Effect of mastery learning approach on senior high school students’ academic performance and motivation in biology

Abstract

The study investigated the effect of mastery learning approach on the academic performance of senior high school students and their motivation in Biology. It was carried out in the Nsaba Presbyterian Senior High School in the Agona East District in the Central Region of Ghana. The research study adopted the quasi-experimental research design using the pre-test and post-test design. The sample comprised of 64 second-year science students. This was done using purposive sampling. Two validated instruments were used which included the Biology Academic Performance Test (pretest and post-test) which measured the student's academic performance in the selected topic in Biology and the student's motivation questionnaires (SMQ) which was used to measure the students' motivation in learning Biology. The sample size were split into two groups with one serving as the experimental group and the other serving as the control group. The experimental group was exposed to the mastery learning approach while the control group was exposed to the traditional lecture approach or method. After the treatment, a post-test was administered to both groups to determine the effectiveness of the treatment. The questionnaire was also administered to determine the levels of their motivation. The tests (pre-test, post-test) and questionnaire results were then analysed using SPSS version 27.0. When the results of the two methods were compared, there was a notable distinction between mastery learning and the traditional lecture method. The responses to the questionnaire proved that majority of students agreed that the mastery learning approach is an effective method of teaching Biology. Results also revealed that there was no differential effect of mastery learning approach on male and female students’ performance in Biology. It is therefore recommended that Biology teachers should adopt mastery learning approach in teaching and also Biology teachers should be made to attend workshops, seminars and conferences to update their knowledge of the methods of teaching concepts in Biology