Effects of Edutainment on Retention in Secondary School Biology Students in Kontagora Metropolis

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of edutainment method of learning on Secondary
School Biology Students retention. A pre-test, post-test and delay-post test quasi-
experimental design was adopted for the study. Of the 2,345 senior secondary
school students class two (2) from 28 senior secondary schools within Kontagora
metropolis, 80 students were purposively selected from three (3) schools to form
the sample for the study. They were: (1 mixed day, 1 male boarding, 1 female
boarding). Each school was exposed to the same curriculum content. A standardized
Biology Students Retention Test (BSRT) with a reliability index of .78 obtained via
split-half test was administered to all school categories. Data were analyzed using
mean and t-test statistics at a significant level of 0.05. The findings revealed among
others that: the edutainment group had a higher mean delay-post-test performance
than other groups notwithstanding being a day school system. It was discovered that
edutainment promoted retention in Biology students and that schooling system is
not a barrier for edutainment learning in biology. Recommendations made included: biology teachers should make adequate use of edutainment to promote retention of learning in students as this will cause a decline in examination malpractices in
the subject, school administrators and heads should put in place facilities that supports edutainment utilization by biology teachers.