ABSTRACT
The study was aimed at determining the Effect of Using Concept Mapping and Experimental Techniques in Teaching Biology in Senior Secondary Schools in Federal Capital Territory. The design of the study was quasi experimental pretest posttest control group design. The population consisted of 6,208 SS2 Biology students of the Federal Capital Territory, from which 192 were selected from three schools within Karshi zone of Abuja Municipal Area Council. Intact classes of 64 students each of SS2A & SS2B students of Government Secondary School Nyanya were used for the experimental group which consisted of students taught Biology using concept maps and experiments and 64 SS2A students of Government Day Secondary School Karu were used for the control group respectively. The choice of the schools were because they shared similar characteristics like student types (co-educational), number of students per class and presence of competent and experienced Biology teachers. To guide the study, five research questions were raised and five hypotheses stated and test at 0.05 level of significance. The major instruments used for data collection were Biology Achievement Test pretest and posttest (BAT), Biology Achievement Retention Test (BART) used after 2 weeks of instruction and Concept Mapping Attitude Scale Towards Biology Questionnaire (CMASTBQ) and Experiment Attitude Scale Towards Biology Questionnaire (EASTBQ).The treatment package included Concept Mapping Instructional Package (CMIP), Lesson Plan for Experiments and Lesson Plan for Control Group. The items used for the pretest, posttest and retention test were adopted from Educational Resource Centre (ERC) Abuja. The items were lifted based on the topics used for the study. The reliability of these instruments used was 0.65 for concept mapping and 0.78 for experimental techniques. The data collected was analyzed using comparative mean and standard deviation for research questions while the null hypotheses were analyzed using Two sample t-test, Covariance Analysis(ANCOVA) and Pairwise comparison tested at 0.05 alpha level of significance. The findings of the study showed a significantly better academic performance of students who were taught using experiments than those taught using concept mapping; students taught using experiments performed significantly higher in retention of Biology knowledge than those taught using concept mapping and lecture method, no significant difference was observed between students taught using concept mapping and lecture method on retention of these concepts; Students showed positive attitude towards the use of concept mapping over the use of experiments Based on the findings, experiments are indispensable if the teaching and learning of Biology is be effective and meaningful. Recommendations were made to this effect that Science Teachers Association of Nigeria in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Education should liaise with stakeholders in the FCT and the Nation in general to provide well equipped Biology laboratory in all senior secondary schools. Teachers should also be encouraged to use Concept mapping alongside lecture method in teaching Biology in Senior Secondary Schools.