Effect of Guided Diagram Scoring Teaching Strategy on Students’ Achievement in Biology at Senior Secondary School Level

A quasi-experimental study of non-equivalent control design was adopted to investigate the effect of guided diagram scoring teaching strategy on senior secondary school class 2 (SS2) students’ achievement in biology. The study sample size consisted of 135 SS2 students consisting 70 students in one intact class from one school and 65 students from another school within Yenagoa metropolis of Bayelsa State. The aim of the study was to evaluate the students’ achievement through GDSTS in one of the biology topics. The students were drawn from intact classes, were randomly selected into experimental group and control group. The study employed pretest and posttest on biology of nervous system in data collection. Data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation and independent t-test. Findings from the study revealed that students taught with guided diagram scoring teaching strategy scored higher in their achievement test items than those taught with conventional lecture method (control group (m=5.64, SD=1.08) and experimental group (m=7.31, SD=0.71) conditions t(133)=4.72, t-tab=1.97); which implied that guided diagram scoring teaching strategy was effective in improving students’ achievement in learning. More so, it was revealed that gender is a significant factor in students’ achievement when taught with guided diagram scoring strategy favouring the female gender. Since guided diagram scoring teaching strategy enhanced performance of students, we therefore recommend that guided diagram scoring teaching strategy be included as an integral part of instructional procedure of biology education in senior secondary schools.