Project Abstract

Abstract
Concept mapping has been recognized as a valuable educational tool that can enhance students' learning experience and academic performance in various subjects. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between concept mapping and the academic performance of students in Biology in Nsit Ibom Local Government Area. The research utilized a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative analysis of students' academic performance data with qualitative assessment of their perceptions and experiences with concept mapping. A sample of students from different schools in Nsit Ibom Local Government Area participated in the study. The quantitative analysis revealed a significant positive correlation between students who utilized concept mapping techniques and their academic performance in Biology. Students who regularly engaged in concept mapping activities showed higher scores in Biology assessments compared to those who did not. This finding suggests that concept mapping can be an effective strategy to improve students' understanding and retention of biological concepts. The qualitative assessment provided valuable insights into students' perspectives on using concept mapping in their Biology studies. Many students reported that concept mapping helped them organize information, identify key concepts, and make connections between different topics in Biology. They also highlighted the role of concept mapping in improving their critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Overall, the findings of this study support the notion that concept mapping can positively impact students' academic performance in Biology. By encouraging students to visually represent their knowledge and understanding of biological concepts, concept mapping can promote deeper learning and comprehension. Educators in Nsit Ibom Local Government Area and beyond can consider incorporating concept mapping activities into their Biology curriculum to enhance students' learning outcomes. Future research could delve deeper into the specific aspects of concept mapping that contribute to improved academic performance in Biology. Additionally, exploring the long-term effects of concept mapping on students' retention and application of biological knowledge could provide further insights into the efficacy of this educational strategy.

Project Overview

INTRODUCTION

1.1   Background to the study

Concept mapping is an instructional tool that is currently gaining popularity in the field of science education. It is a product of recent advances in cognitive science and the new philosophy of science. Contemporary perspectives of cognitive psychologists and the new learning as an active internal process of construction where the learner’s prior knowledge plays a significant role in further conceptual learning (Ausubel, 1968; Novak 1991). These educators consider learners to be architects of their knowledge for they construct their own idiosyncratic meanings of concepts and natural phenomena. They consider learning, therefore to be more than verbatim repetition of what has been presented to the learner or as a change in behaviour They view learning as a process of conceptual change.

The new philosophers of science reject the traditional cumulative view of scientific knowledge and replace it with a conceptual change view as reflected in the works of Kuhn (1970), and Lakatos (1970), among others. In general, it is this newer idea of cognitive psychologists with constructivist epistemological views and the new philosophers of science that formed the conertoul of concept mapping. However, it is the Ausubel’s (2963, 1968) and Ausubel, Novak and Hanesian’s (1978) cognitive assimilation (subsumption) theory that formed the theoretical foundation of concept mapping.

Concept mapping is a process of constructing concept maps. It involves mapping out logical relationships among concepts in a hierarchical order, such that the most general concepts are at the top of the map. A concept map, according to Novak and Godwin (1984), is a schematic advice for representing a set of concept mapping embedded in a frame work of propositions. It is a two-dimensional hierarchical diagram that illustrates the interconnections between and among individual concepts. Concept maps provide a visual road map showing the pathways that we may take to construct meanings of concepts and propositions. It is both a meta-learning and meta-knowledge tool according to Novak and Godwin (1984).

1.2   Purpose of Study

This study aims at investigating concept mapping and academic performance of students in Biology. The study seeks to:

• Establish whether concept mapping has any effect on students’ performance in Biology.
• To find out gender differences in performance in Biology when students are exposed to concept mapping method.

1.3   Statement of the problem

Studies in concept mapping in Nigeria are scanty. Moreover, those available (Abayomi, 1988, Esiobu & Soyibo, 1995) have looked at concept mapping only in terms of achievement on the part of the learners generally. This researcher is not aware of any study that has looked at gender difference when concept mapping is used as an instructional strategy. The problem of this study can therefore be summarized in the following questions. To what extent does concept mapping determine the academic performance of students in Biology in Nsit Ibom Local Government Area? Is the performance of learners exposed to instruction using concept mapping gender-biased?