EFFECT OF COOPERATIVE INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGY ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AND RETENTION OF SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL BIOLOGY STUDENTS OF BICHI EDUCATION ZONE

This study focused on the Effect of Cooperative Instructional Strategy on the Academic Performance and Retention of Senior Secondary School Biology Students of Bichi Education Zone. Four specific objectives, research questions and hypotheses guided the study. The design for the study adopting pre-test, post-test and postposttest, it was a quasi experimental design. The study considers two groups: the experimental group (EG) and control group (CG). The population for this study considered all public senior secondary schools (SS II) students’ owned by Kano State Government in Bichi Education Zone. There are 5285 Senior Secondary II (SSII) Biology students in the study area. The sample was consisted of four (4) schools out of 24 schools within the population. A sample size of 200 was used for the study. The instruments used for this study were Biology Students’ Performance Test (BSPT). Questions constructed and issued to the student before and after the treatment. This study employed Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (PPMCC) formula on the scores obtained from the pilot study. Using this software a reliability, r = 0.73 was obtained. Data collected were analysed using mean and standard deviation ratings, while hypotheses were tested using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). The findings of this study revealed that there is a significant difference on the effects of cooperative instructional strategy on academic performance among Biology students. It was recommended, among others, schools authority should encourage Biology teachers to acquire training on the use of Cooperative Instructional Strategy in teaching some Biology concepts at Secondary School level.