EXPLORING THE EFFECTS OF GROUP INVESTIGATION AND INDIVIDUALIZED LEARNING STRATEGIES ON STUDENTS’ SCIENCE PROCESS SKILLS IN TRANSPORT SYSTEM

Abstract

Biology is taught to equip students with the necessary science skills and the ability to transfer gained biological principles to their day-to-day activities. Despite this importance, evidence has shown that students struggle with manipulating these skills in biology. This has been attributed to the teacher-centred strategies adopted by biology teachers. Previous studies focus more on interventions to improve students’ comprehension in biology, with a dearth of efforts on the acquisition of science process skills. This study was designed to determine the effect of group investigation (GILS) and individualized (ILS) learning strategies on students’ science process skills (SPS) in the transport system in biology, Oyo State, Nigeria. The constructivist and Vygotsky’s social constructivist theories provided the framework, while the pretest-posttest control group quasi-experimental design was adopted. The participants comprised 220 senior secondary school students divided into experimental groups and a control group. Six instruments were used to collect data. Data collected were analysed using analysis of covariance at p<0.05. The results revealed that treatment had a significant main effect on students’ acquisition of SPS in the transport system (F_(2,207)=)=104.16, p<0.05, Partial η2=0.50). The participants in GILS ( (x̄=21.35) performed better than those in ILS (x̄=18.62) and CS (x̄ =13.38). Attitude had no significant main effect on students’ acquisition of SPS. The interaction effect of treatment and attitude was not significant on students’ acquisition of SPS. Group investigation and individualized learning strategies enhanced students’ acquisition of science process skills in the transport system. Biology teachers should adopt these strategies in the teaching and learning of transport systems.