Project Abstract

<p>                   <b>ABSTARCT&nbsp;</b><br></p><p> The study analysed students 1 performance in biology in internal and external examinations in Anambra state. The poor performance of students in biology and science subjects at the external examinations in Nigeria has been a source of worry to stakeholders in education. Specifically the study analysed the differences in the mean performance of students in biology in internal and May/June West African Senior Secondary Examination (W ASSCE) in Nnewi Education Zone of Anambra state. Ex post facto research design was employed and three research questions and three null hypotheses guided the study .A stratified random sampling procedure was used to select ten schools from the forty-nine public schools in the zone. Sample consisted of two hundred candidates randomly selected from the entire population of ssl of 2011 academic session in the zone. The schools annual cumulative scores in biology and the may/june WAEC computer print out grades in biology of the selected candidates were used to extract data used for analyses. The data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation for answering the research questions. The null hypotheses were tested using t-test and ANO VA at 0.05% level of significance. The study revealed that students performance in biology is significantly higher in internal examination than in external examination (WASSCE). Therefore it was recommended that the government should provide adequate instructional facilities for the teaching of sciences. The schools should adopt innovative teaching strategies to cover the required curriculum 201 ANSU Journal of Educational Research ANSUJER and standardize internal examinations in line with the the WAEC level to improve teaching and learning of biology in schools. <br></p>

Project Overview

<p> </p><div><b>INTRODUCTION&nbsp;</b></div><div>Biology is a branch of natural science that deals with life and living organisms. It seeks to establish the relationship and interactivity between plants and animals. Biology is very vast with many divisions including; botany, zoology, ecology, genetics, anatomy, physiology, microbiology, biochemistry, cell biology, among others. It is also related to other science subjects like agricultural science, physics, mathematics, and geography. It finds application in areas like medicine, biotechnology, pharmacy horticulture, food chemistry sciences and in many other related fields of human life.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>Biology is important to everyday life because it allows man to understand better resources and their potential threats in the environment. Knowledge of biology provides solutions to many social problems. Indeed biology occupies a very important position in daily living. Consequently it is recommended as one</div><div>of the core science subjects in the senior secondary level of education in Nigeria with high annual students' enrollment in external examinations.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>However, the West African Examination Council (W AEC) chief examiner's reports (2002- 2014) consistently showed that Nigeria students do not pass WAEC with good grades. This development has been of great concern to stakeholders in education. Many factors have been identified as causes for the persistent poor performance in biology some of which include ;Cletus &amp; James(2001),observed students attitudes and interest,(Owiti 2001),lack of information and financial resources, Adebayo (2003) lack of instructional resources, Mamalanga &amp; Aweleni (2004), shortage of qualified and dedicated biology teachers, and teachers' skill in assessment, Dillion (2008) identified economic status and Farouy (2011)</div><div>reported over loaded curriculum.</div><div><br></div><div>Examinations and test of various types are used to assess students' academic achievements. Adeyemi (2008) observes that examination occupies a unique position as a measure of quality within the educational system. The examinations are either internal set by teachers within the school system or external when conducted by recognized examining bodies such as West African Examination Council (WAEC), National Examination Council (NECO) and National Board for Technical Business Examination(NABTEB). As shown in table 1; the range of scores and grading used by these three examination bodies in Nigeria do not differ greatly.</div><div>Table 1: The range of scores and grading used by the W AEC, NABTEB and NECO are as follows:</div><div><div>WAEC          NABTEB        NECO</div><div>Range     of Grading&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Range&nbsp;  of&nbsp;Grading   Range&nbsp;  of&nbsp;Grading&nbsp;</div><div>scored          Scored          Scored</div><div>80 - 100    A1    80-&nbsp;100   &nbsp; A1     &nbsp; 80-&nbsp;100    A1<br></div></div><div><div>75 -79    &nbsp; &nbsp;B2    75 -79    B2      &nbsp;75 -79    &nbsp; &nbsp;B2 </div><div>70-74     B3     70-74    B3      &nbsp; 70-74     B3 </div><div>65 -69    &nbsp; &nbsp;C4   &nbsp; &nbsp; 65 -69    C4       65 -69    &nbsp; &nbsp;C4 </div><div>55 -64     C5    55 -64    C5      &nbsp; 55 -64     C5 </div><div>50-54     C6    50-54    C6     &nbsp; 50-54      C6  </div></div> <div>45 - 49     D7     20 - 29    F       45 - 49      D7</div><div>40 - 44     E8     10 - 19    G       40 - 44       E8</div><div>0- 39      F9     0 - 9     H      0&nbsp;-&nbsp;39       F9</div><div>Source: <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.waecnigeria.org">www.waecnigeria.org</a>; <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.nabtebnigeria.or2">www.nabtebnigeria.or2</a>: : <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.neconigeria.org">www.neconigeria.org</a>;</div><div><br></div><div>From the above grading used by the three examination bodies,any student that score 0 - 39 in WAEC and NECO fails the subject, whereas in NABTEB 0 - 29 is failure. However, pass mark for internal examinations for all the schools studied starts from 40 - 100. This means that grading for internal examinations takes clue from W AEC and NECO grading system.&nbsp;Expectedly students' individual achievement in any subject of choice in internally conducted examinations would more or less mirror what they score in the same subject in external examination like WAEC. For instance a student who scored high mark in biology in the school tests would very much likely achieve high grade in WAEC biology examination. However this seems not to be the case. The consistent report of candidates'</div><div>poor performance by the WAEC chief examiner calls for comparative analysis of students performance in internal and external examinations. It is this background that necessitated the study in which the researchers compared the students' performance in biology in internal and WAEC examinations.</div><div><br></div><div><b>1.2 Purpose of the study</b></div><div>The purpose of the study is to find out;&nbsp;</div><div>1. Mean difference in the performance of students in biology in internal and may/June WAEC examinations.&nbsp;</div><div>2. Mean difference in the performance in biology of male and female students in</div><div>internal examinations.</div><div>3. Mean difference in the male and female students scores in biology in may/June</div><div>WAEC examination.</div><div><br></div><div><b>1.3 Research questions</b></div><div>The following research questions were raised to guide the study:</div><div>1. To what extent does the students mean performance in biology</div><div>III internal and may/june W AEC examination differs</div><div><br></div><div>2. What is the difference between mean performance of male and female students in</div><div>biology in internal examinations.</div><div><br></div><div>3. What is the difference between mean performance of male and female students in</div><div>biology in external (may/june WAEC) examination</div> <br><p></p>