Effects of Mentoring and Peer Tutoring Instructional Strategies on Secondary School Students' Interest and Achievement in Biology in Pankshin Zonal Education, Plateau State

Abstract

The study determined the effects of mentorship and peer tutoring instructional strategies on secondary school students' interest, achievement and retention in Biology. Specifically, the study was guided by 4 objectives,4 research questions were raised and 4 hypotheses which were tested at 0.05 levels of significance. The study adopted the non-randomized pre-test posttest control group design and the study area was Pankshin Zonal Education Inspectorate covering five (5) Local Government Areas of Plateau State. The population of the study consist of 6502 Senior 
Secondary One (SS1) Students. The sample for the study comprises 262 senior secondary one students. Three instruments namely: Biology Interest Questionnaire (BIQ), Biology Achievement Test (BAT) and Biology Retention Test (BRT) were used as instruments for data collection. The instruments were validated by five experts. The Biology Interest Questionnaire yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.81, while the Biology Achievement Test yielded a reliability coefficient index of 0.91. The researcher visited the sampled schools and sought permission from the principals of the various schools in which the study was carried out. The regular Biology teachers in the selected schools were used as research assistants for the study. The research assistants in each school helped the researcher to collect data and the data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation and inferential statistics of ANCOVA. The study found that the students taught Biology using mentoring strategy improved more in interest ratings, academic achievement and retention than those taught using the conventional method and the differences between the two groups were statistically significant. The study also found that the students taught Biology using peer-tutoring strategy improved more in interest ratings, academic achievement and retention than those taught using the conventional method and the differences between the two groups were statistically significant. Based on the findings of this study, it was concluded that the mentorship and peer-tutoring strategies are effective ways of improving students’ interest and achievement in Biology irrespective of the gender of the students. The study recommended that schools should incorporate mentoring strategies into Biology instruction to enhance students’ interest and engagement in the subject and those teachers should provide proper training for student tutors to ensure the effectiveness of peer-tutoring, enhancing the overall learning experience and academic interest in Biology.