PERCEPTION OF STUDENTS ON THE USE OF COMPUTER SIMULATION AND COLLABORATIVE LEARNING IN BIOLOGY IN OBIO/AKPOR, RIVERS STATE

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of computer simulation and collaborative learning strategies on senior secondary school students’ perception in Biology. A descriptive design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised all the public secondary schools in Obio-Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State. A sample size of one hundred and eighty-two (182) students was selected using the purposive sampling technique. Two research questions and corresponding hypotheses were formulated to guide the study at 0.05 level of significance. The instrument for data collection was a Biology Perception Questionnaire Scale (BPQS) designed by the researcher and Cronbach Alpha Analysis test was used to test the instruments. A reliability coefficient of 0.88 was derived for the questionnaire. Research Questions were answered using mean and standard deviation while Analysis of covariance was used to test the hypotheses. The study established among others that the use of computer simulation and collaborative learning strategies enhanced students’ perception towards the learning of Biology in secondary school. It was recommended among others that government, through the state ministry of Education should commission Biology textbooks writers to integrate the computer simulation strategy as a recommended teaching strategy for teaching abstract concepts in Biology.