INFLUENCE OF FIELD TRIPS ON THE CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS

INFLUENCE OF FIELD TRIPS ON THE CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS ECOLOGY STUDENTS

ABSTRACT

This Study Investigated Influence Of Field Trips On The Conservation Of Natural Resources In Senior Secondary Schools. Quasi-experimental, non-equivalent pretest and post-test control group design was employed for the study. Two research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. The population of the study comprised 5,207 SS1 students in public coeducational schools in West Senatorial District, Nasarawa State, Nigeria. The sample of the study comprised 71 SS 1 students from two intact classes randomly selected from public coeducational secondary schools in West Senatorial District, Nasarawa State, Nigeria. Ecology Interest Rating Scale (EIRS) and Ecology Achievement Test (EAT) were used as instruments for data  collection.  The reliability of EIRS was determined  using  Cronbach Alpha  and the  coefficient  obtained  was  0.77 and the reliability of EAT was determined using Kuder-Richardson formula 20 (KR20) and this yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.79. Mean and Standard Deviation  were  used  to  answer  the  research questions while Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used to test the research hypotheses at 0.05 alpha level of significance. The  findings  of  this  study revealed that a  significant  difference  existed in the interest and achievement of students taught Ecology  concept  using  field  trip  instructional strategy and conventional method. Based on the findings of  this  study,  it  was  recommended  that  teachers should be encouraged to use field trip instructional strategy in the teaching of Ecological concepts.