ENHANCING SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS’ PERFORMANCE IN AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE USING ACTIVITY-BASED TEACHING STRATEGY AT BEPOSO SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL, BOSOMTWE DISTRICT, GHANA.

Abstract

The study investigated the use of Activity-Based method of teaching to enhance the academic performance and retention in Agricultural Science concepts among Senior High school students. A total of 100 respondents comprising of 94 Senior High School form two Agricultural Science students and 6 Agricultural Science teachers of Beposo Senior High School in the Bosomtwe District in the Ashanti Region were purposely selected for the study. The main objectives of the study were to assess the effectiveness of the Activity-Based teaching approach on students‘ academic achievement in Agriculture, raise the level of students‘ performance in Agricultural science and examine the extent to which Activity-Based teaching Strategy could enhance students‘ retention of Agricultural Science knowledge. The research instruments used for the study were observations, questionnaires, pre-test and post-tests. Two major research questions guided the study. The students were engaged in nine activities particularly the soil science aspect after which a post-tests were organized. Analysis of the data collected revealed that students performed better in the post-tests than the pre-test. On the basis of the findings, some recommendations were made, one of which is that Agriculture is a science subject and therefore its teaching should not only be limited in the classrooms alone but aspects and activities that need to be done in the field and in the laboratory should be done there in order to enhance students‘ performance in the course.