An Assessment of Refutational Text Features of Biology Textbooks and Student's Misconceptions in the Concepts of Photosynthesis and Respiration in Plants

Abstract

This study investigated whether or not Refutational Text features are available in the common biology textbooks used in teaching Biology. Three research questions were raised to guide this study and a hypothesis was formulated. The survey research design was employed; four biology textbooks were randomly selected from a population of eight textbooks, while 129 students took an achievement test to identify if misconceptions exist in the concepts of Photosynthesis and Respiration in plants from a total population of 1333 Students. Two instruments were adopted for the study, namely; Refutational Text Features Instrument (RTFI) and Test on Photosynthesis and Respiration in Plants (TPRP). (RTFI) was designed to investigate if the features of the refutational texts were present in the selected Textbooks while (TPRP) identified the misconceptions that students have in the concept of Photosynthesis and Respiration in Plants. Reliability coefficient were found to be 0.8128 using Inter-rater Analysis for RTFI and 0.07 using Kuder-Richardson formula 20 for the TPRP. Data were analyzed using Descriptive Statistics of Percentage, means and Standard Deviation for the research questions and ANOVA for the hypothesis. Findings revealed that the students had misconceptions in the concept of Photosynthesis and Respiration in Plants and the four biology textbooks did not have Refutational Text Features. Teachers and science educators should plan their lesson to address misconceptions that students have in Biology and the lesson note to reflect Refutational Text Features.