International Journal of Human Research and Social Science Studies

The influence of students’ language communication skills and fluency on their reading and understanding towards their learning has been an interesting focus of many researchers these days. It affects students’ academic achievement scores and their motivation development towards the instructional process  in all stages of their academic struggles and progress in life, which  continues to be a major concern to many researchers, both social and experimental scientists alike. It plays a significant role in the general success and total development of the learner, even at their advancement to the next level in their academic growth. The aim of this quasi-experimental study was to examine the effect of using an EdrawMax-based concept mapping approach as a mediation strategy on the development of students’ verbal communication ability and fluency for enhancing their motivation and performance in biology. A total  of one hundred and twenty students from two dissimilar mixed Senior High Schools in the Ashanti Region of Ghana were selected for the study. Three instruments, namely students’ verbal ability test items and motivation questionnaire, as well as students’ performance test were used for the data collection and the results were analyzed using One-way ANOVA, Pearson product-moment correlation and multiple regression analysis of SPSS version 21. The outcomes of the study shown that effective regular use of EdrawMax-based concept mapping teaching and learning approach has a strong and positive effect on students’ verbal ability and fluency development which improves their inducement of motivation to learn the concepts of photosynthesis and thus enhances their performance in biology.

Concept mapping, verbal ability, academic performance, intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation

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