Enhancing Intermediate Science Students’ Understanding of Scientific Concepts in Photosynthesis Using a Contextual Teaching Approach

Abstract

The study investigated on enhancing Intermediate Science students’ understanding of scientific concept on photosynthesis using contextual teaching approach. The study utilized a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design. The population consisted of all Junior Secondary School 2 (JSS2) Intermediate Science students in the Etinan Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. 89 JSS2 students from two intact classes constituted the study sample. The instrument used for data collection was the Intermediate Science Test on Photosynthesis (ISTP). To ensure its validity, the ISTP underwent face and content validation by experts. The reliability of the ISTP was determined using the Kuder-Richardson Formula 20 (KR-20), yielding a coefficient of 0.81. Data were analysed using mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions, while Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) tested the hypotheses at a 0.05 significance level, controlling for pre-test scores. The result of findings revealed that there was a significant difference in the mean performance of Intermediate science students taught the concept of photosynthesis using contextual and conventional teaching approaches in favour of students taught using contextual and teaching approach. Also, there was no significant difference in the mean performance of male and female Intermediate science students taught the concept of photosynthesis using contextual and conventional teaching approaches. The study concluded that the contextual teaching approach has the potential to enhance Intermediate Science students’ understanding of the scientific concept of photosynthesis more effectively than the conventional teaching approach. It was recommended among others that Intermediate Science teachers should adopt the contextual teaching approach when teaching photosynthesis by relating the concept to familiar experiences, such as plant growth, sunlight, water absorption, and food production in plants.