Effects Of Modelling Clay And Demonstration Kit On Senior School Students Performance In Cell Division In Omu-aran Nigeria

Cell division, the most important life process for the perpetuation of species, has been identified in literature as a hard-to-teach and hard-to-learn Biology concept. Study technology principles such as modelling clay and demonstration kit has been documented to be effective in enhancing students‟ performances. Therefore, this study investigated the effects of modelling clay and demonstration kit on Senior School students‟ performance in cell division. The objectives were to: (i) determine the difference in the performance of students that learnt cell division with modelling clay, demonstration kit, and conventional method; (ii) examine the effects of modelling clay and demonstration kit on the performance of students based on gender; (iii) investigate the effects of modelling clay on the performance of students based on cognitive styles and score levels; (iv) explore the effects of demonstration kit on the performance of students based on cognitive styles and score levels; and (v) establish the interaction effects among treatment, gender, cognitive styles and score levels.rnThe quasi-experimental, non-randomized, pre-test, post-test control group design was adopted. The population was all Senior School students offering Biology in Omu-Aran, Nigeria while the sample comprised 213 Senior School II students from three purposively selected government schools in Omu-Aran, Nigeria. The stimulus instruments used were Cell Division Course Guide and Research Assistant Training Guide while the test instruments were Cell Division Performance Test (CDPT) and Group Embedded Figure Test (GEFT). The reliability coefficients of the CDPT and GEFT were 0.83 and 0.87 respectively, using Pearson Product Moment Correlation statistics. Data were analysed using t-test and Analysis of Covariance at 0.05 level of significance.rnThe findings of the study were that:rni. a significant difference existed in the performance of students that learnt cell division with modelling clay, demonstration kit and the conventional teaching method (F(2, 209) = 90.59, p < 0.05);rnii. there was no significant difference in the effects of modelling clay and demonstration kit on the performance of students based on gender;rniii. there was no significant difference in the effects of modelling clay on the performance of students based on cognitive styles and score levels;rniv. a significant difference existed in the performance of students that learnt cell division using demonstration kit based on cognitive styles (F(2, 62) = 3.55, p = 0.03) and score levels (F(2, 62) = 9.58, p < 0.05), respectively; andrnv. there was no significant interaction of treatment and gender, treatment and cognitive styles. However, interaction existed between treatment and students score levels (F(4, 203) = 6.18, p < 0.05).rnThe study concluded that modelling clay and demonstration kit improved students‟ performance in cell division. This implies that the use of modelling clay and demonstration kit can significantly enhance students‟ understanding of the life processes taking place in the cell and by extension other biological processes. The study recommended that biology teachers and students should embrace the use of modelling clay and demonstration kit for effective teaching and learning of cell division.

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