PERCEPTION OF DIFFICULT CONCEPTS IN BIOLOGY AMONG SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ IN KANO STATE

Halima Haruna

Abstract

The study sought to find out the difficult concepts in biology among senior secondary school two (SS 2) students’ in Kano state.  An instrument (questionnaire) was administered to 400 SS II students in some selected senior secondary schools in Kano State, Nigeria. The data collected were analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. The result showed that there was no significant difference in the perception of students on difficult topics in Biology on the basis of their subject areas - Science, Commercial or Arts (F(2, 397) = 1.523, p> 0.05, Partial η2= .008, R2=.003). Moreover, findings revealed that students usually have difficulties in five major topics. Among of which were nutrient cycling in nature, ecological management, conservation of natural resources, pests and diseases of crops as well as reproductive system in plants. However, teaching strategies, students’ attitude, inadequate learning resources and students’ learning habits were the reasons adduced by students of the perceived difficult topics. It can be concluded from the study that SS II students perceived some topics as difficult and some as not difficult in Biology. It was recommended that integrating biological concepts to daily life and provision of adequate and functional resources should be made available.