ENHANCING STUDENTS’ INTEREST AND ACHIEVEMENT IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL BIOLOGY THROUGH FIELD TRIP TEACHING APPROACH

Abstract

This study investigated on how the use of field-trip teaching approach could affect students’ interest and academic achievement in Biology. The sample size of the study consisted of 100 SSS1 biology students from two secondary schools randomly chosen out of 31 secondary schools in Nsukka Local Government Area. Four research questions and null hypotheses guided the study. Quasi-experimental design was adopted for the study. Specifically, the non-equivalent control group design. The instrument used to collect data was Biology Achievement Test (BAT) and Biology Interest Scale (BIS). The BAT and BIS were validated and trial-tested and found to have an internal consistency reliability of 0.82 and 0.87 respectively. The research questions were analyzed using mean and standard deviation while Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used to test for the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The results revealed that field-trip approach significantly improved students’ achievement and interest in biology. Although female students performed better than their male counterparts, there is no significant influence of gender on students’ achievement in Biology.  Male students gained more interest than the female students but there is no significant influence of gender on students’ interest in Biology. It was recommended among others that biology teachers should be trained on how best to involve students during field trip so as to facilitate the interest and achievement of students in lesson.