EFFECT OF THINK-PAIR-SHARE TEACHING STRATEGY ON SENIOR SECONDARY STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION IN ECOLOGY IN GINDIRI, MANGU LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF PLATEAU STATE
Keywords:
Think-Pair-Share strategy, academic motivation, ecology, gender differences, senior secondary biologyAbstract
This study investigated the effect of the Think-Pair-Share (TPS) teaching strategy on senior secondary school students’ academic motivation in ecology in Gindiri District, Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State. Adopting a non-equivalent control group pre-test and post-test quasi-experimental design, the study targeted a population of 186 Senior Secondary II biology students across five co-educational public schools. A purposive sample of two schools comprising 81 students. Data were collected using a validated instrument titled the Students Ecology Motivation Questionnaire (SEMQ), which yielded a Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient of 0.78. Research questions were answered using descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation), while Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used to test the null hypotheses at a 0.05 level of significance, controlling for initial baseline differences. The empirical findings revealed a statistically significant difference in post-test motivation mean scores between students in the experimental and control groups (F(1,78)=79.54,p<.001,partial η2=.505), with the experimental group achieving a higher adjusted post-test mean (51.72) than the control group (40.40). Furthermore, a significant gender difference was observed within the experimental group (F(1,43)=10.31,p=.003,partial η2=.193), in favor of female students (adjusted mean = 54.45) over male students (adjusted mean = 46.70).. Based on these findings, it is recommended that educational stakeholders, curriculum planners, and science teachers actively integrate cooperative learning strategies like Think-Pair-Share into secondary school instructional practices and teacher training curricula.
References
Amrai, K., Motlagh, S. E., Zalani, H. A., & Parhon, H. (2011). The relationship between academic motivation and academic achievement. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 15, 15–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.03.042
Chan, Y. L., & Norlizah, C. H. (2017). Students’ motivation towards science learning and students’ science achievement. International Journal of Academic Research in Progressive Education and Development, 6(4), 174–189. https://doi.org/10.6007/IJARPED/v6-i4/3432
Cimer, A. (2012). What makes biology learning difficult and effective: Students’ views. Educational Research and Reviews, 7(3), 61–71. https://doi.org/10.5897/ERR11.205
Ibe, E., Nwosu, A. A., Obi, C. N., & Nwoye, M. N. (2016). Gender and levels of attainment of scientific literacy among students under constructivist instructional model. International Journal of Engineering Sciences & Research Technology, 5(7), 81–90. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.57218
Karura, J. W., Kimosop, M., & Orora, W. (2021). Influence of cooperative teaching strategies on students' academic motivation in secondary schools in Kenya. Journal of Education and Practice, 12(4), 45–52. https://doi.org/10.7176/JEP/12-4-06
Lightner, J., & Tomaswick, L. (2017). Active learning – Think, Pair, Share. Kent State University Center for Teaching and Learning. https://www.kent.edu/ctl/think-pair-share
Loh, E. K. (2019). What we know about expectancy-value theory, and how it helps to design a sustained motivating learning environment. System, 86, Article 102119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2019.102119
Lyman, F. (1981). The responsive classroom discussion: The inclusion of all students. In A. S. Anderson (Ed.), Mainstreaming digest (pp. 109–113). University of Maryland Press.
Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council. (2013). National policy on education (6th ed.). NERDC Press.
Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council. (2019). Senior secondary school curriculum for biology. NERDC Press.
Ogunyebi, T. H. (2018). Enhancing science performance through think-pair strategies among College of Education students in integrated science in Ekiti State, Nigeria. International Journal of Education and Evaluation, 4(4), 55–66.
Pintrich, P. R. (2003). A motivational science perspective on the role of student motivation in learning and teaching contexts. Journal of Educational Psychology, 95(4), 667–686. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.95.4.667
Raba, A. A. (2017). The influence of Think-Pair-Share (TPS) strategy on improving students' speaking performance in the EFL classroom. Asian EFL Journal, 9(2), 23–35.
Razak, F. (2016). The effect of cooperative learning on mathematics learning outcomes viewed from students’ learning motivation. JRAMathEdu (Journal of Research and Advances in Mathematics Education), 1(1), 49–55. https://doi.org/10.23917/jramathedu.v1i1.1782
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Harvard University Press.
West African Examinations Council. (2023). West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) chief examiners' report (Biology). WAEC Press.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, adaptation, and reproduction in any medium, provided that the original work is properly cited.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Authors are permitted to post their work online in institutional/disciplinary repositories or on their own websites. Pre-print versions posted online should include a citation and link to the final published version in Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication as soon as the issue is available; post-print versions (including the final publisher's PDF) should include a citation and link to the journal's website.
