Effect of Peer-led Concept Mapping Instruction on Academic Achievement in Biological Science of Secondary School Students.

Abstract

In the present era, the main aim of education is to increase the learners' level of cognition. However, in the secondary schools of Chhattisgarh, the students' academic performance has been poor over recent years. Even though educationalists had made many efforts in improving the teaching-learning process, there is still a search for constructivist methods for optimal academic achievement of the students. So this study was intended to investigate the effect of peer-led concept mapping instruction on academic achievement in the biological science of secondary school students. A sample of two hundred IX standard students from two secondary schools (one Government and one Private) from Durg district of Chhattisgarh, participated in the experiment. An equivalent number of hundred students were assigned to the control and experimental group. The control group used the conventional method while the experimental group was exposed to peer-led concept mapping instruction. Self-constructed Achievement test on Biological science and concept maps were used in pre and post-test administration to measure the effect of peer-led concept map instruction on academic achievement in biological science. In the findings, the scores of the experimental group were significantly higher than the control group which revealed that peer-led concept mapping instruction has a perceptible effect on academic achievement in the biological sciences of secondary school students.