Effect of instruction scaffolding strategy on achievement in biology among students of unity colleges in Niger State

Abstract

The study investigated the effects of instructional scaffolding strategy on achievement in Biology among students of unity colleges in Niger State. Gender difference in the achievement of male and female students in biology was also examined. A quasi-experimental design was employed for the study. Eight-Five (85) Senior Secondary (SS11) Students from two intact classes in two co-educational Unity Colleges made up the sample of the study. The two schools were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental group (n=40, 21 males, 19 females) was treated with instructional scaffolding strategy, while the control group (n=45, 27 males, 18 females) was taught with lecture method. The test instrument used for the study was a twenty-five (25) Biology Achievement Test (BAT) question, which was validated, and pilot tested using Kuder Richardson formula 21 (KR-21) and a reliability coefficient of 0.78 was obtained. The data collected were analyzed using mean, standard deviation and t-test. Two research questions were answered, and two research hypotheses were tested at a 0.05 level of significance. The treatment used has a significant effect on students’ post-test achievement scores. Students exposed to instructional scaffolding achieved better than their counterpart taught with lecture method (t(83) = 8.695, p (0.00) < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the achievement of male and female students taught with instructional scaffolding strategy. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that the secondary school curriculum should be reviewed with a view to integrating instructional scaffolding strategy into the curriculum