EFFECTS OF ELECTRONIC AND PRINTED COURSEWARE ON BIOLOGY STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT, ATTITUDE AND RETENTION IN GENETICS IN COLLEGES OF EDUCATION IN NIGER STATE

Abstract

This study was carried out to compare the effects of electronic courseware and printed book on Biology students’ achievement, attitude and retention in Genetics in Colleges of Education in Niger State. The influence of gender was also examined. The study adopted a quasi-experimental research design which involved two levels of independent variables (printed book and electronic courseware), three levels of dependent variables (achievement, retention and attitude) and one moderating variable (gender). Seven research questions and seven corresponding null hypotheses guided the study. The sample of the study consist of 120 year two Biology students selected through a multistage sampling techniques from two Colleges of Education within the study area. First, simple random sampling technique was used to select students of NCE 2 in the two Colleges of Education (FCE Kontangora and C.O.E. Minna) through paper ballotingThereafter, the two Colleges were assigned to Experimental (Ebook) and Control Group (Printed book).Thereafter, intact classes of NCE 2 students in the two Colleges were used for the study. Five research instruments was used in this study. They are: Printed Book of Genetics Concept (PBGC), Electronic Courseware on Genetics Concept (ECGC), Genetics Achievement Test (GAT), Genetics Retention Test (GRT) and Attitude Questionnaire towards Genetics. The PBGC is a 30-page well-structured lesson note on Genetics concepts printed in coloured form on paper while the ECGC is the electronic version of the PBGC. Both appear in colour form but instead of diagrams and pictures in the printed version, the electronic version has short video clips and animations to meet the standard features of an ebook. The GAT is a 40-item multiplechoice objective questions with five options (A-E), out of which there was only one correct answer which attracts two and half marks each to make a total of 100Marks. These instruments were validated by experts from Educational Technology Department, Science Education and Biological Science Departments all from Federal University of Technology Minna, Niger State. The validity of GAT was ascertained using KuderRichardson-20 formula and a coefficient of 0.82 was obtained. Also, the reliability for the attitudinal questionnaire was ascertained using Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient and a coefficient of 0.74 was obtained. This indicates that the instruments were reliable. Findings revealed that electronic courseware significantly improved Biology students’ achievement in Genetics with the grand mean difference of 13.09 more than students taught with printed book. Also gender difference does not exist in students’ achievement after exposure to the two types of book. Based on these findings, it was recommended that instructional contents should be disseminated to students in form of electronic courseware as these would attract, enhance their independent study and improve their academic achievement, attitude and retention.