Influence of Cultural Practice–Related Misconceptions on Achievement of Senior Secondary Biology Students in Zone C of Benue State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigated the influence of cultural practice-related misconceptions on achievement among Biology students of senior secondary schools in Zone C of Benue State in central Nigeria using the survey design. A multi-stage method was used to select the sample of 2,879 SS3 students from 29 mostly coeducational schools. The two researcher-designed instruments for data collection were the Biology Cultural Practice-Related Misconceptions Questionnaire (BCPMQ) and Cultural Practice-related Misconceptions Biology Achievement Test (CPMBAT). Using the Spearman-Brown prophecy formula, the reliability index of the instruments were 0.83 for BCPMQ and 0.96 for CPMBAT. Results of the study showed that students bring a substantial amount (88.89%) of their cultural practices into their Biology classes and that there is a significant relationship between the mean achievement scores of senior secondary Biology students and the cultural practice-related misconceptions they hold (r =0.331,p = .01< .05). There is a significant difference between the mean achievement scores of male and female students in favour of the female students. The study recommends, among other things: adequate training of serving and pre-service teachers to correct identified cultural practice-related misconceptions to facilitate understanding of Biology concepts.