EFFECTS OF DISCOURSE PATTERNS ON STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT AND INTEREST IN BIOLOGY

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of discourse patterns on students’  achievement  and  interest  in  biology.  The  study  also  determined  the influence of discourse patterns on male and female students’ achievement and interest in biology. Six research questions were posed and ten null hypotheses tested at 0.05 level of significance were formulated to guide the study. The design of the study is quasi-experimental design, specifically the non-equivalent, comparative group design. A sample of 164 SSII students from three intact classes made up of 94 males and 70 females in Yola educational zone of Adamawa State participated in the study. The three secondary schools were selected through purposive sampling technique. Discourse patterns were randomly assigned to intact classes in the sampled schools. Two main instruments used for data collection were a Biology Achievement Test (BAT) and a Biology Interest Scale (BIS). The BAT was both face and content validated while BIS was face and construct validated. The reliability coefficient of BAT was established using Kuder-Richardson formula 20 (K-R 20) method which yielded an internal consistency correlation coefficient of 0.75. The reliability coefficient of BIS was also determined using Cronbach Alpha method and the internal consistency correlation coefficient of the items was found to be 0.84.  The stability of the instruments was established with test re-test method of estimating reliability. The coefficients of reliability for BAT were 0.71 and 0.71 for first and second administration of the test respectively. The coefficients of stability of BIS was also established with test, re-test method and coefficients of stability obtained were 0.75 and 0.75 for first and second administration of the test respectively. The stability coefficients of the two instruments were calculated using Pearson Product Moment Correlation method. Data were analyzed with mean, standard deviation and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). The mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions while ANCOVA was used to test the null hypotheses. Results of the   study   revealed   that   the   selected   discourse   patterns   enhanced   students’ achievement and interest in biology. Furthermore, there was no significant difference in the mean achievement and interest scores of male and female students taught biology with the selected discourse patterns. There was also no significant difference in the compared achievement and interest scores of male and female students taught biology using each of the selected discourse patterns. There was no interaction effect between discourse patterns and gender in the achievement and interest of students taught biology using the selected discourse patterns. The findings enabled the researcher to conclude that the selected discourse patterns are effective in the teaching and learning of biology. Recommendations were made on the basis of the findings. In particular, it was recommended that the selected discourse patterns be adopted for effective teaching of biology in secondary schools. In addition, the selected discourse patterns could be incorporated in the pre-service as well as in the in-service programmes of teachers for the teachers to embrace the skills of the discourse patterns and also to popularize the use of the discourse patterns in teaching/ learning process.

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Education is at the core of any concrete and meaningful development. It is usually given priority in the provision of social services to the people. It plays the roles of preparing young men and women for the task of nation building, socially, politically and economically.   These statements indicate that education is an indispensable tool for socio-economic development of a nation and individual.

A  known field  of  education that  promotes the  growth of  a  nation socio- economically is science and technology. Science refers to a body of knowledge and methods (Isa 2007) which can be transformed into technology to enable people solve problems of life (Olofinboba, 1979). For example, soap, detergents, drugs, machineries, etc are all products of science and technology which people use in various ways to sustain life. As a result of the importance of science and technology in national development, much emphasis is laid on science instructions at all levels of Nigeria’s educational system (Abonyi, 2002; Okeke 2007). To appreciate in practical terms, the importance of science and technology in society, Nigeria’s educational system is geared towards achieving scientific and technological development of the nation (Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN, 2004). In addition, the National Policy on Education (FRN, 2004) stipulated the admission of students into tertiary institutions on 60:40 ratios for science and arts-based courses respectively (FRN, 2004). The aim is to boost the development of scientific and technological skills among students

through the study of science subjects by giving science higher ratio than arts subjects

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One of the science subjects that can boost the development of scientific and technological skills in students is biology.  Biology is a branch of science which deals with the study of living things (Ramalingan, 2000). Biology is important in everyday life for it enables individuals to know more about themselves and the environment in which they live. Biology is applied in the fields of medicine, pharmacy, agriculture, etc which helps in the improvement of living standards of men and women and in career making among students. The contributions of biology in the society are so numerous that students are expected to perform well in the subject to justify among other things the benefits men and women derive from knowledge of the subject.

The   numerous  contributions  of   biology  notwithstanding,  literature   has revealed that students’ achievement in Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) biology is persistently poor and their interest in the subject is low (Nwagbo, 2001; West African Examinations Council (WAEC) Chief Examiners’ reports, 2002 & 2004 and Okoli, 2006). Some of the factors that contribute to poor achievement and low interest in biology are: most of the students take the study of biology for granted and see it as an easy subject to pass (Ugwuadu, 2009). In addition, biology has little or no mathematical calculations in  it  unlike  chemistry and  physics  which  make  many students rush to study it (Okoli, 2006; Ugwuadu, 2009). Some topics in biology are perceived difficult by many students (Viedma, 1977). There is every reason then to investigate the  problems of  poor  achievement and  low  interest  among  students.

Teaching, a process of enabling pupils acquire knowledge and skills, is an interactive process that involves the teacher, student and the environment which helps in  promoting  learning     through  classroom  activities  (Aggarwal,  2002).  Some

classroom teaching/learning activities include: demonstration, questioning, experiments,  reinforcement,  reactions  to  teacher’s  teaching,  etc  (Brady,  Swank, Taylor and Freiberg, 1988; Udeani, 1992). These classroom activities span through much of the activities of teacher-student interactions that involve a lot of discourses.

Discourse refers to verbal expression or conversation (Sadler, 2006) while Viiri  & Saari (2006) used discourse, talk pattern and speech to mean the same. Pattern refers to the way of doing something (Hornby, 2001). In teaching-learning process, discourse pattern is the way a teacher converses, talks and expresses himself verbally to his students and vice versa during classroom activities. It is the verbal communication pattern or style of the teacher and his students used in classroom interactions.  The  verbal  discourse is  a  two-way action  between  the  teacher  and students  which  may  affect  learning  depending  on  the  clarity  of  the  message. (Umeano, 1999; Krat &    Kratcoski, 2004). Umeano (1999) asserted that the verbal skills depend not so much on the grammar and syntax of language rather on the way the things are said. In their contribution, Krat & Kratcoski (2004) opined that the discourse and interactions that occur in classrooms form a communicative context for learning. These assertions indicate that discourse pattern is important in teaching and learning process which would be classified to identify the various types.

Viiri & Saari (2006) classified discourse pattern or teacher-student talk pattern into  six  types.  These  six  discourse  patterns  include:  the  Teacher  Presentation Discourse Pattern (TP), Teacher-Guided Discourse (TGD), Authoritative Discourse (AD), Dialogic Discourse (DD), Peer Discourse (PD) and other patterns categorized

as others. The following are the characteristics of each of the discourse patterns as revealed by literature.

Teacher-Presentation Discourse Pattern is characterized by a straightforward instruction, a mini-lecture, with little or no student participation. The students remain passive as the teacher talks to them in the classroom (Viiri & Saari, 2006). This talk pattern is related to the lecture method of teaching as both of them share similar characteristics (Padron & Waxman, 1991).  Padron & Waxman (1991) opined that the pattern being teacher-centered or teacher-dominated involves verbal presentation of facts and principles to students. These characteristics of TP pattern are different from those of Teacher-Guided Discourse pattern.

In the Teacher-Guided Discourse (TGD) pattern, the teacher initiates, guides and directs classroom talk with students (Viiri & Saari, 2006). The talk is directed towards a specific target or problem. This talk pattern is related to the problem- solving method because their characteristics are similar (Akuma, 2005).   Hogan, Nastasi and Pressley (1999) found out that teacher guided discussions were more efficient means of attaining high levels of reasoning and higher quality of explanations. The uniqueness of TGD pattern is not the same as that of the Dialogic discourse pattern.

The Dialogic Discourse Pattern involves exchange of ideas since students are given the opportunity to freely express their views or opinions on a given problem (Aggrawal, 2002). This discourse pattern is democratic in nature since it involves free dialogue. It is associated with the discussion method of teaching because both of them enable students to freely express their views on a given problem (National Teacher’s

Institute (NTI, 2000). In using the discourse pattern, the teacher divides the students into small groups of 4 or 5 students per group. The teacher appoints a student leader in each group to help coordinate the exercise while the teacher listens to their talks group by group. The teacher accepts feelings, gives reinforcement like praises and encouragement to good contributions (Viiri and Saari, 2006; Aggrawal, 2002). The Dialogic  discourse  pattern  is  synonymous with  democratic  pattern  but  it  is  not synonymous with Peer discourse pattern.

The Peer Discourse Pattern enables students talk with their peers (classmates) in groups to solve a  common problem (Viiri & Saari, 2006; Banu, 1992). This discourse pattern  involves  the  participation  of  every member of  the  group.  The teacher, after teaching, divides the students into 4 or 5 students per group, each group with a peer leader, who is trained by the teacher to lead the group. The students discuss assignments given  to  them by their  teacher in  groups while the  teacher coordinates them. Backward students are helped by their colleagues who know better and can cope with the discourse as they learn cooperatively (Banu, 1992). The PD pattern is used to implement the co-operative/collaborative learning strategy because they are have characteristics (Muodomugo; 2005). The PD discourse pattern involves students discussing in groups but the Authoritative discourse pattern does not have such a characteristic.

The Authoritative Discourse Pattern is autocratic in nature because authority is centralized and strict (NTI, 2000). The discourse pattern is teacher-dominated because students are inhibited from sharing ideas with the teacher instead they are expected to comply with commands or orders without questioning. The pattern is related to the

lecture method of teaching because they have similar characteristics (Viiri & Saari,

2006). In addition, Authoritative discourse pattern affords little or no interaction between the teacher and the students during classroom activities.

The five discourse patterns described above have little or no relationship with discourse patterns classified as others. The discourse patterns classified as others are characterized by the teacher’s talk not having relationship with the topic instead the teacher’s talk is related to students’ social affairs (Viir & Saari, 2006). The talk pattern could be useful in creating fun or humour in order to make students feel alert during classroom activities (Viiri & Saari, 2006). These discourse patterns have been explained in order to bring out their meanings.

In operational terms, discourse, conversation, talk, speech and verbal expression  are  used  as  synonyms  and  also  used  interchangeably in  this  study. Dialogic discourse is used synonymously with democratic discourse, teacher-guided discourse is used interchangeably with teacher-directed activity; peer discourse is synonymous with cooperative learning strategy. Inquiry method, used as teaching method in the study was used interchangeably with discovery method of teaching, laboratory approach, field work experience and constructivist instructional model.

Discourse pattern is not teacher’s methodology of teaching, but both of them are related. Methodology of teaching refers to methods or approaches to teaching like lecture, demonstration, discovery methods, etc. while discourse pattern in teaching learning process is a communication pattern used to pass information to the learner or simply teacher-student talk pattern in the classroom. The relationship between the two is that discourse pattern is a talk pattern used to implement methodology in the

classroom to ensure effective communication. The aim is to ensure that learning takes place through the pattern that prevails (Abdul, 1998). The two terms discourse and methodology of teaching are not used in isolation in teaching learning process. This implies that the two of them go together in verbal communication. The implication is that efforts should be made by the teacher to use discourse pattern when teaching with a chosen teaching method to ensure effective communication. Effective communication implies that both the sender of message and the receiver understand each other.

From literature, some innovative teaching methods and techniques have been used in teaching biology. They include: demonstration, discovery, concept mapping methods etc. (Nwagbo, 2001; Okoli; 2006). These innovative methods seem not to have positively influenced the achievement and interest of students in biology since performance still remained poor (Nwagbo, 2001; WAEC Chief Examiners’ reports,

2002 and 2004; Nwachukwu and Nwosu, 2007). The situation raises some doubts as to whether there are other variables such as discourse patterns and gender that inhibit the cognitive processes of students in biology.

The poor achievement and low interest of students in biology need a focus investigation  of  using  discourse  patterns  when  teaching  with  inquiry method,  a method which has been chosen to teach biology to male and female students. The reason is to find out if achievement and interest would improve since teaching with innovative methods as literature revealed could not remedy the situation.  Literature revealed  that science carries a  masculine image (Abubakar, 2004, Okeke, 2007) meaning that people attribute scientific activity more to males than females. Literature

also revealed that girls perceive science subjects difficult and uninteresting which result in their poor achievement in science (Olagunju, 2001, Nworgu, 2004). As a result of these issues, girls generally opt for the study of feminine subjects like: home economics, literature and secretarial studies (Omotayo & Yusuf, 2002, Okeke, 2007).

The claimed poor achievement of girls in science needs further investigation to ascertain how girls will perform along with their male counterparts especially with the use of discourse patterns while teaching with inquiry method. By using discourse patterns while teaching with inquiry method may be of benefit in improving achievement and interest and in knowing the gender that will perform better since teachers have not been using much of discourse patterns when teaching with the innovative methods ( Viiri & Saari, 2006). The aim is that if the strategy of pairing is effective in  improving achievement and  interest of  male and  female students  in biology, the strategy could be recommended for methodology in teacher training programme for student-teachers to acquire the skills of the discourse patterns for biology teaching in the classroom.

Inquiry method is a problem-solving method that enables scientists to arrive at new knowledge or generalization. Inquiry method was used in the study because it is scientific and activity-oriented that could enable a student to discover things for himself. Inquiry method was also used because if achievement and interest of male and female students improve by teaching with the method while using the discourse patterns, the strategy could be adopted for other innovative methods during biology teaching. In using the inquiry method, students identify a problem, formulate hypotheses and use the hypotheses to collect data (Ibe, 2004; Iyiola, 2004). The

hypotheses are tested against the data and conclusion or generalization drawn which is new knowledge (Ibe, 2004; Iyiola, 2004). The method is student-centered which allows active involvement of students in a lesson like the discourse patterns of the study and as such the students may acquire a lot of scientific skills.

This study centers on  ecology area of  biology which is  an  area students perceive difficult (Viedma, 1977) and usually skipped by teachers during teaching due to lack of time (Onyemelukwe, 1983).  Treatment with discourse pattern while teaching with inquiry method may be effective in students’ understanding of the topic which may enhance the students’ achievement and interest in biology. It is suitable to use difficult and  unlearned topics to measure students’ achievement and interest because the effects may clearly be observed after treatment. This is because achievement and interest very much depend on each other.

Interest is a powerful source of human motivation which is capable of arousing and sustaining concentrated effort (Bhatia, 2003). It is a disposition or feeling which prompts a person to spontaneous activity like paying attention to school work or any other activity (Dandekar &  Makhiji, 2002). According to  (Dandekar &  Makhiji,

2002), the quality and effectiveness of educational procedure, programmes, efforts and achievement goals are determined largely by the interest of pupils, teachers, parents   and   administration.   The   assertion   of   Dandekar   &   Makhiji   (2002) demonstrates the importance of interest in teaching-learning process. It was observed that interest and achievement are two interdependent variables in teaching-learning process as one affects the other. For example, the moment a learner is interested in a subject the  learner pays attention to  its teaching with a  resultant effect of good

performance in most cases. If the learner is not interested, the learner may perform poorly (Okoye, 1982). It is necessary then to determine whether the students’ interests in biology would depend on teaching with inquiry method while using discourse patterns.

From the foregoing, the researcher is interested in finding out whether the use of discourse patterns as the main effects in this study would improve the achievement and interest of male and female students in biology. If the result is encouraging, it will enable the researcher to recommend the use of discourse patterns when teaching male and female biology students in our schools. This may contribute in resolving the controversial gender achievement and interest in science (Udeani, 1992; Olagunju,

2001).

Statement of the Problem

Biology is  a  popular  science  subject  which  many students both  arts  and science-based enroll for in the SSCE. The  mass enrolment in the subject in the examination does not mean interest but is due to misconception that biology is easier to pass than chemistry and physics. Secondly, students feel that they do not need to do a lot of reading before passing biology in their examination because there is little or no mathematical calculations in the subject which make the subject easier to pass (Nwachukwu & Nwosu, 2007).

Literature has however, revealed that students’ achievement and interest in the subject are  persistently poor in spite of the use of innovative methods and techniques e.g. discovery method, concept mapping, etc which are claimed to be effective in teaching   the subject (Nwagbo, 2001). The persistent poor performance and low

interest in biology at SSCE resulted in few students choosing careers in biology and biology related courses. Consequently, there will be a reduction of man power in the field.

The perennial poor performance and low interest in biology have therefore created an educational gap of students not continuing their studies at higher level of education. This gap can be filled by devising a more effective strategy for improving the situation in order to meet the needs of students and society. It is clear that without devising an effective remedial strategy, biology teaching and learning may continue to be poor in our schools.

In view of this prevailing situation, the discourse patterns being useful in classroom interaction can be employed in teaching biology to determine whether their use as main effects can improve the persistent poor performance and low interest in biology. The problem of this study posed as a question therefore is: what would be the effects of discourse patterns on students’ achievement and interest in biology when teaching biology with inquiry method?   Would the use of discourse patterns have influence on the achievement and interest of male and female students when teaching the subject with inquiry method?

Purpose of the Study

The general purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of selected discourse patterns on students’ achievement and interest in biology when they are taught with inquiry method. Specifically, the study determined the effects of:

1.  Three selected discourse patterns on students’ (a) achievement in biology, (b) Interest in biology.

Significance of the Study

The  findings  from  this  study  will  be  of  benefit  to  students,  teachers, curriculum planners, educational stakeholders, researchers, institutions of higher learning, school administrators, Ministry of Education, curriculum development agencies and the society. Students will benefit from the study by acquiring knowledge and skills of the discourse patterns which will enable them to participate actively in biology lessons. The findings of the study will help teachers in ensuring proper teaching by using discourse patterns while  teaching with  inquiry method during biology lessons. It may be that teachers have long been paying more attention to teaching methods to the neglect of discourse patterns, but from the findings of this study they will strike a balance between the two by using discourse patterns while teaching with chosen methods during teaching-learning process.

The result of this study will also be of immense benefit to the teacher,   in explaining and confirming some related theories of learning like those of Skinner’s operant conditioning, Bruner’s learning by discovery, Asubel’s prior learning and the theory of constructivism to mention but  a few. These theories explain how children learn through interaction with materials in the environment so that the children can use the experience gained in learning process.

The findings of this study will draw the attention of teachers, curriculum planners and other stakeholders in education to the effect of the studied discourse patterns used with inquiry method as an effective teaching strategy especially if they result in the improvement of achievement and interest in students. The effects of the

studied discourse patterns with inquiry method will  form part of  the curriculum (methodology) of teacher education programme so that student-teachers can embrace the skills for classroom activities. Also, the school administrators and Ministry of Education  will  be  encouraged  to  organize  seminars  for  teachers  on  the  use  of discourse patterns for teaching biology. They will equally find the discourse patterns as a useful tool in policy making that will influence teaching and learning in Nigerian schools.

The result of this study will also be useful for further research in education by providing  documented  literature  from  the  outcome of  the  study for  researchers, institutions of higher learning and curriculum development agencies like the: National Universities Commission (NUC), National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE),  etc that engage in educational research. The society will benefit through the knowledge and skills gained from discourse patterns which the students will use to serve her to enhance productivity.

Scope of the Study

This study was carried out in Adamawa State of Nigeria. Senior Secondary Two (SS II) students and their biology teachers participated in  the study. Three discourse patterns were investigated in the study. They are: the dialogic, teacher- guided and the peer discourse patterns. The three discourse patterns were selected because they are clearly delineated from each other. Two patterns namely: the teacher presentation and authoritative discourse patterns are not delineated from each other, so they were not studied because their characteristics overlap. The sixth patterns

classified as others are not focused. Because of the observed reasons these three other patterns were not studied.

Three biology topics were used for the study; they are ecological succession, overcrowding and  food  shortage  which were  taken  from unit  three of  year  two biology of the National Curriculum for Senior Secondary School, Vol. 3 (2008). The three biology topics were studied because apart from being in SS II biology curriculum, they are among the topic areas in the curriculum that students perceive difficult. Again, time is not enough to cover all the topics in the curriculum which are too wide, so most teachers skip them (Onyemelukwe 1983). The three discourse patterns and gender were manipulated to ascertain their relative effects on the dependent variables of study, students’ achievement and interest

Research Questions

This study was guided by the following research questions:

1.         What is the mean achievement scores of students taught biology topics with the selected discourse patterns?

2.         What is the mean interest scores of students taught biology topics with the selected discourse patterns?

3.         What is the mean achievement scores of male and female students taught biology topics with the selected discourse patterns?

4.         What  is  the  mean  interest  scores  of  male  and  female  students  taught biology topics with the selected discourse patterns?

Hypotheses

The following null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study and tested at

0.05 level of significance (p<0.05).

H01:    There is no significant difference in the mean achievement scores of students taught biology topics with the selected discourse patterns.

H02:    There is no significant difference in the mean interest scores of students taught biology topics with the selected discourse patterns

H03:    There  is  no  significant  difference  in  the  paired  comparison  of  mean achievement scores of male and female students taught biology topics with dialogic discourse pattern.

H04:    There  is  no  significant  difference  in  the  paired  comparison  of  mean achievement scores of male and female students taught biology topics with peer discourse pattern.

H05:    There  is  no  significant  difference  in  the  paired  comparison  of  mean achievement scores of male and female students taught biology topics with teacher-guided discourse pattern.

H06:    There is no significant difference in the paired comparison of mean interest scores of male and female students taught biology topics with dialogic discourse pattern.

H07:    There is no significant difference in the paired comparison of mean interest scores of male and female students taught biology topics with peer discourse pattern.

Ho8:    There is no significant difference in the paired comparison of mean interest scores of male and female students taught biology topics with teacher-guided discourse pattern.

H09:    There  is  no  significant  interaction  effect  between  the  selected  discourse patterns and gender on students’ mean achievement scores in biology.

H010:    There  is  no  significant  interaction  effect  between  the  selected  discourse patterns and gender on students’ mean interest scores in biology.

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