Effects of School Location on Students’ Achievement in Photosynthesis Based on Concept Mapping Instructional Strategy

Abstract

Despite years of research, students’ difficulties in understanding and retention of photosynthesis concept have persisted among secondary school students, especially in rural areas. Consequently, this study examined the effect of school location on lower secondary school students’ academic achievement in photosynthesis based on the concept mapping (CM) instructional strategy. The design of the study was a non-randomized pre-test, post-test control group quasi-experimental. The population of the study was 6,708 students from which a sample of 192 students was purposively sampled from four schools. Photosynthesis achievement test with the reliability value of 0.82 determined using the Kuder-Richardson 21-Formula was used for data collection. Data were mainly analyzed using mean and standard deviations to answer the research questions while analysis of covariance was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Among others, the result showed no significant difference between rural and urban students’ achievement taught photosynthesis using the CM (F(1, 91)=2.340, p=.130>.05). Based on the findings, it was recommended among other things that the CM should be adopted by biology teachers in secondary schools as an instructional strategy and that faculties and colleges of education in various schools of higher learning should ensure that CM is included as a viable alternative strategy of teaching biology.