GALLERY WALKS AND MIND MAPPING STRATEGIES AS DETERMINANTS OF STUDENTS’ LEARNING OUTCOMES IN GENETIC CONCEPTS IN BIOLOGY IN KWARA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Genetic concepts are topics in secondary school biology devoted to the study and manipulation of heredity and variation in living organisms.However, reports have shown that students’ achievement in these concepts is poor in Kwara State.This has been attributed to the use of teacher-centred methods ofinstruction. Previous studies concentrated largely on teacher and students-related socio-psychological factors with little consideration for student-centred learning strategies. This study, therefore, was carried out to determine the effects of Gallery Walks Strategy (GWS) and Mind Mapping Strategy (MMS) on students’ learning outcomes (attitude, achievement and process skills) in genetic concepts in biology in Kwara State, Nigeria. The moderating effects of mental ability and learning styleswere also examined. Vygotsky Social Development and Piaget’s Development theories provided the framework. The pretest-posttest control group quasi-experimental design with a 3x3x3 factorial matrix was adopted. Three Local Government Areas (LGAs) were randomly selected fromKwara State.Three public Senior Secondary Schools were randomly selected from each LGA, while an intact class of Senior School II learners was selected from each school. The participants in the schools were randomly assigned to GWS (109), MMS (121) and control (135) groups. The instruments used were Genetic Concepts Achievement (r=0.86), Mental ability(r=0.87) tests, Attitude to Biology (α=0.89), Science Process Skills (r=0.83), Students’ Learning Styles(r=0.81) scales and instructional guides.The treatment lasted eight weeks. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Analysis of covariance and Bonferroni post-hoc test at 0.05 level of significance. The participants’ age was 17.15±2.35 years, 51.7% had moderate mental ability and 43.6% had visual learning style. The treatment had a significant main effect on student achievement (F(2,361)=17.62; partial  2=0.01). The participants in MMS had the highest post-achievement mean score (19.34), followed by GWS (16.52) and control (14.76) groups.The treatment had a significant main effect on students’ attitude to biology (F(2,361)=10.84; partial 2 =0.06). The participants in GWS had the highes tpost-attitude mean score (56.68), followed by MMS (55.68) and control (50.38) groups. The treatment had a significant main effect on students’ science process skills in biology (F(2,361)=30.64, partial  2=0.16). The participants in GWS had the highest post-science process skills mean score (59.85), followed by MMS (56.78) and control (47.70) groups.There was asignificant interaction effect of treatment and mental ability on students’ achievement in biology (F(2,361)=3.89; partial  2=0.05) in favour of high mental ability students in MMS group. The interaction effect of treatment and mental ability on science process skills in biology was significant (F(2,361)=3.44;partial  2=0.04) in favour of high mental ability studentsin GWS groups. The interaction effects of treatment, mental ability and learning style on science process skills in biology was significant (F(2,361)=2.40; partial  2=0.05) in favour of high mental ability auditory learning style students in GWS group.The other two and three-way interaction effects were not significant. Gallery Walks and Mind Mapping teaching strategies enhanced students’ learning outcomes in genetic concepts in biology in Kwara State, Nigeria with emphasis on learning style and mental ability. Therefore, these strategies should be adopted in teaching Biology in secondary schools.