Exploratory study of the efficacy of the Culturo-Techno-Contextual Approach (CTCA) in student’s understanding of biology

Abstract

Past studies have established cell division as a difficult topic in the Nigerian senior school system. While the lecture method has been used over time to overcome the challenges relative to students’ understanding of cell division, a deficit in the literature is whether or not cultural teaching methodologies would help students’ understanding of the concept. This study aims at testing the potency of the Culturo- Techno- Contextual Approach (CTCA) in enhancing students’ understanding of cell division. The study is anchored on Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, Nkrumah’s ethnophilosophy, and Heidegger’s techno-philosophy. The quasi-experimental study had 26 students from the Feranmi Comprehensive High School (control group), with 21 students from the Royal Priesthood Secondary School (experimental group). The results showed that the experimental group (Mean = 33.29 and SD = 2.37) significantly outperformed the control group (Mean = 23.19 and SD = 4.92) in cell division [F (1, 44) = 137.19; p<.05].

Keywords:

• Biology education
• Culturo-Techno-Contextual approach
• difficult concepts
• Nigeria