Managing Learning Styles and Academic Achievement among Senior Secondary II Biology Students in Calabar Municipality, Cross River State, Nigeria

Abstract

It is disheartening to note that the poor academic achievement, in biology at public examinations in recent times has been explained as a major cause of decline in the general science course and standard of education in core science in Nigeria. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether learning styles relate with academic achievement of biology students in Calabar Education zone. A correlation design was the research design adopted by the researcher. In the course of conducting this study the simple random sampling techniques was employed in selecting 100 SS11 students in the study area. Two instruments were used for data collection namely questionnaire named “Learning Style Questionnaire” (LSQ) and Biology Achievement Test (BAT) (adopted from Joy .M, Reid, 1987). The data collected was scored, coded and analyzed using Pearson Correlation and was tested at 0.05level of significance. The results of the analysis revealed that the students’ approach towards logical learning style correlates positively with academic achievement in biology. The result also showed that intrapersonal learning style correlates positively with the academic achievement in Biology among SSII students in Calabar Education zone. It was recommended among others that; for better academic achievement in Biology, teachers should identify the learning styles of their students and used teaching strategies that complement them.