Effects of Concepts Mapping on Students’ Achievement, Retention and Interest in Geography

Abstract

Data were collected from 201 SSI geography students, comprising of 92 males and 109 females, drawn from four co educational schools in Enugu Educational Zones of Enugu state. Two instruments, the Geography Achievement Test (GAT) and Geography Interest Inventory (GII) were used for the study. Concept maps and lesson notes on major landforms, and settlement were used for the treatment. The research questions were answered using the mean and standard deviation scores, while the hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). Results from the study revealed that students exposed to concept mapping method achieved higher, retained better and showed greater interest in the difficult geography topics than those who were not. The study also revealed that gender was not a significant factor This study determined the effects of concept mapping on students’ achievement, retention and interest in some topics in geography. It also examined the differential effects of concept mapping on the achievement, retention and interest of male and female students. Nine research questions and nine hypotheses were formulated to guide the researchin the mean achievement and interest scores of students. The study however showed that gender was a significant factor in the retention of students. The study recommends the adequate training of geography teachers on the use of concept mapping for class room instruction in geography.