EFFECT OF REALIA AND AUDIO- VISUAL INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES ON STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN BIOLOGY IN IKONO LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA

Abstract The study was carried out to examine effects of realia and audio- visual instructional resources on students’ academic performance in biology in Ikono Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State. In order to achieve this purpose, three objectives, three research questions and three hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. The design for the study was quasi-experimental design. The population of this study consisted of all the 1274 senior secondary two (SSII) Biology students in Ikono Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. The sample for the study was 100 SS 2 students. The sampling technique used was simple random sampling technique. The instrument used for the study was “Biology Performance Test (BPT)”. The instrument was subjected to face and content validity. A reliability coefficient of .87 was obtained for the instrument using test-retest method. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions while independent t-test was used to test the hypotheses. The findings of this study showed that there is significant difference in the mean performance scores of Biology students taught the concept of cell structure and functions using realia instructional resource and those taught using audio-visual instructional resource; there is no significant difference in the mean performance scores of male and female Biology students taught the concept of cell; structure and functions using realia instructional resource; and there is no significant difference in the mean performance scores of male and female Biology students taught the concept of cell; structure and functions using audio-visual instructional resource. Based on the findings of the study, it was concluded that audio- visual instructional resource enhance students’ academic performance in biology more than realia in secondary schools in Ikono Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State. It was recommended that curriculum planners should formulate policies that will make the use of audio- visual instructional resource compulsory for teaching and learning in secondary schools so as to enhance academic performance of both male and female students.