Interpreting Skills of Senior Secondary School Students in Elective Biology in the Central Region of Ghana.

Abstract

Investigation was made into students* proficiency at interpreting biological diagrams, an important component of senior secondary school certificate examination (SSSCE) in Biology Paper 2. In all 303 elective biology students, aged between 15 and 24years made up of 159 males and 144 females in urban and rural senior secondary schools were randomly selected for the study. A performance task was the instrument used to determine the interpreting skills of the students. Majority of the students seem not able to interpret biological diagrams. Sex, age and the type of school the students attended were found not to be related to their performance at interpreting biological diagrams. Nevertheless, a greater proportion of females than males exhibited the same level of performance in interpreting biological diagrams. The major implication of the results for science education is that a lot of data interpretation exercises should be included in the teaching of biology.