Effect of Guided Discovery Method on Secondary School Students’ Academic Performance in Biology in Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of Guided Discovery method on Senior Secondary School students’ academic performance in Biology in Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria. Two research questions were raised and two null hypotheses were formulated. The study employed a quasi-experimental design. The population comprised of 8,670 Students in all the public Secondary Schools in Makurdi Metropolis. Two schools were randomly selected using simple random sampling technique from among the public Secondary Schools in Makurdi and a sample size of 47 Senior Secondary two (SS2) students were used for the study. The instrument used for data collection was Biology Academic Performance Test (BAPT). Biology Academic Performance Test (BAPT) was validated by 3 experts in science education. The BAPT was pilot tested on intact class and a reliability coefficient of 0.79 was obtained using Kuder Richardson Formula-21 (K-R21). The research questions were answered using descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation. The null hypotheses formulated were tested at 0.05 level of significance using inferential statistics of independent t-test. The findings showed that, there was a significant difference between the mean academic performance scores of students taught Biology using Guided Discovery method and those taught using Lecture method in favour of those students taught using Guided Discovery method. There was no significant difference between the mean academic performance scores of male and female students taught Biology using Guided Discovery method. It was recommended among others that; Biology teachers should use Guided Discovery method for teaching Biology at the secondary school level.