EFFECTS OF GROUP-INTERACTIVE ENGAGEMENT AND INDIVIDUALIZED INSTRUCTIONS ON STUDENT’S ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN SECONDARY SCHOOL BIOLOGY IN ADO LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF EKITI STATE

The study determined the effects of group-interactive-engagement and individualized instruction on students’ performance in Biology in Ado Local Government Area of Ekiti State. It also examined their effects on students’ attitude towards Biology and on students’ retention of the content taught. These were with a view to providing information on the effects of both methods on students’ learning outcomes in Biology in the study area. The study adopted a non-equivalent pretest-posttest control group design. The study population consisted of senior secondary school II students in Ado Local Government Area of Ekiti State. The study sample comprised 89 Biology students in three intact classes from three randomly selected secondary schools. The students were randomly assigned to two experimental groups (Interactive-engagement and Individualized group) and one control group (Conventional). The experimental group A was taught using Group-Interactive-Engagement Instruction (GIEI), experimental group B was taught using Individualized Instruction (II) while the control group C was taught using Conventional Teaching Method (CTM). One research instrument namely Biology Achievement Test (BAT) was used for data collection. Data collected were analysed using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) statistics. The results showed that Group-Interactive-Engagement Instruction (GIEI), Individualized Instruction (II) and the Conventional Teaching Method (CTM) had significant positive effects on students’ performance in Biology (F = 16.86, p < 0.05). The post hoc shows that those exposed to GIEI performed significantly better among the three groups. Also, the results show GIEI, II and CTM had significant positive effects on students’ retention of Biology content taught (F=12.82, p<0.05). The study concluded that group-interactive-engagement and individualised instruction significantly improved students’ performance in Biology in Ado Local Government Area of Ekiti State.