EFFECT OF THINK-PAIR-SHARE INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGY ON SENIOR SECONDARY TWO STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT IN GENETICS IN ABUJA, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study investigated the effect of think-pair-share instructional strategy on senior secondary two (SS 2) students’ achievement in genetics in Abuja, Nigeria. The research adopted the non-randomized pre-test, post-test quasi-experimental  control group research design. The population of the study consisted of 1100 SS2 students. A sample of 224 students from two co-educational senior secondary schools (one public school and one private school) was used. Three research questions and three hypotheses guided the study. Think-pair-share instructional strategy was used to teach the experimental group the concept of Genetics while the lecture method was used to teach the control group the same concepts. The instrument used for data collection was a Students’ Genetics Achievement Test (SGAT) with reliability index 0.99 established using Kuder Richardson’s formula 21. Data collected from the participants were analyzed using Statistical package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Mean 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. Findings revealed a significant difference between the achievement mean scores of students taught genetics using think-pair-share strategy and those taught using lecture method (F(1,108) = 651.49, p < 0.05). With respect to gender, there was no significant difference between the achievement mean scores of male and female students taught genetics using think-pair-share strategy (F (1, 55) =.597, P > 0.05). Furthermore, school type was found not to be significant in respect of achievement mean scores of students taught genetics using think-pair- strategy Based on the findings, it was concluded that the think-pair instructional strategy has the capacity to enhance students’ achievement in genetics. Moreover, the strategy is both gender and environment-friendly. The study therefore, recommended among others that biology teachers should incorporate the think-pair-share instructional strategy into their techniques for enhanced achievement outcomes in biology, and  particularly, genetics.