P.I.O AIKA

The study adopted the descriptive survey research design. The population of the study comprisedof students in the Faculty of Education, University of Benin. The sample size of the studywasmade up of one hundred and twenty (120) students randomly selected from three course areas from the Department of Curriculum and Instructional Technology. A questionnaire titled " vii Undergraduate Students' Perception of Academic Writing Tasks" was used to collect data. Thedata collected were analyzed using simple percentage, mean and standard deviation for the research questions and t-test and ANOVA for the hypotheses. Three questionnaires and twohypotheses were raised to guide the study. The results of this study indicated that students preferred working on objective tests. Manystudents also have the view that academic writing is difficult and is challenging. Fromthe resultsof this study, tests are the most popular form of academic writing tasks among students withtermpapers being the least. Students perceived peer review and reading materials as very helpful inimproving their writing abilities. In addition, it was revealed that students differ in their attitudestowards academic writing tasks based on academic level and sex . Based on the findings of this study, it is recommended among others that more writing opportunities be provided to students in writing.

The study Surveyed the Methods of teaching Biology in senior secondary schools in Benin City. Three (3) research questions were raised to guide the study. The study adopted the descriptive survey research design. The population of the study consisted of five thousand six hundred and seventy eight (5,678) students in Benin City. Two hundred (200) students formed the sample of the study. They were randomly sampled to ensure fair representation. The instrument that was used for this study was a question naire titled, ‘Questionnaire on Survey of Methods of Teaching Biology in Senior Secondary Schools’ (QSMTB r=.82). Data obtained from the instrument were analyzed using frequency count, simple percentage, mean and standard deviation. Findings from the study revealed that Lecture, Discussion and Demonstration methods are the methods used by Biology teachers in teaching. Students perceive their Biology teachers’ teaching method as a factor affecting their interest to learn the subject. Students perceive their Biology teachers’ teaching method as a factor affecting their academic performance in the subject. Based on the findings of the study, it is recommended that teachers should use more of learner- centred methods rather than teacher- centred methods of teaching.