CONCEPT MAPPING AND MIND MAPPING ON SECONDARY SCHOOL PHYSICS STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN IKONO LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of concept and mind mapping on physics students’ academic achievement in Ikono Local Government Area. In order to guide the study, three research questions and three hypotheses were formulated. The study adopted a pretest posttest quasi-experimental research design. The population of the study consisted of two thousand four hundred and thirteen (2413) SS II students in Ikono Local Government Area. The sample size of ninety (90) SS II students in their intact classes was drawn from two (2) randomly selected co-educational public schools in the study area. The instrument for the study was Physics Achievement Test (PAT). The instrument was validated by two Physics Teachers from secondary schools in Ikono Local Government Area and an expert in Measurement and Evaluation in the Department of Science Education, Akwa Ibom State University. The reliability of the instrument (PAT) was determined using Kuder Richardson Reliability formula 20 (KR-20) and the reliability index was found to be 0.82. The researcher personally visited the schools sampled for the study and administered the instrument following the due processes. The data collected were analyzed using mean, standard deviation and independent t-test. The findings revealed that there is a significant difference in the achievement mean scores of Physics students taught the concept of simple circuit using concept mapping and mind mapping teaching strategies in favour of those taught using concept mapping teaching strategy. There is no significant difference in the mean achievement scores between male and female Physics students taught the concept of simple circuit using concept mapping teaching strategy. There is no significant difference in the mean achievement scores between male and female Physics students when taught the concept of simple circuit using mind mapping teaching strategy. It was concluded that concept mapping teaching strategy is more effective in enhancing the academic achievement of Physics students in learning the concept of simple circuits compared to the mind mapping teaching strategy. It was recommended among others that physics teachers should be encouraged to use concept mapping teaching strategy in teaching Physics concepts since it improves students’ academic achievement than the mind mapping teaching strategy.