EFFECTS OF GUIDED INQUIRY METHOD ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS STUDENT’S IN SEPARATION TECHNIQUES WITHIN BAUCHI METROPOLIS.

The study examined the effect of inquiry method on year I chemistry students academic performance in separation techniques in Bauchi Metropolis. The study consisted of two hypotheses and two research questions. The study used a quasi-research design. A sample of 120 senior secondary one (SS1) chemistry students was selected by random sampling from two schools which comprised both boys and girls with 65 students in experimental and 55 students in control groups respectively. The research instruments comprised of Separation Techniques Performance Test (STPT). The STPT contained 20 multiple choice questions with four options (A-D). The students were divided into two groups; Experimental and control groups which were subjected to inquiry method and traditional methods of teaching respectively. The t-test statistics was used to analyze the data. Major findings revealed that Chemistry students taught using inquiry teaching method performed significantly better than their counterparts taught using traditional teaching method. Hence the study concluded that the inquiry teaching method produced students with significantly higher academic performance in Chemistry. The study therefore recommends among others that the use of Inquiry teaching method should be encouraged in all Secondary Schools that offer Chemistry to its students in Bauchi State and other states in Nigeria, also Government should sponsor teachers to attend various workshops and seminars on appropriate and effective use of the inquiry teaching method.