ) were raised to guide the study, one of which was “Is there any difference between the mean scores of students exposed discussion method and those taught using lecture method?” Three hypotheses (Ho) were postulated to guide the study and tested at a 0.05 level of significance. One of the hypotheses was: “There is no significant difference between the mean scores of students exposed to the discussion method and those taught using the lecture method” descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation were used to answer research questions while the Independent sampled t-test was used to test the hypotheses. The major findings showed that; a significant difference exists between the academic performance of students taught biology using the discussion method and those taught using the lecture method. On the basis of these finding the following recommendation was made: Since gender difference was not significant in the study discussion method could be used to help eliminate the gender differences in science teaching and learning.