Secondary School Biology Research Articles

A semantic classification of nominal technical terms in secondary school biology textbooks.

Nominal technical terms (NTTs), as crucial builders for disciplinary knowledge, can cause difficulties for students. However, previous studies have rarely associated NTTs with disciplinary knowledge construction. Apart from that, scholars of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) have mainly focused on making wordlists for one specific discipline based on corpora rather than on meanings. Moreover, the current categorization of technical terms cannot reveal their role in constructing disciplinary knowledge. Against this backdrop, we carried out a corpus-based study to classify NTTs in secondary school biology textbooks and to unveil the knowledge constructed by different types of those NTTs. As a result, we found that NTTs in those textbooks could fall into five major categories: Thing, Activity, Semiotic, Place, and Time. We also found intra-disciplinary differences in NTT distributions. The lexicogrammatical analysis indicates that the five types of NTTs can construct different knowledge. With the findings, we put forward implications for teaching biology in secondary schools.

Influence of School Working Conditions of Teachers’ Turnover on Learning Achievement in Biology in Public Secondary Schools in Garissa County, Kenya

The modern propensity toward multi-disciplinary research and the alignment of scientific knowledge from different fields has led to significant overlap of the field of Biological sciences with other scientific disciplines. Modern principles of other fields such as Chemistry, Medicine, and Physics are integrated with those of Biology in areas such as Biochemistry, Biomedicine, and Biophysics, making Biology a valuable subject to humankind. However, the government’s inability to retain qualified and experienced teachers in some schools due to high turnover impacts negatively on the students’ learning achievement in this subject. This paper looks into the influence of school working conditions of teachers’ turnover on learning achievement in Biology in public secondary schools in Garissa County. The study was conducted using pragmatic worldview and adopted a convergent mixed-methods design. With a target population of 2786 respondents from 40 public secondary schools, a sample size of 387 respondents was obtained. Using stratified random sampling, 27 schools were selected from which 336 students and 51 teachers of Biology were randomly and purposively drawn respectively. Data collection was done using Biology teacher questionnaire and document analysis guide. The quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics while qualitative data was analyzed thematically. The study findings showed that school working conditions (r=0.73, p<0.05) had a positive significant correlation with students’ learning achievement in Biology. Qualitative data findings revealed that majority of the teachers intended to transfer from rural to urban schools on the basis of unsuitable working conditions and insecurity. The study concluded that school working conditions of teachers’ turnover influenced low learning achievement in Biology in the study area. The study therefore, recommended strategies that should lower teacher turnover and increase learning achievement in Biology as follows; school principals should provide good leadership and adequate instructional resources for effective teaching of Biology while the government should post security officers to every learning institution in Garissa County to safeguard the non-local teachers’ safety and security

Teachers’ Job Satisfaction and Turnover: Re-Examining Learning Achievement in Biology in Public Secondary Schools, Garissa County, Kenya

Teachers spend lengthy periods of their lifetime in school work environments and their satisfaction in the job has crucially far-reaching implications. Besides making them feel good about themselves, job satisfaction draws on teachers’ well-being as satisfied teachers are less susceptible to leaving their positions. The aim of this paper was to evaluate teachers’ job satisfaction as a teachers’ turnover factor in influencing learning achievement in Biology in public secondary schools in Garissa County. Guided by Becker’s Human Capital Theory of Occupational Choice, the study was driven by a philosophical paradigm borrowed from the Pragmatic Worldview and adopted a convergent mixed-methods research design. The study targeted 2786 respondents comprising 2691 form three students and 95 Biology teachers from 40 public secondary schools from which 27 schools were picked through stratified random sampling. The sample size constituted 336 form three students and 51 Biology teachers obtained through simple random and purposive sampling respectively. Questionnaire and document analysis guide were used in data collection. Both descriptive and inferential statistics using Pearson Product Moment Correlation and Linear Regression were done. The study established that job satisfaction (r=0.67, p<0.05) had a positive significant correlation with learning achievement in Biology. The study therefore concluded that, teachers’ job satisfaction influenced learning achievement in Biology in public secondary schools in Garissa County. The study recommended strategies that should lower teacher turnover and increase learning achievement in Biology thus; re-visit salary schemes for teachers to ensure they re-visit salary schemes for teachers in public secondary schools to ensure teachers are well paid besides are well paid, teacher promotions should be streamlined and staff development opportunities enhanced.

Unlocking the Power of Togetherness: Exploring the Impact of Cooperative Learning on Peer Relationships, Academic Support, and Gains in Secondary School Biology in Gedeo Zone South Ethiopia

The purpose of this study was to assess the relative effectiveness of cooperative learning (CL) strategies on learners’ peer relatedness, academic support (AS), and learning gains in Biology. A quasi-experimental non-equivalent group pre-test post-test design was employed, involving a sample of 81 students. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected, and analyses were conducted using t-tests, one-way MANOVA, bivariate correlation, and regression analysis. As anticipated, the t-test and MANOVA results revealed that participation in CL strategies had a moderate to substantial effect on the measured variables, with Partial η2 values ranging from 0.471 to 0.722. In addition, regression analysis indicated that peer relationships and AS together accounted for 43.2% of the variance in overall learning gains. Qualitative findings highlighted significant challenges to the effective implementation of CL, including students’ unfamiliarity with the method, resource constraints, and teacher resistance. The findings provide preliminary evidence that shifting classroom instruction from a content-centric approach to a learner-centered approach can enhance not only the quality of teaching but also the quality of learning and key indicators of student success.

Mendelism in the course of biology of the new ukrainian school

The article draws attention to the discrepancy between the teaching of Mendelism in the secondary school biology course and the level of modern genetics. It is pointed out the shift of emphasis in teaching the laws of inheritance and the simplified understanding of Mendelism by reducing it to three laws. The reason for this can be seen in the unjustified giving to the results obtained by Mendel in the genetic experiment, the status of laws, which, without taking into account modern scientific achievements, uncritically pass from textbook to textbook. It is pointed out the need in the new Ukrainian school, when teaching the basics of classical genetics, to take into account the latest achievements of genetics and suppress Mendelian results not as laws, but as data of a genetic experiment, which became the basis for a paradigm shift in the understanding of the phenomena of heredity – a transition from the idea of fused heredity to the theory of hereditary discreteness material. It is proposed to present Mendel’s achievements to students as one fundamental law of discreteness of heredity, which takes a worthy place in the series of ideas about the discreteness of matter and energy.

‘The piece that we were looking for’: teachers' collaborative curriculum design for equity-centred biology units

ABSTRACT Critiques of current science education reforms call for science curricula that reflect expansive notions of equity in science teaching. This case study explores the experiences of two secondary-school biology teachers in the United States working as a Teacher-Design-Team (TDT) to centre equity through new curriculum materials that they co-designed. Four questions guided the study: (1) How did teachers centre equity in their curriculum design decisions and what concepts of equity did these decisions evoke? (2) How did teachers characterise their process for centring equity in the collaborative design of their biology units? (3) What do teachers describe as outcomes of their work? (4) What did teachers experience as supports – or challenges – in their efforts to design equity-centred units? Key findings include that a strong partnership and shared goals grounded in an equity framework catalysed the teachers’ work; teachers used an emergent ‘three-pronged approach’ to organise their unit planning; teachers’ centring of equity contained many facets; and teachers described multiple benefits from their TDT efforts, including greater job satisfaction and strengthened intention to remain in teaching. These findings have implications for future research and for practitioners who support the work of Teacher-Design-Teams (TDTs), particularly for science curriculum innovations that centre equity.

Effect of Computer Based Instruction on Secondary School Learners’ Academic Achievement in Biology

Purpose: This study investigated the effect of computer based instruction (CBI) on secondary school learners’ academic achievement in Biology. Methodology: The study was carried out in four schools, using quasi experimental research design and was guided by systems theory. The target population was 40, 564 secondary school Biology learners. Sampling was by purposive sampling and simple random sampling. The sample comprised of 161 learners. These were obtained from four form two streams in four secondary schools that had learners of mixed gender. Each secondary school contributed a stream, which gave four intact groups. Data collection was by use of questionnaires and achievement test. The collected data was analysed using descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages and means and inferential statistics such as analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and analysis of variance (ANOVA), using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The data was then presented in the form of tables and a graph. The significance level of the difference between the variables was done at the alpha value of 0.05. Findings: Findings of the study indicate that learners who were taught using CBI had superior scores compared to those who were taught conventionally. The ANCOVA to explore whether or not there was a statistically significant difference between the groups of learners indicated that indeed there was a statistically significant difference between the groups. Consequently, CBI improves learners’ academic achievement in Biology. However, there was no effect of gender on the way CBI influenced the performance. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: The study was guided by systems theory Schools should therefore enhance computer integration in the teaching and learning process.

Enhancing Biology Teachers' Professional Development

The purpose of the study is to identify the necessary knowledge to be developed by biology teachers using the TPACK model for each of the five topics that are difficult to teach in Mongolian high schools. Five groups—“respiration,” “regulation of the living body,” “biotechnology, genetic engineering,” “enzymes,” and “immunity”—were selected as difficult groups for teaching according to the TPACK model. The study questioned 113 school biology teachers for content knowledge (CK), pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), technology content knowledge (TCK), and technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPCK). For each topic, TCK is the heaviest and CK the lightest compared to other types of knowledge for biology teachers. In terms of the correlation coefficient, for the groups, TCK and TPCK had the highest correlations. This research proposes the development of TCK and TPCK content modules for specific groups of secondary school biology teachers is crucial.

Influence of Environment on Academic Performance of Senior Secondary School Biology Students in Owerri Municipal Council of Imo State

The influence of environment in which students generally and specifically science students study on their academic performance is the main concern of this study. Biology, both as a subject and a discipline is a natural environment friendly endeavour. The environment of its study by students is very crucial. The objectives of the study included examining the influence of school location, security of school environment, home background of the students and cleanliness of the school on secondary school student’s performance in Biology. The sample size was six hundred and thirty-five (635) students (10% of the population) selected from five secondary schools out of the ten public schools. From the results, it was that concluded all the environmental factors considered in the study influenced the academic performance of Biology students in Owerri Municipal. It is recommended that all stakeholders in biology education of students should encourage and facilitate stronger partnerships between schools and home to ensure that everyone participates actively in and support students’ academic endeavors in biology through ensuring a healthy and secure school environment.

Teachers’ and students’ perceptions of teaching-learning activities used in secondary school biology classrooms: a comparative study

Teachers’ and students’ perceptions of teaching-learning activities used in secondary school biology classrooms: a comparative study

Life Skills in Biology Textbook Grade IX: A Qualitative Content Analysis

The current qualitative study focused on integrating 12 core life skills in secondary school Biology textbooks identified in the UNICEF MENA report (2017). The textbook was selected through purposive sampling, which was employed when choosing the textbook. The data analysis was done using qualitative content analysis facilitated through NVivo 14. The analysis revealed specific aspects of critical thinking, problem-solving, decision-making, and participation skills in different activities, questions, and practical work from the textbook analysis. Some concerns were that creativity and communication skills were neglected, although only a few activities were suggested to address these areas. Furthermore, no specific content and activities taught students about cooperation, negotiation, self-management, resilience, respect for human diversity, and empathy. The current study indicates that though the Biology textbook has some specific necessary life skills, there may be a gap in the coverage of the necessary life skills identified by UNICEF. As a result of the present research, it is suggested that textbook content should be matched to fundamental life skills to ensure positive outcomes in students’ everyday lives. The information can be helpful in future textbook writing and updating to enhance the delivery of life skills education in secondary schools.

Impacts of ICT as Tools in Teaching Biology in Senior Secondary Schools

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has been pivotal in training across the world. Due to the abstractness of Biology in schools, it is essential to develop an effective strategy of ICT tools to improve student’s learning process. Similarly, biology helps people understand how organisms adapt to their environment and the importance of biodiversity in sustaining our planet's delicate balance. Therefore, this study investigates the impacts of ICT as instructional material in teaching and learning biology and its gender dimension in senior secondary school at Ado-Odo Ota local government area of Ogun State, Nigeria. The sample size for this research was 240 which consisted of 180 Biology students and 60 Biology teachers. The research questions were investigated with descriptive statistics; Frequency and percentage with the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). The results show a sizable correlation between information communication and technology and the performance of students offering biology in senior secondary school at Ado Odo Ota local government area of Ogun State. It also showed a notable difference in the performance of male students taught with information and communication technology-related facilities and female students taught with ICT-related facilities in Ado-Odo Ota local government area of Ogun State. It was concluded that ICT tools in Biology class can make students more interested in learning Biology. Therefore, Biology concepts should be incorporated into ICT tools to make learning Biology worthwhile, seamless, and entertaining.

Practical knowledge and skills to be imparted to students in extracurricular activities in biology in secondary schools

Practical knowledge and skills to be imparted to students in extracurricular activities in biology in secondary schools

Assessment of botanical learning through an educational intervention based on aromatic plants and their uses in the immediate environment

AbstractIn order to achieve meaningful learning and in view of the need for education for sustainable development (ESD), pedagogical proposals based on experiential methodologies, paying attention to what is taught and with what objective, are essential. Sustainability in education implies a new vision of the term integral sustainability (IS); this should not only focus on environmental aspects of sustainability, but make the whole process of learning sustainable in itself. Against this background, this article presents a non-formal educational intervention for secondary school biology and geology students focused on aromatic plants and associated traditional knowledge (which are locally relevant to the students), in support of the botany-related contents established in the formal curriculum. To evaluate the activity, pre-test and post-test questionnaires were completed by the students. The results revealed significant improvements in students’ ratings of motivation, scientific learning, and sustainable awareness, demonstrating the effectiveness of implementing pedagogical proposals related to the immediate environment for increasing interest in learning and conservation of natural resources.

Impacts of Virtual and on-Site Mentoring on Instructional Delivery Effectiveness of Secondary School Biology Teachers in Ecology

Impacts of Virtual and on-Site Mentoring on Instructional Delivery Effectiveness of Secondary School Biology Teachers in Ecology

Evolution of senior secondary school biology education in New Zealand

Evolution of senior secondary school biology education in New Zealand

Investigation Of Delinquent Behaviour And Academic Performance Of Students In Biology In Public Secondary Schools In Obudu Local Government Area Of Cross River State, Nigeria

This study investigated delinquent behaviour and academic performance of students in biology in public secondary schools in Obudu Local Government Area of Cross River State, Nigeria. To achieve the purpose of this study, three hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The Ex-post facto research design was considered most appropriate for the study. The simple random sampling technique was adopted in selecting five public secondary schools and a sample of hundred students was used for the study. A twenty-item four point Likert scale questionnaire and students' achievement test in biology were the instruments used for data collection. The instruments were validated and tested for reliability before they were administered to the respondents. To test the hypotheses formulated for the study, Pearson product moment correlation statistical tool was used for data analysis. The results obtained from analysis of data and testing of hypotheses revealed that there is a significant relationship between truancy, drug abuse, lateness to school and academic performance of students in the study area. Based on these findings it was recommended among others that stringent measures should be adopted to discourage students from absenting themselves from school in order to improve their learning outcomes and subsequent performance.

Exploring Gender Constructs: Colombian and Mexican Biology Teachers’ Perspectives

AbstractThe traditional relationship that has been constructed between gender and biological sex has been characterised by a mimetic perception between the two concepts, in which gender seems to reflect sex, or at least to be limited by it. This issue has given rise to reflections, questions and criticisms that try to identify how it is expressed in different social contexts, such as schools. In this sense, this research explores the views of secondary school biology teachers on the concepts of sex and gender. To this end, an exploratory qualitative study was carried out. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with Colombian and Mexican teachers and interpreted using discourse analysis. It is concluded that there is a weak differentiation between the concepts of sex and gender, a perception of neutrality of school biology with regard to identity construction, and a deterministic perspective of biology with regard to gender.

Применение наглядного средства обучения при изучении темы «Классификация животных и основные систематические группы» в школьном курсе биологии

Many sections in biology are poorly perceived by students, as this is due to the invisibility of biological phenomena and processes. Therefore, multimedia visual learning tools play an important role in teaching biology in a modern secondary school. Visual learning tools are materials that are used in the learning process to improve students’ understanding and memorization of information. With the help of visual aids, complex phenomena or processes can be clearly and clearly explained. The presence of visual materials makes the lesson more interesting and attractive, increasing the level of motivation to learn. Schoolchildren have big problems in the field of systematics, one of the reasons for this situation is the insufficient development of modern methods. The use of the visual aid “Biological rank” developed by us in the educational process in biology lessons in secondary school when studying the topic “Classification of animals and basic systematic groups” leads to an increase in the level of knowledge of students to a higher level. So, when studying the topic “Classification of animals and the main systematic groups”, 39% of students in the control group received “satisfactory” for the test task, and 14% of students in the experimental group received a “good” grade in both the control and experimental groups, 47% received “excellent” grades in the experimental group, 39%, and in the control 14%. Thus, visual aids increase the interest of students and facilitate their assimilation, therefore, the development and application of visual aids in biology lessons is necessary.

Integrated use LearningApps.org and information devices in secondary school Biology teaching

This paper explores using the LearningApps.org online resource and information devices such as computers, interactive whiteboards, tablets, smartphones, and websites in teaching Biology in secondary school. An experimental methodology involving LearningApps.org exercises, smartphone apps, interactive whiteboards, and websites was developed and tested. The methodology aims to increase the effectiveness of biology education by leveraging educational technology. Experiments conducted in secondary schools demonstrated increased learning outcomes in plant morphology, anatomy, physiology and systematics topics. The use of multimedia and interactive exercises facilitated the learning process. Results highlight the benefits of integrating online learning tools with traditional classroom teaching. The methodology provides a model for modernising biology instruction through technology.