EFFECT OF OUTDOOR LEARNING ON SECONDARY SCHOOL BIOLOGY STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN ECOLOGY IN SOUTH-EAST, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study investigated the effect of outdoor learning on secondary school Biology students’ academic achievement in Ecology in South-East, Nigeria. The study adopted quasi experimental design. One research question and one hypothesis guided the study. The population of the study comprised of 251, 755 senior secondary two (SS 11) students in South-East, Nigerian public secondary schools in the 2024/2025 academic session. The instruments for data collection is a 50- item multiple choice Ecology Achievement Test (EAT). Kudder-Richardson (K-R20) was used to determine the reliability of the instrument. Reliability index of 0.77 was established for Ecology Achievement Test. 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. Result showed that secondary school students taught Ecology with outdoor learning achieved higher than students taught Ecology with lecture method and it was statistically significant. The educational implication of the findings is that poor academic achievement of students in Biology can be improved with the use of outdoor learning which enhances students’ academic achievement in learning Ecology. It is recommended that Biology teachers should use outdoor learning to enhance students’ academic achievement and sustain their interest in learning Ecology. Curriculum planners should, as well, plan the nation’s Biology curriculum to accommodate outdoor learning which supports thinking in a systematic way, making learners feel inter-connected with the natural world, helping them to understand social, economic and environmental values of the natural system.