CRITICAL THINKING DISPOSITION AND BIOLOGY STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT: COMPARATIVE EFFECTS OF THE 4MAT AND 5E INSTRUCTIONAL APPROACHES

Abstract

This study examined the comparative effects of 4MAT and 5E instructional approaches on the 
academic achievement and critical thinking disposition of biology students in Imo State, Nigeria. 
For this study, a quasi-experimental design was used. The sample comprised 85 SS2 Biology 
students, selected using purposive sampling technique. Using two validated instruments named 
Biology Achievement Test (BAT) and Biology Critical Thinking Disposition Rating Scale 
(BCTDRS), data on student achievement and critical thinking disposition were collected. To test 
the instruments for reliability, Kuder Richardson 20 was used for the BAT and Cronbach Alpha 
statistics for the BCTDRS and coefficients of 0.77 and 0.75 were obtained respectively. To answer 
the questions posed, the researcher utilized mean and standard deviation scores, while the 
hypotheses were tested with ANCOVA F-test at 0.05 significance. The findings of the study are 
as follows: students taught Biology by employing the 5E instructional approach significantly 
outperformed those taught using the 4MAT method (p<.05), while those taught using the 4MAT 
method significantly performed better in their critical thinking disposition than their counterparts 
taught using the 5E (p<.05). The researcher recommended that biology teachers adopt the 5E 
method for improved academic achievement and 4MAT for improved critical thinking disposition.