Effect of Instructional Materials on the Academic Achievement and Retention of Biology Concepts Among Secoodary School Students in Kaduna State Nigeria

This study investigated effects of instructional materials on the academic achievement and retention of
SS 2 biology students in Kaduna State. The study sample consisted of 88 SS2 biology students randomly
selected from a population of 5,626 students drawn from 13 public schools. An instrument designed
and developed from past WAEC questions by the researcher known as Biology Achievement Test (BAT)
was validated by some senior lecturers in science education from Kaduna state University. The
instrument used was tested and certified to be reliable at 0.65 coefficient. Quasi-experimental design
was adopted which involves two groups: experimental and control groups. The experimental group
was subjected to treatment using instructional materials but the control group was taught without any
instructional materials. Two null hypotheses were tested using t-test statistics. The following major
findings were made: There is a significant difference between the mean academic achievement scores
of students taught using instructional materials (EG) and those taught without the use of instructional
materials (CG).There is no significant difference in the mean achievement scores of male and female
students taught biology concepts using instructional materials. On the basis of these findings some
recommendations were made, one of which is teachers should make use of instructional materials to
facilitate the teaching of biology at secondary school level.