Examination of secondary school students’ conceptual understanding, perceptions, and misconceptions about genetics concepts

Abstract

Genetics concepts is taught at secondary school to equip students with relevant knowledge to engage with related socio-scientific issues in order to make a reasonable decision. However, earlier research shown that students exhibited poor comprehension of this concept. Despite several interventions, this problem persists. This study was designed to examine senior school students’ conceptual understanding, perceptions and misconceptions about genetics concepts as well as the causes of the misconceptions identified. The mixed methods design was adopted, while 789 students participated. Five instruments were used, while data collected were descriptively and content-analyzed. The results revealed that 21.4% of the students understood genetics concepts, 27.6% did not, while 51.0% had misconceptions. Students had negative perception of genetics concepts (<i>x</i> =2.47) and genetics contents indicator was the major causes of students’ misconceptions (<i>x</i> =2.92) against the 2.50 threshold. The teaching and learning of genetics concepts should be supported with relevant instructional materials and detailed textbooks.