EFFECT OF FUTURES WHEEL AND CONCEPT MAPPING INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES ON STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT IN BIOLOGY IN USHONGO LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF BENUE STATE

Abstract

This study investigated ‘Effect of futures wheel and concept mapping instructional strategies on students’ achievement in Biology in Ushongo Local Government Area of Benue State’.  Two research questions were raised and two hypotheses were formulated for the study. The design adopted for this study was a quasi-experimental non-equivalent pre-test and post-test group design. The population of the study comprised 952 SS2 students offering Biology made up of 538 males and 414 females during the 2020/2021 academic session. Multistage sampling was used to draw 500 students for the study. The researchers constructed a Biology Achievement Test (BAT) for data collection.  Mean scores and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions while Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The study found that there was a difference  in  the mean  achievement  scores  of senior secondary students taught Biology with Concept mapping  and  Futures  wheel  instructional  strategies and that  there is the interaction effect of Concept mapping  and  Futures-wheel  instructional  strategies  and  gender  (male  and  female)  on students achievement in senior secondary school Biology. The study recommends that management of secondary schools should ensure that teachers are retrained in the usage of futures wheel and other model instructional strategies in the teaching so as to boost students’ academic achievement in the subject.