Effect of Discussion Method on Achievement and Anxiety Level of Secondary Biology Students in Gashua Educational Zone, Yobe State, Nigeria

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare the Effect of Discussion Method on the Achievement and Anxiety of Secondary Biology Students in Gashua Educational Zone, Yobe State, Nigeria. The study used a population of 532 students (363 boys and 169 girls) and a sample of 71 students (49 boys and 22 girls). A pretest post-test Experimental and Control groups design was used. Simple random sampling was used to select the two (2) schools out of the four (4) co-educational secondary schools in Gashua educational Zone of Yobe State. The selected schools were randomly assigned into experimental and control groups. The experimental group was taught for six (6) weeks using discussion method and control group was taught using lecture method for the same period. The instruments used for data collection were Biology Achievement Test (BAT) and Biology Students Anxiety Questionnaire (BSAQ) with reliability coefficient of 0.80 and 0.70 respectively. Two (2) Null hypotheses were formulated and tested at P=0.05 level of significance using t-test statistic. The major findings in the study indicated that; there was significant difference between the mean academic achievement scores of the experimental and control groups in favour of experimental group. There was also significant difference between the anxiety levels of experimental and control groups in favour of experimental group. Based on the findings of the research, a number of recommendations were made, among which were: (i) teachers should adopt discussion method which is learner-centred in their day-to-day classroom instruction and encourage students to actively participate, as this enhances the understanding of instructional content, improves academic achievement and reduces anxiety. (ii) Biology teachers should be trained through workshops and seminars on how to effectively use discussion teaching method to teach in secondary school.