ACTIVE LEARNING STRATEGIES AS DETERMINANTS OF PRE-SERVICE BIOLOGY TEACHERS’ LEARNING OUTCOMES Olayemi Aderokun Asaaju Adeyemi College of Education, Nigeria modadeola64@yahoo.com ABSTRACT Available data showed that pre-service biology teachers at Colleges of Education in South-western Nigeria have low achievement in and exhibit negative attitude to population education. Previous studies largely focused on teachers and students’ attitude to population education with minimal emphasis on intervention through group-based interactive learning strategies. This study, therefore, determined the impact of Team-Based Learning Strategy (TBLS) and 5E Learning Strategy (5ELS) on pre-service biology teachers’ achievement in and attitude to population education. The moderating effect cognitive ability was also examined. Theory of Positive Social Interdependence provided the framework, while the pre- test post-test control group quasi experimental design was adopted. An intact class of second year pre- service biology teachers from three federal colleges of education was randomly assigned to TBLS (171), 5ELS (90) and Control (140) groups. Instruments used were PEAT (r=0.80), PTCAT (r=0.81) tests, PEAS (r=0.82) questionnaire, and Instructional Guides. Data were analysed using Estimated Marginal Means, ANCOVA and Bonferroni post-hoc test at 0.05 level of significance. There was significant effect of treatment on achievement (F(2,378)=12.26; partial η2=0.06), also on attitude (F(2,378)=27.90; partial η2=0.13). There was a significant effect of cognitive ability on pre-service biology teachers’ attitude (F(2,378)=3.2; partial η2=0.02). There was a significant interaction effect of treatment and cognitive ability (F (4,376)=2.44; partial η2=0.03) on achievement in favour of high cognitive ability pre-service biology teachers from 5E group. Employing these two strategies to teach population education would be a strategic means of developing and improving pre-service biology teachers’ ability to retain, construct and reconstruct knowledge from learning experiences. This also would help them to solve population issues whether personal or communal within and outside of the classroom. Key words: Active learning strategies, population education, pre-service biology teachers, attitude and achievement INTRODUCTION In Nigeria’s Colleges of Education, there are compulsory courses in biology such as population education, which pre-service biology teachers must offer and pass before they can be certified as Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) holders. Population education is multidisciplinary as it draws its content from, and, cuts across a wide range of other subject disciplines such as basic science, biology, social studies, health education, environmental education, population and family life education (Pop/FLE), family life and HIV education, family life and health education (FLHE), demography, geography, urban and regional planning and others. One identified major problem militating against the effective teaching of courses in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions is the use of conventional lecture strategy adopted by lecturers to teach (Aremu & Salami, 2013; Agoro, 2012). However, one germane reason for this could be due to the huge growth in knowledge in many areas of biological sciences which has created a untold confusion for lecturers in tertiary institutions, for not only must they transmit new facts and concepts to their students, they must also ensure that they comprehend and appreciate them (Mulley, 2015). A critical look at the performance (Table 1.1) in the three colleges during the years under review revealed low achievement as a whopping 1527 (55.8%) candidates of the total 2736 performed below average; they failed to score 50 marks out of the maximum obtainable 100 marks. This calls for concern if the objectives of including population education in the curriculum of pre-service biology teachers are to be achieved. Also, studies (Medhi, 2017; Monika, 2013; Kavita, 2002) have revealed that school teachers have poor knowledge of, and, exhibit negative attitude to population education. Implication of this problem could be that learners under the tutelage of these teachers would likely not fare any better because they would neither be taught beyond their teachers’ knowledge nor encouraged to exhibit