INTEGRATED SCIENCE CURRICULUM CONTENTS IN THE CONTEMPORARY NIGERIA RATIONALIZATION OF ITS INTEGRATION

Abstract

The study examined the effects of inquiry method on pre-service teachers' knowledge
on genetics in Federal College of Education, Iwo, Osun-State and assessed the
interaction effect of inquiry instructional strategy on pre-service teachers'
knowledge on genetics base on gender in the study area. The study adopted non
equivalent, pretest-posttest control group quasi-experimental research design. The
population for the study comprised all pre-service teachers' in Federal College of
Education Iwo in Osun State. The sample size consisted of 100 pre-service teachers
in two intact classes. The two classes were assigned randomly to one experimental
group (inquiry instructional strategy) and one control group (hands-on lecture
method). One instrument was used for data collection namely: Biology Concept Test
on Genetics (BCTG). Data collected were analysed using analysis of covariance
(ANCOVA). The results showed that there was significant effect of inquiry
instructional strategy on pre-service teachers' knowledge in genetics (F
(1, 97)
=
11.886, P < 0.05, partial ç2 = .109). Also, the result revealed that there was no
significant interaction effects of inquiry instructional strategy on pre-service
teachers' knowledge in genetics base on gender (F
(1, 95)
= 0.314, P > 0.05, partial ç2 =
.003). The study concluded that inquiry instructional strategy had improved the
knowledge of pre-service teachers' in genetics in Biology and there was no
interaction effects of inquiry instructional strategy and gender on knowledge of pre
service teachers' in genetics. Therefore, it is recommended that lecturers should use
inquiry instructional strategy to teach genetics concepts because the instructional strategy had been demonstrated to be more effective as a teaching-learning strategy
for genetics than hands-on lecture method.