THE UPSHOT OF MNEMONIC-BASED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGY ON STUDENTS' ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AND INTEREST TOWARDS BIOLOGY

Mnemonic-based instructional strategy (MBIS) is a pedagogical technique that incorporates approaches to help students retain complex biological concepts and information. The study utilized a quasi-experimental research design that aimed to determine the level of students’ academic performance in terms of pre-test, post-test, and retention; evaluate the level of students’ interest in terms of feelings, value, and re-engagement; and assess the significant difference in students’ academic performance and interest who are exposed to MBIS and non-MBIS. The results were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). Students’ academic performance exposed to MBIS improved from a very low level to a higher level after intervention. The results also revealed a “highly interested” indication of students’ interest in biology when exposed to MBIS in terms of feelings, value, and re-engagement. Additionally, during the retention phase, only 32.26% of students fell into the very low-level category compared to 54.84% during their post-test, indicating that most students in the MBIS group gained the ability to recall or remember information on the lessons given over time. A significant difference was observed in both academic performance and interest. The mnemonics group's higher mean score than the non-mnemonics group displayed meaningful evidence that there is a comparative mechanism for the distinctiveness of the approaches employed.