Misconceptions in Photosynthesis and Respiration Topics in Biology Subject among Secondary School Students in Rivers South-East Senatorial District

Abstract

Photosynthesis and plant respiration is an essential scientific concept included in Biology curriculum of many countries, including Nigeria. Students with misconceptions will assume that the concept they believe is true, but in fact it is inconsistent with existing scientific concepts. This study looked at identification of misconceptions in photosynthesis and respiration in senior secondary schools in Rivers South East Senatorial District of Rivers state. The study is guided by two research questions and two hypotheses. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. The population of the study consist of 15762 Senior Secondary School One (SSS1), (7634 males and 8128 female) students in Rivers South East Senatorial Zone of Rivers State. The Senior Secondary School One (SSS1) class was selected for the study because Biology is a compulsory subject at SSS1. The Taro Yamane formula was used to obtain a sample size of 391 respondents while multi-stage random sampling technique was used to select the respondents. The research instrument for data collection was a questionnaire titled: “Misconception in Photosynthesis and Respiration Questionnaire (MPRQ)”. The instrument was given to the researcher’s supervisor for face and content validation. Reliability analysis was performed to determine the instrument’s reliability using the Cronbach Alpha method which stood at 0. 868. Mean, standard deviations, mean criterion (2.50) were used to analyze the research questions while z-test was used to analyze the hypotheses. The findings identified misconception in photosynthesis and respiration held by students in senior secondary schools in Rivers South East Senatorial District that plants produced oxygen over the entire day and Green plants respire only at night. Based on the findings, it was recommended that employment of biology teachers should be based on qualification in Education (BEd, MEd, and PGDE) and mastery in biology concepts.