EFFECTS OF GENDER ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF PUBLIC-SCHOOL BIOLOGY STUDENTS PARTICIPATING IN SCHOOL ORGANISED EXTRA-MURAL CLASSES

Christabel Ebahi Eseine-Aloja

Abstract


This study investigated the effects of gender on the academic performance of biology students who attend extra-mural classes in public senior secondary schools.

This study adopted the descriptive survey method. The population of the study consisted of the biology students in the thirteen (13) government’s owned schools in Esan Central Local Government Area, Edo State. A sample size of one hundred and eighty (180) students was drawn from the population. The population of the study was stratified into two groups, the first group comprised of public senior secondary schools that conduct biology EMCs while the second group comprised of public senior secondary schools that do not conduct biology EMCs. Data for this study were obtained using a structured achievement test with a reliability co-efficient of 0.83. Research questions 1 – 3 were answered using frequency counts, means and percentages while the research hypothesis was tested at 0.05 level of significance using ANOVA. The results showed that extra-mural classes for biology students are not prevalent (15.38%). The study showed that students attending biology EMCs performed better than their counterparts who don’t attend such classes. It was also revealed that there is a significant statistical difference (p<0.05) in the performance of male biology students who attend EMCs and female students who do attend biology EMCs; with male students performing better. It is therefore recommended that government and all stake holders in education should encourage the practice of extra mural classes for students, supervise EMCs to avoid its abuse/misuse and encourage female students to exhibit more positive attitudes and enthusiasm toward science subjects as well as improve their self- efficacy. 

Keywords


Effects, Gender, Academic Performance, Biology Students, EMCs.

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