EFFECT OF INQUIRY METHOD ON STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN BIOLOGY AT SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL IN IDAH KOGI STATE

Abstract

Abstract

 The study examined effect of guided inquiry and conventional instructional methods on students' achievement in biology. A total of senior secondary two 61 students with average mean age of 18.1 years were randomly sampled from Idah education zone, Kogi state, Nigeria. The instrument used in collecting data was a 20 item-4 option multiple choice and 2 essay questions namely Biology Achievement Test (BAT) developed by the researcher on the concept Pollution. The BAT was used to measure students' Achievement in the pre-test and post-test. The investigator developed guided inquiry and lecture methods lesson notes. The test items, lesson notes and marking scheme for these methods were validated and found reliable before use. The test had a reliability of 0.87 using test-retest approaches. Pre-test-post-test experimental control group design was used. The experimental group was taught using guided inquiry method, while the control group had their lessons instructed with traditional lecture instructional method. The pre-test result showed that, the two schools were comparable before the administration of the treatment respectively. The test scores for the post-test collected were used for data analysis and testing of the hypothesis. The hypothesis was tested at 0.05 level of significance. The t-test for two independent groups’ results showed that students taught with guided inquiry method achieved better in Biology than those taught with the lecture instructional method. The study showed that students taught with guided inquiry method had higher mean score enhanced the academic achievement of learners in biology, than the traditional instructional method. Even though the subjects in the experimental and control groups were equated in terms of pre-test, there were differences of the students taught with guided inquiry instructional method and lecture instructional method. The researcher commended among others that for the improvement of the quality of teaching and learning in science and enhancement of the students’ performance using guided inquiry method should be encouraged and established.