EFFECTS OF PRE-TEACHING THE MATHEMATICS COMPONENT OF GENETICS ON SENIOR SCHOOL STUDENTS’ GENETICS ACHIEVEMENT IN OYO STATE, NIGERIA M.Ed. RESEARCH PROPOSAL BY BUSARI, Fausat Motunrayo 10/68SC 003 DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE EDUCATION, UNIVERSITY OF ILORIN, ILORIN NIGERIA SUPERVISOR PROF. I.O. ABIMBOLA VENUE: POST GRADUATE SEMINAR ROOM. DATE: 23RD MAY, TIME: 10.00A.M. CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION Background to the Problem Biology is one of the core subjects in senior secondary schools. Students offer it to have pre-requisite biology foundation for future career in biological sciences like Botany, Zoology, Medicine, Pharmacy, Laboratory technology etc. Biology helps in solving societal problems like birth control, indiscriminate consumption of alcoholic drinks, smoking and drug addiction. With the aforementioned usefulness of Biology, students should be encouraged to learn it (Abu 2000). Efforts were made to improve students’ achievement in Biology. Biology consists of seven themes in which Genetics is one. Report showed that students performed poorly in Biology. WAEC Chief Examiners’ report (2010) indicated that students performed poorly in Biology and majorly in Genetics and Genetics related Questions. Statement of the Problem Biology as the most popular science subjects in senior secondary schools, students’ performance in it for years was not encouraging. Researchers have worked on ways to improve students’ performance in biology but all their effort proved abortive. Report of Umen (2002), Okebukola (2002) and Okechukwu (2003) indicated that teachers and students find Ecology, Evolution and Genetics difficult to teach and learn. According to Ajaja and Kpagban (2000), what students know or does not know depends mainly on teachers. Abimbola (1994) advocated for the use of computer and video tape to enhance effective teaching and learning of science. Biology teachers should therefore be equipped with the right teaching strategies for effective teaching and learning to take place. The difficulties encountered by teachers and students may arise as a result of misconception. Based on this, this study is trying to investigate effects of pre-teaching the Mathematics components of Genetics on Senior School Students Genetics achievement to improve Students achievement in it and in Biology as a whole. Purpose of the Study The main purpose of this study is to investigate effects of pre-teaching the Mathematics components of Genetics on senior school student’s genetics achievement in Oyo State, Nigeria. The study will investigate: the effect of pre-teaching the Mathematics components of Genetics on the achievement of students based on gender; compare the effect of pre-teaching the Mathematics components of Genetics on the achievement of Students in Private and Public Schools. Research Questions Based on the purpose of the study, the following research questions will be formulated to guide the study. Is there any effect of pre-teaching Mathematics component of genetics on the achievement of all senior secondary school students? Is there any effect of pre-teaching Mathematics component of Genetics on the achievement of students based on gender? What is the effect of pre-teaching Mathematics component of Genetics on the achievement of students in private schools and those from public schools? Research Hypotheses The following null hypotheses (H 0 ) will be formulated and tested at 0.05% level of significance. Ho 1 : There is no significant difference in the effect of pre-teaching Mathematics component of Genetics on the achievement of all senior secondary school students. Ho 2 : There is no significant difference in the effect of pre-teaching Mathematics component of Genetics on the achievement of students based on gender. Ho 3 : There is no significant difference in the effect of pre-teaching Mathematics component of Genetics on the achievement of students from private and public schools.

Scope of the Study The subject for this study will be all Senior Secondary School Biology Students in Oyo State. SS II students will be chosen for the study. One school will be selected from each Local Government Area, that is four equivalent schools will be involved for the study. The concept of Genetics will be utilized. The study will try and investigate the effects of prior knowledge of Mathematics on the achievement of students in Genetics. It will also investigate the effects of gender on achievement of students in Genetics. Significance of the Study The result of this study will be of great assistance to: Students, Teachers, Policy Maker, Ministry of Education, Curriculum developer Examining bodies. Clarification of Major Terms The following terms will be clarified for the purpose of this study:  Effect  Pre-teaching  Mathematics  Components  Genetics  Achievement  Ratio  Proportion  Public Schools  Private Schools  Probability CHAPTER TWO REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE Related literature will be reviewed on the following sub-headings:  Factors affecting teaching and learning of biology;  Meaning and nature of Genetics  Studies on the influence of Mathematics on Genetics learning;  Studies on the influence of gender on the learning of the Mathematics component of Genetics;  Effect of prior-knowledge on the teaching and learning science;  Appraisal of the reviewed literature. CHAPTER THREE Research Methodology This chapter indicates the methods that will be employed for the study. The methods include; Research design; Sample and sampling technique; Research instrument; Validation of research instrument; Procedure for data collection; Data analysis technique. Research Design This study will adopt quasi-experimental research design. Four co-educational schools will be involved. Two of them will be experimental group and the other two will form control group.

Sample and Sampling Technique The target population will be all the Senior Secondary School biology students in Oyo State. Four schools will be selected for the study and 250 students will be involved. Research Instrument The research instrument will be Genetics Achievement Test (GAT) designed by the researcher. The questions will be adopted from past WAEC questions. Instrument Validation The instrument, marking guide and table of specification will be given to researcher supervisor and two other lecturers in the Department of Science Education for face and content validity. Procedure for Data Collection With the permission of the Principal and Biology teachers of the selected schools, students will be tested before the treatment and after the treatment, post-test will be conducted. The study will cover a period of six weeks. Procedure for Data Analysis The mean and standard deviation will be calculated from data collected. The hypotheses will be tested using t-test.