Effectiveness of Cognitive Conflict Strategy in Improving Conceptual Understanding of Evolution among Senior Secondary School Students in Zamfara State, Nigeria

Misconceptions about evolution can impede students’ understanding of natural selection, adaptation, genetic variation and evolutionary relationships. This study compared students’ conceptual understanding of evolution after instruction using the Cognitive Conflict Strategy (CCS) and conventional method. It also examined gender differences among students exposed to CCS. A quasi-experimental pretest–posttest control-group design involved 283 SS II Biology students from public secondary schools in Zamfara State, Nigeria. Data were collected using an adapted 30-item, two-tier Evolutionary Misconception Test (KR-20 = 0.84) and analysed using descriptive statistics and ANCOVA at the 0.05 significance level. The study revealed that students taught using CCS recorded a higher mean gain (12.86) than those taught using the conventional method (6.71). ANCOVA showed a statistically significant difference between the two groups, F(1, 280) = 71.47, p < .001, partial η² = .203. However, no statistically significant gender difference was found among students taught using CCS, F(1, 143) = 0.48, p = .490, partial η² = .003. The study concluded that CCS improve students’ conceptual understanding of evolution. It is recommended that Biology teachers incorporate CCS into evolution lessons to help students identify, examine and correct misconceptions.