EFFECT OF GRAPHIC ADVANCE ORGANIZER ON SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN CELL BIOLOGY IN ENUGU STATE

Abstract

Persistent low achievement among secondary school students offering Biology has continued to draw concern from policymakers and education stakeholders. In response, various strategies have been explored to enhance students’ understanding of fundamental Biological concepts. This study examined the effect of a graphic advance organizer on the academic achievement of senior secondary school students in cell Biology in Isiuzo Local Government Area of Enugu State, Nigeria. The study population comprised 4,129 SS II students offering Biology, while the sample consisted of 349 students drawn through a multi-stage sampling procedure. Two co-educational schools were randomly selected from six available, and from each school, two intact classes were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. A quasi-experimental non-equivalent control group design guided the study. Data were collected using the Cell Division Achievement Test (CDAT), which was validated by experts and had a reliability coefficient of 0.78 using the K-R 20 method. The CDAT was administered as a pretest and posttest. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions, while ANCOVA was used to test the hypotheses at a .05 level of significance. Findings revealed that students exposed to the graphic advance organizer demonstrated higher achievement in cell division than those taught through the conventional expository method. Additionally, gender did not significantly influence achievement among students taught with the raphic advance indicating that the strategy benefits both males and females equally. Based on these outcomes, it is recommended that school authorities provide regular seminars and workshops to train Biology teachers on the effective use of graphic advance organizers in teaching complex concepts such as cell division.