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Linking motivation and learning is central to understanding students’ motivation toward learning and learning itself as complex cognitive phenomena. Some studies focused on students’ motivation toward learning biology in general; however, the shortage of studies on the effect of animation-based instruction and small-group laboratory activities as Resource-based Instructions (RBIs) on pre-service biology teachers was realized. The present study aimed to determine the effect of resource-based Instructions on pre-service biology teachers’ academic motivation toward learning biology at private and public Universities in Rwanda. Pre-service biology teachers were grouped into three groups at a public teacher traning University and received a pre-and post-assessment.  Quasi-experimental, pre and post-test control group design was used at a public university, while a repeated measures design was used at a private university. The standard academic motivation scale for learning biology (AMSLB) yielded a Cronbach alpha coefficient of 0.71 before use. The t-Test was computed to measure the statistically significant difference between the pre-and post-assessment scores and group of RBI interventions. Multivariate analysis (MANOVA) was computed to measure the effect of RBIs vis à vis the AMSLB factors. Findings revealed no statistically significant difference (df=18, p=.458) in the motivation of learning biology of pre-service teachers before and after learning via traditional instruction at a public university. However, a statistically signficant difference was found with animation instruction (df=18, p=.002) and lab instruction (df=18, p=.014).  The motivation of learning biology increased at a public university than at a private university. However, animations and small-group lab activities increased pre-service biology teachers’ intrinsic and extrinsic—career motivation of learning biology at both universities. Therefore, the study recommends using RBIs to improve pre-service biology teachers’ motivation toward learning biology.

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Observing classroom practices and checking the effect of instructional methods on academic achievement are crucial in the teaching and learning process. The present study was aimed at discovering the dominating pre-service biology teachers’ and instructors’ activities in microbiology classes and their respective effects when animations–based instructions and small-group laboratory activities are used. An equivalent time-series design was applied using a small group of participants in year two biology education (N=30, 16 female and 14 males), and a pre-test was used as a pre-intervention comparison test, while a post-test alternated with interventions. Classroom Observation Protocol for Undergraduate STEM (COPUS) was used to record classroom activities. Before using its inter-rater agreement reached 80%. Pre-service Biology Teachers Achievement Test (PBTAT) with a Pearson’s r reliability of .51 served to measure instructional methods' effect on academic achievement. It was found that the main teaching methods were activities, lectures and animation classes, while group work and instructors moving among the students and guiding them characterized small-group laboratory activity classes. All interventions improved pre-service biology teachers’ academic achievement; however, a statistically significant difference (df=28, p<.05) existed between interventions where small group laboratory activities proved a considerable effect size (d=3.86). No statistically significant difference (df=1, p>.05) was found regarding gender after interventions. However, females scored better than males after the lecture and laboratory methods, while the opposite happened after animation-based instruction. Therefore, we recommend using small-group laboratory activities that promote active learning through student small-group work to improve pre-service biology teachers’ academic achievement in biology.

Education of pre-service science teachers necessitates inquiry and resource-based instruction to ensure the production of both hands-on and mind-on skilled science teachers. This becomes possible when a variety of instructional resources regularly support the teaching process. This study aimed to identify the types of available biology instructional resources and their extent of use in teaching pre-service biology teachers. The study used a descriptive survey research design and was conducted in three private Universities selected from those offering education in Rwanda. Eighty-two pre-service biology teachers and five biology lecturers participated in the study. Observational checklist of biology instructional resources and questionnaires aided the collection of data analyzed by frequency counts and percentages. The findings revealed that biology instructional resources like classroom chairs, chalkboards, laboratories, microscopes, centrifuge, slide projectors, biology textbooks were available while resources like a class whiteboard, classroom overhead projectors, electrophoresis unit, recorders, Polymerase chain reaction machines, among others, were absent. The findings also revealed low-level use of available biology instructional resources in teaching pre-service biology teachers. The implication is the likelihood of producing less competent future biology teachers. The provision of adequate biology instructional resources, as well as the monitoring of their use in teaching biology, was recommended