EFFECT OF GUIDED INQUIRY TEACHING METHOD ON SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN CHEMISTRY IN AWKA EDUCATION ZONE

Abstract

The effect of guided inquiry teaching method on secondary school students’ academic achievement in chemistry was investigated. Two research questions and three null hypotheses guided the study. Quasi-experimental design, specifically, pre-test post-test non-equivalent control group design was used in the study. The population of the study was 642 chemistry students in Awka Education Zone. The sample for the study comprised of 122 students. The instrument for data collection was Chemistry Achievement Test (CAT) validated by two experts in Science Education and Educational Foundations Departments and one experienced chemistry teacher. The reliability of the instrument was established using Kuder-Richardson formula 21 for CAT which yielded coefficient of internal consistency of 0.85. Data were collected by administering the instrument as pre-test and post-test before and after treatment respectively. The data obtained were analysed using mean, standard deviation and analysis of covariance. The results revealed that guided inquiry method was more effective than conventional method in facilitating students’ achievement in chemistry. There was a significant difference between the mean achievement scores of male and female students in chemistry in favour of females. It was recommended that, chemistry teachers should adopt guided inquiry instructional method when teaching in order to enhance students’ achievement in chemistry.