Effects of Educational Games, Drills and Practice Strategies on Academic Achievement in Biology concepts among Secondary School Students in Abak LGA, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.64348/zije.2026489Keywords:
Educational Games, Drills, Practice, Biology Concepts, academic achievementAbstract
The study examined the effects of educational games, drills and practice strategies on senior secondary students’ academic achievement in Biology in Abak Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Two research questions and two hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. The design of the study was a quasi-experimental design of pre-test post-test non-randomized design. The population of the study consisted of all the two thousand, five hundred and twenty-four (2,524) SS two students studying Biology in the eleven (11) public secondary schools. Simple random sampling technique was used to select three co-educational secondary schools out of the population. The sample of the study comprised of one hundred and forty-three (143) students in three intact classes. The instrument for data collection was tagged: Biology Achievement Test on Respiratory System (BATRS) was adapted from past questions by the researcher. The reliability index of the instrument was found to be 0.81 using Kuder-Richardson 20 formula (K-R 20) Descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation was used to answer the research questions. While the hypotheses were tested using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) at p≤0.05 level of significance. Results showed that students taught respiratory system using educational games gained better than those taught using drill and practice, followed by those taught using expository strategy. There was a significant difference in academic achievement mean scores of male and female students taught the concept of respiratory system. Based on the findings it was recommended among others that teachers should incorporate active teaching strategies such as educational games, drills, and practice exercises to improve students' understanding and engagement in Biology. Students should participate in educational games and drills to enhance learning, problem-solving skills, and critical thinking in Biology.
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