Effects of Inquiry and Discussion Methods on Secondary School Biology Students’ Achievement and Attitudes in Delta Central Senatorial District

This study investigated the effects of inquiry and discussion methods on secondary school Biology students’ achievement and attitudes in Delta Central Senatorial District. The study adopted pre-test post-test control group quasi-experimental design. The population of the study consisted of 17,790 senior secondary school one (SS1) Biology students in public secondary schools in Delta Central Senatorial District. A sample size of 418 SS1 Biology students in 9 public mixed secondary schools was used for the study. The instruments used for collection of data were: Biology Achievement Test (BAT) and Biology Student Attitude Scale (BSAS). The reliability of BAT and BSAS were established using Kuder-Richardson Formula 21 and Cronbach Alpha which yielded 0.77 and 0.78 reliability coefficient respectively. The data collected using BAT and BSAS were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, t-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results showed that there was significant difference in the mean achievement scores of secondary school Biology students taught with inquiry and discussion methods, in favour of discussion method; there was no significant difference in the mean attitude scores of secondary school Biology students taught with inquiry and discussion methods. It was concluded that inquiry, discussion and lecture method of teaching enhance secondary Biology students’ achievement but at varying degree; and inquiry and discussion methods of teaching improve secondary school Biology students’ attitudes more than lecture method of teaching. However, discussion method of teaching has more effect compared to inquiry and lecture method of teaching. Based on these findings, recommendations were made.