ABSTRACT

The study aimed at examining “The effect of Use of computer in flipped and normal classroom situations on secondary school Biology students’ academic achievement and interest in Abia state. The need for the study arose from concerns expressed by stakeholder’s, committed scholars and researchers on the poor academic achievement and interest of students in Biology, and the need to employ innovative blended learning strategies, especially, in a time like this where COVID-19 pandemic is ravaging the world so as to ensure continuity and flexibility in teaching-learning delivery. The study adopted quasi experimental design. Six research questions and six hypotheses guided the study. The population of the study comprised of 13,102 senior secondary two (SS2) students of 2019/2020 academic session in Abia state. The instruments for data collection are a 50 item multiple choice Biology Achievement Test (BAT) with options A-D adopted from past WAEC, NECO and JAMB questions and Biology Interest Rating Scale (BIRS). Kudder-Richardson (K-R20) and Cronbach’s Alpha test statistics respectively were used to determine the reliability of the instruments. Reliability index of 0.67 was established for BAT and 0.81 for BIRS. Mean and standard deviation scores were used to answer the research questions while the Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used in testing the hypotheses at .05 level of significance. Results showed that students who were taught with computer assisted instruction in flipped classroom and in normal classroom situations achieved better and had more interest than those taught with lecture method. The use of computer in flipped classroom increased students’ achievement and interest in Biology more than the use of computer in normal classroom situations. Furthermore, female students taught Biology using computer in flipped classroom performed better than their male counterparts, even though it was not statistically significant. However, male students taught using computer in flipped classroom had more interest which is significant than their female counterparts taught using computer in flipped classroom. Male students who were taught Biology with the use of computer in normal classroom situations had higher mean both in achievement and interest than female students taught with the use of computer in normal classroom situations, though none of them were statistically significant. The educational implication of the findings is that poor academic achievement of students in Biology can be improved with the use of computer in flipped classroom which enhances students’ academic achievement and sustain their interest in learning Biology. It is recommended that Biology teachers should use computer in flipped classroom to enhance students’ academic achievement and sustain their interest in learning Biology. Seminars and workshops should be organized for training and re-training of new and old teachers on the use of these innovative blended learning strategies. This will ensure continuity and flexibility in teaching-learning delivery.