Efficacy of Interactive Engagement and Analogy-Enhanced Strategies on Students' Knowledge of Conservation of Natural Resources in the Ibadan Metropolis

Abstract

This study determined the efficacy of interactive engagement and analogy-enhanced strategies on 
students’ knowledge of conservation of natural resources in the Ibadan metropolis, Nigeria. One 
research question and one corresponding hypothesis were formulated to guide the study. A pretest
posttest control group quasi-experimental design was adopted for the study. Three (Ibadan North, 
Ibadan Northeast and Ibadan Northwest) Local Government Areas (LGAs) were randomly selected 
out of the existing five. Three public schools were randomly selected from each of the LGAs, from 
which nine intact classes of SSII students were selected. A total of 318 senior secondary II Biology 
students participated in the study. Instruments used for data collection were the validated and 
reliable Students’ Knowledge of Conservation of Natural Resources Test ( r = 0.86) and the 
instructional guides. The intervention lasted six weeks. Data were analysed using descriptive 
statistics (frequency counts) and inferential statistics (analysis of covariance, estimated marginal 
means, and Bonferroni post-hoc tests) at a 0.05 significance level. The findings revealed that 189 
(59.2%) respondents had low knowledge of conservation, 129 (40.3%) had average knowledge of 
conservation, and none had high knowledge of conservation before the treatment. The findings 
further revealed a significant main effect of treatment on students’ knowledge (F(2;316) = 8.63, partial 
η2 = 0.05). AES participants had the highest post-knowledge mean score (19.14), compared to those 
in the IES (18.34) and control (15.62) groups. Interactive engagement and analogy-enhanced 
instructional strategies significantly improved students’ knowledge and practices regarding the 
conservation of natural resources in Ibadan metropolis, Nigeria. It is recommended that Biology 
educators adopt these strategies to address gaps in conservation of natural resources.