EFFECT OF POLYA’S- PROBLEM-SOLVING MODEL ENRICHED WITH JIGSAW -COOPERATIVE LEARNING ON THE ACQUISITION OF SCIENCE- PROCESS- SKILLS AMONG SERIALISTIC SECONDARY SCHOOL BIOLOGY STUDENTS ZARIA, NIGERIA

This study investigated the effectiveness of Polya's Problem-Solving Model enriched with Jigsaw Cooperative Learning on the acquisition of science process skills (SPS) among serialistic senior secondary school Biology students in Zaria, Nigeria.A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest control group design was employed.The population comprised all 7,097 SS2 Biology students from 30 public Senior Secondary Schools in Zaria Education Zone, out of which 125 SS II Biology students (66 males, 59 females) drawn from two purposively selected co-educational schools made up the sample of the study.Two validated instruments were used in the study.The one used for categorizing the students based on their Learning Styles was the Learning Style Inventory (LSI) while the other used for data collection was the Science Process Skills Acquisition Test (SPSAT) with reliability coefficients of 0.84, estimated using Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient (PPMCC) statistics.The experimental group received instruction using the Polya's-Problem-Solving Model Enriched with Jigsaw-Cooperative Learning, while the control group was taught using conventional lecture method.Data were collected using the Science Process Skills Acquisition Test (SPSAT) and analyzed with descriptive statistics and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) at a 0.05 significance level.Results revealed that students exposed to the Polya's-Problem-Solving Model Enriched with Jigsaw-Cooperative Learning significantly outperformed their peers in SPS acquisition (F(1,123) = 232.15,p < 0.001, η² = 0.66), indicating a very large effect.Additionally, no significant gender differences were observed among serialistic learners (F(1,39) = 0.52, p = 0.47, η² = 0.01), suggesting that the instructional strategy is equally effective for male and female students.The findings underscore the value of integrating structured problem-solving with cooperative learning to enhance inquiry-based skills, engagement, and conceptual understanding in