Effects Of Teaching-with-figures Of Comparison On Senior School Students Achievement In Genetics In Ilorin Metropolis Nigeria

Genetics, the Biology of heredity, provides a unifying conceptual framework that links every life science together had been identified in literature as one of the hard-to-teach and hard-to-learn Biology concept. It has been established that the abstract nature of genetics and teaching strategies employed by teachers can significantly influence students’ achievement in genetics. Figures of comparison, such as analogy and metaphor, have been identified as potent tools that can be used to enhance students’ achievement in sciences but its efficacy in teaching genetics has not been fully explored. This study examined the effects of Teaching-With-Figures of Comparison on Senior School students’ achievement in genetics in Ilorin, Nigeria. The objectives of the study were to: (i) compare the achievement of Senior School students taught genetics using analogy, metaphor and conventional teaching strategies; (ii) examine the effects of analogy and metaphor on students’ achievement based on gender; (iii) determine the effects of analogy on students’ achievement based on cognitive styles and score levels; (iv) investigate the effects of metaphor on students’ achievement based on cognitive styles and score levels; and (v) establish the interaction effects among treatment, gender, cognitive styles and score levels.rnThe research adopted a quasi-experimental design of a pre-test, posttest, non-equivalent, non-randomised control group. The population was all Senior School students offering Biology in Ilorin, Nigeria, while the sample consisted of 174 Senior School III students from three purposively selected secondary schools in Ilorin. The research instruments were Genetic Achievement Test (GAT), Group Embedded Figure Test (GEFT), Teachers’ Instructional Guides on Analogy, and Metaphor. The reliability coefficients of the GAT and GEFT were 0.81 and 0.79 respectively using Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation statistics. Data were analysed using t-test and ANCOVA at 0.05 level of significance.rnThe findings of the study were that:rni. a significant difference exists in the achievement of students exposed to instruction with the use of analogy, metaphor and conventional teaching method in favour of analogy and metaphor groups F(2,170)= 13.41, p < 0.05;rnii. no significant difference in the achievement of male and female students exposed to analogy and metaphor instructional strategies t(53)=.65, p =.52, t(60)=.40, p =.69, p > 0.05;rniii. no significant difference in the effects of analogy on the achievement of students based on their cognitive styles and score levels F(2,51)=1.31, p =.29, p > 0.05;rniv. no significant difference in the effects of metaphor on the achievement of students based on their cognitive styles and score levels F(2,58) = .56,p =.57, p > 0.05; andrnv. no interaction effect between treatment and gender; treatment and cognitive styles. However, there was a significant interaction effect of treatment and score levels F(4,164)= 2.87, p < 0.05rnThe study concluded that the use of analogy and metaphor improves students’ achievement in genetics. This implies that analogy and metaphor strategies significantly bring about conceptual understanding of genetics and by extension other Biology concepts. The study recommended that analogy and metaphor instructional strategies be employed by teachers to teach genetics.

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