EFFECTS OF TWO CONCEPT-MAPPING STRATEGIES ON RETENTION AND PERFORMANCE IN ECOLOGY AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN ZONKWA, KADUNA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study investigated the Effects of Two Concept Mapping Strategies on Retention

Performance in Ecology among Senior Secondary School Biology students. The total

population for the study consisted of 2,958 students, and a sample size of 196 students was

purposively selected from three secondary schools in Zonkwa Education Zone in Kaduna

State. A Quasi-experimental pretest and posttest research design was used for the study,

which featured three groups (Experimental groups 1&2 and the Control group). The

experimental group 1 was exposed to the spider concept mapping strategy, and the

experimental group 2 was exposed to the hierarchical concept mapping strategy, while the

control group was taught using lecture method. Three schools were purposively selected for

the study. The Instrument that was used to collect data for the study is Ecology Concept

Performance Test (ECPT), with a reliability coefficient of 0.82 was used to collect data. Two

null hypotheses were formulated. The data collected were analyzed using t-test Statistic,

ANOVA, and Scheffe’s test at a significance level of P≤0.05. Result indicated that the

experimental groups performed significantly better than the control group in their academic

performance after undergoing the experimental treatment with two types of concept mapping

strategies. Based on these findings, it was recommended that teachers should incorporate

types of concept mapping strategies into the mainstream of pedagogy in the teaching of

ecology at Senior Secondary School level as it seems to have high potentials for enhancing

high-order thinking skills, meaningful learning on the part of the learners.