JONAED

Interest is an educational concept that determines some aspects of students’ affective domain which is very important in the teaching and learning process. It has been hypothesised that the use of child-centred approach will stimulate students’’ interest in any learning situation. Blended teaching approach is on of such child-centred approaches. This study was therefore undertaken to explore the use of blended Teaching Approach in stimulating the interest of students to learn Biology. Two research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. The design of the study is Quasi-Experimental design, specifically, pretest-posttest non- equivalent control group design. The sample for this study consists of 82 Biology students in four intact classes in secondary schools in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State, Nigeria. Biology Interest Inventory (BII) was used as instrument for data collection. Two experts from Biology unit and one from measurement and Evaluation unit, Department of Science Education University of Nigeria Nsukka validated the instrument. The Interest inventory has an internal consistency reliability of 0.96 established using Cronbach alpha. Mean and standard deviations were used to analyze the data to provide answers for the research questions. The hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). Result of the study showed that the students learning biology using the Blended Teaching Approach had a significant increase in their interest scores. The increase in interest score is not gender dependent as both boys and girls had enhanced interest score. The educational implications of the findings were highlighted and the recommendations proffered which includes that Biology teachers should be trained on how best to involve students into group and individual laboratory activity during biology practical instructions to facilitate students’ involvement and interest in biology. This could be achieved through seminars and workshops for teachers in secondary schools. .