Effect of Training Biology Teachers in Scientific Thinking Skills on Senior Secondary School Students’ Achievement in Biology in Kano, Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigated the effect of training biology teachers in scientific thinking skills on senior secondary school students’ achievement in biology in Kano, Nigeria. Pre-test, post-test quasi experimental design was employed. The sample used comprised 975 senior secondary two students. Biology Achievement Test  (BAT) was used to collect data from students. The BAT was content validated with its internal consistency established as .85 using Cronbach alpha method. The experimental group was taught biology concepts for eight weeks by teachers trained in scientific thinking skills while the control group was taught the same biology concepts for the same length of time by biology teachers not trained in scientific thinking skills. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 27.0. Research questions were answered using mean and standard deviation while hypotheses were tested using ANCOVA at .05 level of significance. Results showed that the experimental group achieved higher than the control group. Gender was found not to have any significant effect on biology achievement of students in the experimental group.  It was concluded that training teachers in scientific skills improved students’ achievement in biology. It was recommended that teachers should engage students in scientific thinking skills in biology classrooms for improved achievement outcome in biology.

Keywords:  Achievement, Biology, Gender, Scientific thinking skills.