THE PROCESS OF GENERATION OF MENTAL VISUALIZATION AMONG BIOLOGY STUDENTS FOR ABSTRACT CONSEPTS OF OSMOSIS (97 - 122)

Abstract

The objective of this study is to identify the information processing technique and describe the process of generating mental visualization of an abstract Biology concept, osmosis. Ten students were selected as respondents using the purposive stratified sampling method. They were divided into two groups namely, the high achievers and the low achievers based on their previous Biology examination results. The instruments used to collect data was a task and semi structured interview protocol. The data was analyzed quantitatively using percentages and qualitatively by constructing themes and sub-themes from the information obtained using the constant comparative method. The finding shows that hundred percent (100%) of the students were prone to usethe filteration of elements technique and more selective in the choice of key words to process and generate the correct visualization from the definition of osmosis given in the text. Sixty percent (60%) of the low achievers choose to relate the element of the text, eighty percent (80%) of the high achievers use the element of history to do so while another eighty percent (80%) of the low achievers would rather use the element of dimension to interpret the text for the concept of osmosis. The exploration of the students’ mind has provided much information on how an abstract biology concept is processed to generate the exact and correct mental visualization.