Abstract:
Biological knowledge plays fundamental role in most aspects of human life. Its application in genetic
engineering has made a tremendous contribution towards meeting the demand of food security, medicine and
control of a variety of diseases. Despite this significant role, there is a national concern about the attitude of
students towards biology by high school students’ especially in physiology and biochemical topics. This study
determined the effects of Vee Heuristic Teaching Approach on students’ attitudes towards learning Biology.
This study was conducted in public secondary schools in Tharaka Nithi County. Solomon Four – Group Non
Equivalent Control Group Design was used. Data was collected from 12 schools randomly sampled from within
the county. The sample comprised of 396Form 2 students from four boys, four girls and four co-educational
schools. A Biology Attitude Questionnaire was developed and used for data collection. The instruments were
pilot-tested in one boy’s, one girl’s and one co-educational school in Embu East Sub-county to ascertain its
reliability. The reliability coefficient was estimated using Cronbach’s coefficient alpha. A coefficient value of
0.83 was obtained from the research instruments. Hypotheses was tested using ANOVA, and t-test statistics at α
= 0.05 level of significance. Means were separated using Least Significant. The study found that Vee Heuristics
Teaching Approach VHTA facilitated students’ attitude in biology subject. Since VHTA benefited students
irrespective of gender and type of school attended, education authorities should encourage biology teachers,
curriculum developers, quality assurance and standards officers and teacher trainers to apply it in the pursuit of
teaching endeavors.
