ABSTRACT

This comparative study investigated the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the academic achievements of Biology students in selected senior secondary schools within Pankshin metropolis. A survey design and quasi-experimental approach were employed to analyze the differences in academic performance between the pre-COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 periods. A sample of 200 SS2 biology students from Government College Pankshin and Government Model Secondary School Pankshin was selected using simple random sampling techniques. Data was collected through a questionnaire titled “Effects of Pre-Covid 19 and Post-Covid 19 on the academic achievements of Biology students in some selected senior secondary schools in Pankshin metropolis” (EPCAPCBSSS) and academic records of students. The study found that the COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted the academic calendar, resulting in the closure of schools and a lack of emphasis on e-learning, particularly impacting students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Recommendations included the need for educational institutions to develop strategies to cover the learning gap, governments to invest in infrastructure for online education, and the creation of an enabling socio-economic environment to support academic continuity and student well-being.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1       Background of the Study        –           –           –           –           –           –           –           1

1.2       Statement of the problem        –           –           –           –           –           –           –           6

1.3       Aim of the Study        –           –           –           –           –           –           –           –           6

• Specific Objectives –           –           –           –           –           –           –           –           8

1.3.2    Research Questions    –           –           –           –           –           –           –           –           9

1.3.3    Research Hypotheses              –           –           –           –           –           –           –           9

1.4       Significance of the study        –           –           –           –           –           –           –           10

1.5       Justification     –           –           –           –           –           –           –           –           –           10

1.6       Scope and Delimitation of the Study             –           –           –           –           –           12

1.7       Operational Definition of Terms        –           –           –           –           –           –           12

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.0       Introduction    –           –           –           –           –           –           –           –           –           39

3.1       Study Area      –           –           –           –           –           –           –           –           –           39

3.2       Research Design         –           –           –           –           –           –           –           –           40

3.3       Population And Sample          –           –           –           –           –           –           –           41

3.3.1    Population       –           –           –           –           –           –           –           –           –           42

3.3.2    Sample            –           –           –           –           –           –           –           –           –           42

3.4       Sampling Techniques              –           –           –           –           –           –           –           42

3.5       Instrument(s) for Data Collection       –           –           –           –           –           –           42

3.5.1    Description of the Instrument             –           –           –           –           –           –           43

3.5.2    Procedure for Instrument Development         –           –           –           –           –           43

3.6       Validity and Reliability Of Instrument           –           –           –           –           –           44

3.6.1    Validity           –           –           –           –           –           –           –           –           –           44

3.6.2    Reliability       –           –           –           –           –           –           –           –           –           44

3.7       Procedure and Data Collection           –           –           –           –           –           –           45

3.8       Method of Data Analysis        –           –           –           –           –           –           –           45

CHAPTER FOUR

RESULT AND DISCUSSION

4.1       Presentation of Demographic Variables        –           –           –           –           –           47

4.2       Analysis of Research Questions         –           –           –           –           –           –           48

4.3       Analysis of Research Hypothesis       –           –           –           –           –           –           57

4.4       Discussion of Findings          –           –           –           –           –           –           –           58

CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY, CONCLUSION, AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1       Summary of the Findings       –           –           –           –           –           –           –           63

5.2       Conclusion      –           –           –           –           –           –           –           –           –           64

• Recommendations      –           –           –           –           –           –           –           –           65

5.4       Limitation of the Study          –           –           –           –           –           –           –           66

5.5       Suggestions for Further Studies         –           –           –           –           –           –           66

REFERENCES          –           –           –           –           –           –           –           –           68

APPENDIXES           –           –           –           –           –           –           –           –           73

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1       Background of the Study

Education is the best legacy a nation can give to her citizens. This is because the development of any nation depends on the educational attainment of her citizenry and the quality of education of such a nation. Education is the most important component of human resource development and it accords pride to a nation. There is no doubt that the importance of education cannot be underscored because there is no industry that has succeeded without developing its human resources. Education according to Osokoya, (2009) helps to improve security, health, prosperity, and ecological balance in the world. It encourages social, economic, cultural progress, tolerance, national and international cooperation. According to Ugwuanyi (2003) education is the process by which society establishes to assist the young to learn and understand the heritage of the past, participate productively in the society and contribute meaningfully for the development of the society.

The emergence of corona virus pandemic (COVID-19) has no doubt adversely affected the global economy. It has forced many businesses including educational sector to temporarily shut down and governments across the world to place a restriction on movement while exempting providers of essential services who are to strictly observe social distancing rules while providing services as a way to contain the spread of the virus. Unfortunately, the educational sector is a part of the receiving end. According to UNESCO, an estimated 1.725 billion learners have been affected as a result of school closures, representing about 99.9% of the world’s student population as of April 13th, 2020. The severe short-term disruption is felt by many families around the world: home schooling is not only a massive shock to parents’ productivity, but also to children’s social life and learning. Teaching is moving online, on an untested and unprecedented scale. Student assessments are also moving online, with a lot of trial and error and uncertainty for everyone. Many assessments have simply been cancelled. Importantly, these interruptions will not just be a short-term issue, but can also have long-term consequences for the affected cohorts and are likely to increase inequality.

Before Covid-19 (Pre Covid-19), several pandemic at least six large-scale outbreaks-hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, severe acute respiratory syndrome, H5N1 influenza, H1N1 influenza, Middle East respiratory syndrome, and Ebola virus disease epidemic has negatively affected the teaching and learning across countries (Nigeria inclusive) (Gostin, et al., 2016). The influenza H1N1 2009 virus (A/2009/H1N1) was the first pandemic influenza of the 21^st century. It affected the whole world and caused more than 18,000 deaths (Rewar, et al., 2015). Ebola killed more than 11,000 people and cost the world more than $2billion according to World Bank calculations (Maurice, 2016). Zika virus which broke out in 2016 spread and threatened the health of people in 34 countries (Troncoso, 2016). These outbreaks made scientists and governments became worried about the extent of the devastation of these outbreaks on the world economy and education.

Pre Covid-19 is the time when there was no coronavirus outbreaks, and students specifically, Biology students in secondary schools have properly lesson delivery while in schools leading to positive academic performance (Priscillia, 2020). Schooling is the best public policy tool available to acquire skills. While educational time can be fun and can raise social aptitudes and social mindfulness, from a monetary perspective. The essential purpose of being in school is that it builds a kid’s psychological capacity. But the shutdown of schools due to Covid-19 has negative effect for on educational growth. This is because, if learning process is interrupted, it affects student’s performances. For instance, empirical findings have shown that in the short period of holiday, say six weeks, students cognitive skill are usually not as high as when they are in the school system without holiday (Priscillia, 2020).

Coronavirus (Covid 19) as cankerworm has eaten deep into the fabric of educational industry. The outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic and its aftermath (Post Covid-19) increased the gaps in the educational sector globally. Though, the Coronavirus pandemic is novel, but it already has noxious effects on humanity and education cannot be an exception. COVID-19 outbreak created educational disruptions, and global health concerns that proved very difficult to manage by global health systems. As during its emergence and now, no nation or race across the world is immune from the pandemic, and the entire world seems overwhelmed by the speed of the spread and the devastating effects of COVID-19. The coronavirus pandemic has no boundaries, and the effect is large and fast. Just within few months of the outbreak of the disease, it drastically changed the lifestyles of the entire world with billions of people being forced to stay at home to observe self-isolations and work and learn from home. It has limited the freedom of people to move, trade or associate. Not only has COVID-19 caused a total lockdowns in many countries across the world, but it also caused the death of thousands of people including, women, and the elderly. It was more worrisome to know that reports from various continents, including, America, Africa, Asia, and Europe indicated a daily increase in the number of new cases, and mortality due to COVID-19. As at April, 2020, the number of global COVID-19 cases surpassed one million cases and more than 220,000 deaths (Priscillia, 2020). According to Opera News (2020) it was also frightening that the USA recorded more than 2000 COVID-19 deaths in a single day despite the country’s strong commitment to the fight against the contagion. The number of Coronavirus deaths was soaring with no immediate solutions in sight. The disease showed no sign of slowing down across the globe. The COVID-19 outbreak triggered the President of the United States, President Trump to invoke the “Defense Production Act”. The government also issued a national emergency as a result of the growing number of new cases of Coronavirus in the country (Priscillia, 2020).

Looking at the effects of Pre Covid-19 and Post Covid-19 pandemic on the academic performance of Biology students, according to UNESCO (2020) reports that, during the pandemic and even now, most governments around the world have temporarily closed down educational institutions in an attempt to curtail the spreading of the Covid-19 pandemic and these during these closures impacted almost 70% of the world’s student population as at first week of May, 2020. Similarly in Nigeria, the imposture of total lockdown affects the education sector by distorting learning process as a result of closure of both private and public institutions of learning by federal government which greatly has negative consequences.

The teaching and learning of Biology which significantly provides students with opportunities to develop an understanding of our living world in all Nigerian secondary schools and across the world was put to hold because of the COVID-19 virus. Teaching and learning have been put to hold in all the educational level in the country as a result of COVID-19 pandemic. The implication of this is that many Nigerian students will not be in the schools for a period of one month or even more implying that they will be idle. Simon and Hans (2020) cited Carlsson et al. (2015) who considered a situation in which young men in Sweden have differing number of days to prepare for important tests. These differences are conditionally random allowing the authors to estimate a causal effect of schooling on skills. The authors show that even just ten days of extra schooling significantly raises scores on tests of the use of knowledge (‘crystallized intelligence’) by 1% of a standard deviation. As an extremely rough measure of the impact of the current school closures, if we were to simply extrapolate those numbers, twelve weeks less schooling (i.e. 60 school days) implies a loss of 6% of a standard deviation, which is non-trivial. They do not find a significant impact on problem-solving skills (an example of ‘fluid intelligence’). A different way into this question comes from Simon and Hans (2020) cited Lavy (2015), who estimates the impact on learning of differences in instructional time across countries. Perhaps surprisingly, there are very substantial differences between countries in hours of teaching. For example, Lavy showed that total weekly hours of instruction in mathematics, language and science is 55% higher in Denmark than in Austria. These differences matter, causing significant differences in test score outcomes: one more hour per week over the school year in the main subjects increases test scores by around 6% of a standard deviation. In our case, the loss of perhaps 3-4 hours per week teaching in Maths for 12 weeks may be similar in magnitude to the loss of an hour per week for 30 weeks. So, rather bizarrely and surely coincidentally, we end up with an estimated loss of around 6% of a standard deviation again. Leaving the close similarity aside, these studies possibly suggest a likely effect no greater than 10% of a standard deviation but definitely above zero.

It is upon this background that a comparative study on the effects of Pre-Covid 19 and Post-Covid 19 on the academic achievements of Biology students in some selected senior secondary schools in Pankshin metropolis was undertaken by the researcher in order to ascertain its relationship among students performance.

1.2       Statement of the problem

The outbreak of corona virus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Nigeria has increase the level of tension and anxiety among citizens in the country. The virus unlike other cases we have had in this country is highly transmittable with severe signs and symptoms. The issue of how to provide quality educational continuity remotely that supports not only learning and teaching of biology but also the psychosocial well-being of both students and educators is critical to effective preparedness and response. This lack of research on and guidance for planning educational continuity is disastrous, as education is itself a form of psychosocial support that promotes holistic well-being during crises.

In Nigeria, the Federal government announced the indefinite postponement of the 2020 West African Examination Council and the National Examinations Council (NECO) due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The situation is depressing. The statistics are scary and the consequences are severe. The numbers are unprecedented and the implications are enormous. Never before have so many children and youths been out of school at the same time. The consequences are better imagined. Even before and after the current closure of schools, the world was already experiencing a global learning crisis, as many students, who, even while the school system was in full swing, were not learning the fundamental skills needed for life, (World Bank, 2020).The closure of schools has now further compounded the situation with remarkable impacts on students, teachers, families and far-reaching economic and social consequences.

At the moment, not many studies have been carried out on the impact of COVID-19 concerning students’ achievement in educational studies. Although there are available data in literature directly related to medical sciences and practices. Regrettably, education will be greatly affected by COVID-19 and therefore, the impact of this disease should be incorporated into educational studies for the government at various levels to make adequate provisions for learners and their teachers across the globe (Sintema, 2020). With the present situation of COVID-19 in Nigeria, schools were under lock and key from march 2020-October 2020. Students’ effort and preparation towards their examination have been adversely affected by this global pandemic which has forced everyone into unprepared self-isolation. As of now, Nigeria does not have a well-developed e-learning platform for schools that can cushion the effect associated with loss of learning hours. Therefore the impact of this pandemic will be strongly felt more by who wrote examination last year 2020 to early this year 2020 (Sintema and Phiri, 2020). Existing records from a study conducted by Sakiyo and Badau (2020) revealed that there was an undesirable trend in the performance of students

With the closure of schools, students of all level of education in Nigeria including Secondary Schools, Colleges, Polytechnics and Universities (both private and public) were forced to remain closed until when the disease is curtailed. This development had serious effects on the educational system of the country. Some people lost loved ones, some lost focus on school and focused more on the hardship that was ravaging the economy while some were psychologically affected. This COVID-19 epidemic is surely not the last epidemic that will threaten school continuity, especially given research on how climate change will affect infectious disease occurrence. Schools must immediately update their emergency preparedness plans by developing contingency plans that not only address school-based prevention and safety measures for epidemics, but also identify ways to continue educating and supporting students and teachers if schools are closed.

It is in line with these problems that the study seeks to find out the effect of covid-19 on the academic performance of students of Federal College of Education Pankshin as an area of study.

1.3       Aim of the Study

The general aim of this study is to undertake a comparative study on the effects of Pre-Covid 19 and Post-Covid 19 on the academic achievements of Biology students in some selected senior secondary schools in Pankshin metropolis.

• Specific Objectives

The specific objectives of this study are to:

1. To estimate the influence of Pre-Covid 19 and Post-Covid 19 pandemic on the academic achievement of biology students in some selected senior secondary schools in Pankshin Metropolis
2. To access the impacts of Pre-Covid 19 pandemic on the academic performance of biology students in some selected senior secondary schools in Pankshin Metropolis
3. To access the impacts of Post-Covid 19 pandemic on the academic performance biology students in some selected senior secondary schools in Pankshin Metropolis
4. To compare the degree of the level of impacts of Pre and Post-Covid 19 pandemic on the academic performance of biology students in Pankshin Metropolis

1.3.2    Research Questions

In order to achieve the above objective the study came up with the following research question. The research questions are stated as follows:

1. What is the influence of Pre-Covid 19 and Post-Covid 19 pandemic on the academic achievement of biology students in some selected senior secondary schools in Pankshin Metropolis?
2. What is the impact of Pre-Covid 19 pandemic on the academic performance of biology students in some selected senior secondary schools in Pankshin Metropolis?
3. What is the impact of Post-Covid 19 pandemic on the academic performance of biology students in some selected senior secondary schools in Pankshin Metropolis?
4. What is the degree of the level of impacts of Pre and Post-Covid 19 pandemic on the academic performance of biology students in some selected senior secondary schools in Pankshin Metropolis?

1.3.3    Research Hypotheses

The following hypotheses guided the conduct of the study:

HO₁: There is no statistically significant difference on the influence of Pre-Covid 19 and Post-Covid 19 pandemic on the academic achievement of biology students in some selected senior secondary schools in Pankshin Metropolis

HO₂: There is no statistically significance difference in the impact of Pre-Covid 19 pandemic on the academic performance of biology students in some selected senior secondary schools in Pankshin Metropolis

HO₃: There is no statistically significant difference in the impact of Post-Covid 19 pandemic on the academic performance of biology students in some selected senior secondary schools in Pankshin Metropolis.

HO₄: There is no statistically significant difference in the degree of the level of impacts of Pre and Post-Covid 19 pandemic on the academic performance of biology students in some selected senior secondary schools in Pankshin Metropolis

1.4       Significance of the study

The study will be of immense benefit to all the Nigeria citizens, the educational sector, and the federal government of Nigeria. The study will explore the prevalence of corona virus disease (COVID-19), the causes, and the effect of the corona virus disease (COVID-19) the Nigeria educational sector. The study will educate the masses on the mode of transmission of the corona virus disease (COVID-19) and the preventive measures to be adopted. The study will educate the Nigeria government on the policy implementation to effectively curb the prevalence of the corona virus disease (COVID-19) and how to improve the Nigeria economy during this period. The study will serve as a repository of information to other researchers that desire to carry out similar research on the above topic. Finally the study will contribute to the body of the existing literature on the impact of corona virus disease (COVID-19) on the Nigeria education.

1.5       Justification

Pre-Covid 19 and Post-Covid 19 and their effects on the academic achievements of Biology among secondary schools students in Pankshin metropolis are relevant to the present trend of event, which was noticed to be increasingly growing as observed. The Coronavirus pandemic has affected educational systems worldwide, leading to the widespread closure of schools in the affected countries. As of 28th March, 2020, over 1.7 billion learners were out of school due to schools not in session because of the pandemic. According to UNESCO monitoring, over 100 countries have implemented nationwide closure, impacting nearly 90% of the world’s student population (UNESCO, COVID-19 Educational Disruption and Response, 2020). School closure does not only affect students, teachers, and families, but have far-reaching economic and societal consequences, (Lindzon, 2020). School closures in response to COVID-19 have shed light on various social and economic issues, including student debt (Jamerson, et al., Joshua, 2020), digital learning (Karp and McGowan, 2020), food insecurity (Cecco, 2020) and homelessness (Ngumbi, 2020) as well as access to childcare (Belinda, 2020), health care (Feuer, 2020), housing (Barrett, 2020), internet (Jordan, 2020) and disability services (Alex, 2020). Previous outbreaks of infectious diseases have prompted widespread school closing around the world with varying levels of effectiveness (Simon, 2020).

The problem which has motivated this research is as a result of the aftermath consequences of Covid-19 Pandemic which has tributaries of negative impacts on the academic performance of secondary schools students in Biology. It is the hope of this research to initiates the institute of federal government on Medicine and health’s science, Biology teachers in the need to consider the fundamental variables that have profound relationships in reducing the ability of the individual to make necessary contributions on the academic performance desired in a developing society like ours. Poor academic performance should be strongly reflected, because it brings untold hardship and frustration on an individual and backwardness to the development of a nation.

1.6       Scope and Delimitation of the Study

This research was delimited to comparative study on the effects of Pre-Covid 19 and Post-Covid 19 on the academic achievements of Biology students in some selected senior secondary schools in Pankshin metropolis.

The study was carried out in Pankshin Area Directorate of Education in Plateau state. The zone was used on the fact that literature search by the researcher revealed that no such study has been carried out in this area. Senior secondary school class two students (SS 2) will be used in the study. The choice of the population was based on the fact that the state and the zone in particular is educational less developed as reflected on the students’ WAEC and NECO achievement in biology in the background of the study.

Every research study comes with a constraint. For the purpose of achieving stated objectives for the study, the researcher will possibly be confronted with both financial and time constraints. Funds to print and distribute questions coupled with tight lecture schedules will be the limitations for the study.

1.8       Operational Definition of Terms

Terms that are related to the study are defined below in order to remove somatic ambiguity in their usage.

Comparative study: It refers to measurement or judgment by estimating the similarity or dissimilarity between one thing and another.

Effects: It simply refers to a change which is a result or consequence of an action or other cause. In this study, it implies to the striking changes observed among Biology students before and after covid-19 pandemic.

Pre Covid-19: Is the time when there was no coronavirus outbreaks, and students specifically, Biology students in secondary schools have properly lesson delivery while in schools

Post- Covid-19: It refers to the period after the covid-19 pandemic that its aftermath increased the gaps in the educational sector globally.

Biology: It simply refers to the science that studies life, and living things, and the evolution of life. In this research, it refers to the foundational aspect of science education that deals with the impartation of the basic knowledge needed to understand science by senior secondary school students.

Student: Is something or someone that is consider to learning. In this research, it refers to a secondary school biology learner.

Students’ academic performance: It refers to the extent to which a learner has attained their short or long-term educational goals.

Senior secondary schools: It refers to school for pupils between the ages of 11 or 12 and 17 or 18 that student attend in the three highest classes before college. In this research, it refers to the level of education use by the researcher in comparing effects of Pre-Covid 19 and Post-Covid 19 on the academic achievements of biology students.