THINK-PAIR-SHARE AND PEER-TUTORING TEACHING APPROACHES AS DETERMINANTS OF STUDENTS' ACHIEVEMENT IN BIOLOGY

Abstract

Biology is a scientific subject that investigates living organisms' characteristics, structure, and
behaviors, and their interactions with the environment. Unfortunately, teachers have often relied
on less effective approaches and have been unable to utilize learner-centered approaches in
teaching biology instead of the conventional teacher-centered approaches. This has led to
persistently poor performance among secondary school students in biology and remains a
concern for researchers. This study investigated the effects of Think-Pair-Share (TPS) and Peer
Tutoring (PT) teaching approaches on students’ achievement in biology. A quasi-experimental
pre-test–post-test, non-equivalent control group design was adopted. The sample comprised 172
Senior Secondary Two (SS2) students from Education District II, Lagos State, assigned to TPS,
PT, and control groups. Data were collected using the Biology Achievement Test (BAT),
validated by experts with a reliability coefficient of 0.89. A research question and hypothesis
guided the study. Mean scores were used to answer the research questions, while Analysis of
Covariance (ANCOVA) tested the hypothesis at the 0.05 significance level. Findings revealed a
statistically significant main effect of the teaching approach on students’ achievement in biology,
with both the TPS and PT groups outperforming the control group. The results indicate that TPS
and PT approaches substantially enhance students’ achievement in biology. It is therefore
recommended that biology teachers adopt Think-Pair-Share and peer tutoring strategies to
improve learning outcomes in secondary schools.