EFFECT OF DISCOVERY TEACHING METHOD ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL BIOLOGY STUDENTS IN ANYIGBA METROPOLIS

ABSTRACT This study investigated the effect of discovery teaching methods on academic performance of senior secondary School biology students in Anyigba Metropolis. The design of the study was a pre-test, post-test control group of quasi-experimental type. The population of the study consist of 764 of SS 2 students. A simple random sampling method was used in selecting the schools, classes and students. The sample size had a total of 48 males and 52 females. Biology Performance Test (BPT) was used for data collection. The reliability of the instrument was 0.89 obtained using Kuder-Richardson formula 20. The research questions were analyzed using mean and standard deviation while the hypotheses were tested using t-test at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of this study revealed that those exposed to discovery teaching method performed better than those exposed to conventional or lecture teaching method. Based on these findings, it is recommended that discovery teaching method should be practiced intensively by Biology teachers since the method proved effective in enhancing students’ academic Performance; and teachers should be patient in using the discovery teaching method because it improves students’ academic performance. Moreover, biology teachers should make the teaching-learning of biology interactive and activity–based for students using discovery method so that all students could gain irrespective of the ability levels of the students.