EFFECT OF LEARNING ACTIVITY PACKAGE ON SECONDARY SCHOOL BIOLOGY STUDENTS' PERFORMANCE

ABSTRACT 

This study investigated the effect of learning activity package (LAP) on secondary school biology students’ performance and retention in nutrient cycle. Specifically, the study examined the difference in academic performance and retention of Biology students taught with learning activity package and those taught with lecture method, determined the difference in the academic performance and retention of urban and rural students taught Biology with learning activity package. To guide the study, six research questions were raised as well as six hypothesis were formulated and tested. The research design employed in this study was a quasi-experimental pre-test post-test. Four schools were sampled through stratified random sampling, two from rural and two from urban area. One intact classroom was randomly selected and used for the study in each of the sampled schools. The experimental group learned about nutrient cycle through LAP, while the control groups were taught with lecture method. The data for the study were collected from the student responses in the 40-item Biology achievement test (BAT) which was used to obtain pretest, post-test and retention score. The BAT was subjected to face validation and reliability was carried out using SPSS which gave Cronbach’s alpha of 0.70. The independent sample t-test was used to test the hypothesis formulated for the study at 0.05 level of significance. The result revealed that there is a significant difference in the academic performance and retention of Biology students taught nutrition cycle using learning activity package method and those taught with lecture method; the study also revealed that there is no significant difference in the academic performance and retention of male and female students taught biology with learning activity package; the study further revealed that there is no significant difference in the academic performance and retention of urban and rural students taught biology with learning activity package. However from the result and findings, it was recommended that Biology teachers should be encouraged to incorporate the LAP into their class plan to promote active participation and self-motivation among students, which will improve academic performance and retention. LAP should be introduced into the Biology curriculum for teacher education in tertiary institutions in order to popularize its use among teacher candidates and improve Biology performance in secondary schools. Biology curriculum in secondary schools should be restructured to incorporate the LAP into the system. This will assist students to recognize problems, improve their thinking abilities, approach and solve Biology problems on their own. The government should support Biology textbook authors to produce and publish textbooks based on the Learning Activity Package teaching technique, through state and federal education ministries.