Comparative analysis of concept mapping and traditional methods in teaching selected topics in biology

Abstract

The aim of this study was to compare the effects of concept mapping and traditional methods on students’ performance in some selected topics in Biology in the Kwaebibirem District in the Eastern Region. Asuom Senior High School was the experimental school while Kade Technical Senior High School was the control school in this study. A pre-test – post-test non-equivalent quasi-experimental design was used for the study. The sample size was 124 students. The experimental group consisted of 60 students while the control group consisted of 64 students. The students in the experimental group were instructed with concept mapping while the control group were instructed with the traditional method. Both groups were taught the same content which was on biological classification and ecology. Three instruments were used for the data collection in this study. These were a biology achievement test (BAT), a questionnaire on students’ perception towards concept mapping (QCM) and a structured interview. Descriptive statistics, paired and unpaired t-test were used to analyse the data for answering the research hypotheses. The results indicated that those instructed with concept mapping did better than those instructed with the traditional method. It was also found that both males and females constructed concept maps alike. It has been recommended that the concept mapping method should be encouraged in science lessons especially biology classes at the Senior High School