Cognitive Engagement as a Predictor of Secondary School Students’ Academic Achievement in Biology in Onitsha Education Zone

The study investigated cognitive engagement as a predictor of secondary school students' academic achievement in biology. Two research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. The study adopted the correlation design. The population of the study comprised 2,461 senior secondary year two SS2 students offering Biology in Onitsha Education Zone. The sample for the study was 736 students obtained using multi staged sampling procedure. Cognitive Engagement Questionnaire CEQ validated by three experts was used for data collection. The reliability of CEQ was established using Cronbach Alpha to be 0.84. The students' achievement scores in Biology for two terms in 2021 2022 academic session were obtained from the teachers' score inventory and used for the study. The data obtained was analyzed using simple and multiple linear regressions. The findings of the study revealed among others that 0.7 of the variance in achievement in biology was predicted by students' cognitive engagement. Also, achievement scores in Biology were significantly predicted by students' cognitive engagement. It was recommended that teachers should make instructional processes cognitively engaging for the students giving them in class biology exercises and take home learning projects and inquiries as well as providing them with scaffolds that can be withdrawn to incite active cognitive processing during learning. Akachukwe, Ebele Esther | Okoli Josephine Nwanneka "Cognitive Engagement as a Predictor of Secondary School Students' Academic Achievement in Biology in Onitsha Education Zone" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-7 | Issue-1 , February 2023, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd52648.pdf Paper URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/humanities-and-the-arts/education/52648/cognitive-engagement-as-a-predictor-of-secondary-school-students'-academic-achievement-in-biology-in-onitsha-education-zone/akachukwe-ebele-esther