TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE
Cover
Fly leaf
Title page – – – – – – – – i
Declaration – – – – – – – – ii
Certification – – – – – – – – iii
Dedication – – – – – – – – iv
Acknowledgement- – – – – – – – v
Table of Contents – – – – – – – vi
List of Tables – – – – – – – – x
List of Figure – – – – – – – – xi
List of Appendices – – – – – – xii
Abstract – – – – – – – – xv
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
- Background of the Study – – – – – 1
- Statement of the Problem – – – – – 9
- Purpose of the Study – – – – – – 10
- Research Questions – – – – – – 11
- Research Hypotheses – – – – – – 11
- Significance of the Study – – – – – 12
- Delimitations of the Study – – – – – 13
- Limitations of the Study – – – – – 13
- Operational Definition of Terms – – – – 14
- Inquiry Techniques – – – – – – 14
1.9.2 Inquiry through Demonstration: – – – – 14
1.9.3 Inquiry through Discussion – – – – – 14
1.9.4 Inquiry through Laboratory Work – – – – 14
1.9.5 Students’ Academic Performance – – – – 14
1.9.6 Practical Physics – – – – – – 14
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1 Theoretical Framework – – – – 15
2.1.1 Jean Piaget’s Theory of Intellectual Development – 15
2.1.2 Dewey’s Cognitive Theory – – – – – 17
2.2 Conceptual Framework – – – – 19
2.2.1 Concept of Inquiry Teaching Method – – – 20
2.2.1.1 Types of Inquiry Teaching Method – – – 22
2.2.1.1.1 Open or Full Inquiry – – – – – 22
2.2.1.1.2 Guided Inquiry – – – – – 23
2.2.1.1.3 Structured Inquiry – – – – – 23
2.2.1.1.4 Coupled Inquiry – – – – – 23
2.2 Concept of Inquiry through Demonstration – – 24
2.2.3 Concept of Inquiry through Discussion – – 25
2.2.4 Concept of Inquiry through Laboratory Work – 27
2.2.5 Practical Physics – – – – – 29
2.2.6 Academic Performance – – – – 30
2.3 Empirical Studies Reviews – – – – 31
2.4 Gender and Students’ Academic Performance – 33
2.5 Summary of Literature Review – – – 35
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHOD
3.1 Research Deign – – – – – – 37
3.2 Area of Study – – – – – – – 37
3.3 Population of the Study – – – – – 38
3.4 Sample and Sampling Technique – – – – 38
3.5 Instrumentation – – – – – – 39
3.6 Validation of the Instrument – – – – – 39
3.7 Reliability of the Instrument – – – – – 40
3.8 Scoring – – – – – – – 40
3.9 Research Procedure – – – – – – 40
3.10 Method of Data Analysis – – – – – 41
CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4.1 Results – – – – – – – 42
4.1.1 Research Hypothesis 1 – – – – – 42
4.1.2 Research Hypothesis 2 – – – – – 43
4.1.3 Research Hypothesis 3 – – – – – 43
4.1.4 Research Hypothesis 4 – – – – – 44
4.2 Discussion of Results – – – – – – 46
4.3 Summary of Findings – – – – – – 48
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Summary – – – – – – – 49
5.2 Conclusion – – – – – – – 51
5.3 Implications of the Findings – – – – – 51
5.4 Recommendations – – – – – – 51
5.5 Suggestions for Further Study – – – – 53
References – – – – – – – 54
Appendices – – – – – – – 62
LIST OF TABLES
TITLE PAGE
Table 1: t-test Analysis of Male and Female Students’
Performance in Practical Physics – – – 42
Table 2: t-test Analysis of Male and Female Students’
Performance in Practical Physics – – – 43
Table3: t-test Analysis of male and female
Students’ Performance in Practical Physics – – 44
Table 4: Analysis of variance (ANOVA) of inquiry
Techniques and Students’ Performance in
Practical Physics – – – – – 44
Table 5: Scheffe’s test analysis of the difference in
effect of inquiry techniques on students’ performance in practical physics – – – 45
LIST OF FIGURE
TITLE PAGE
Figure 1: Conceptual Framework – – – – 19
LIST OF APPENDICES
TITLE PAGE
Appendix I Letter of Introduction – – – 62
Appendix II Lesson Plan on Physics – – 63
Appendix III Lessons notes on Physics using
inquiry through laboratory work – 64
Appendix IV Lessons notes on Physics using
inquiry through Demonstration – 71
Appendix V Lessons notes on Physics using
inquiry through Discussion – – 78
Appendix VI Test Blueprint – – – – 85
Appendix VII Physics Performance Test (PPT)
for Senior Secondary School
Two (SSS2) – – – – 86
Appendix VIII Marking Scheme – – – 89
Appendix IX Raw scores of students taught
practical Physics with inquiry
through laboratory work – – 91
Appendix X Raw scores of students taught
practical Physics with inquiry
through Demonstration – – 93
Appendix XI Raw scores of students taught
practical Physics with inquiry
through Discussion – – – 95
Appendix XII Posttest score of male students
taught practical physics with inquiry
Through Demonstration – – 98
Appendix XIII Posttest score of Female students
taught practical physics with inquiry
Through Demonstration – – 99
Appendix XIV t-test analysis of male and female
students’ scores taught practical
physics with inquiry through
demonstration – – – – 100
Appendix XV Posttest score of male students
taught practical physics with inquiry
Through Discussion – – – 101
Appendix XVI Posttest score of Female students
taught practical physics with inquiry
Through Discussion – – – 102
Appendix XVII t-test analysis of male and female
students’ scores taught practical
physics with inquiry through
Discussion – – – – 103
Appendix XVIII Posttest score of male students
taught practical physics with inquiry
Through Laboratory Work – – 104
Appendix XIX Posttest score of Female students
taught practical physics with inquiry
Through Laboratory Work – – 105
Appendix XXI t-test analysis of male and female
students’ scores taught practical
physics with inquiry through
Laboratory Work – – – 106
Appendix XXII Analysis of variance
(ANOVA) Computation – – 107
Appendix XXIII Scheefe’s post Hoc Analysis – – 109
Appendix XXIV Computation of Reliability
Co-efficient of the Instrument – – 110
ABSTRACT
This study examined inquiry techniques and students’ academic performance in practical physics in IbesikpoAsutan Local Government Area of AkwaIbom State. The study adopted a pretest posttest quasi-experimental design. Four research questions and four null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. The sample for the study consisted of 161 senior secondary school II (SSS2) physics students drawn from three public secondary schools in IbesikpoAsutan Local Government Area of AkwaIbom State. Simple balloting system was used in selecting the sample. A researcher-developed test – Physics Performance Test (PPT) which comprises of ten practical questions with a reliability index of 0.94 determined using split-half method was used in collecting relevant data. Data collected were analyzed using t-test, ANOVA and Scheffe’s post hoc analysis. Results from study revealed that gender has no significant effect on students’ academic performance. The results also indicated that physics students taught with inquiry through laboratory work performed significantly better than their counterparts taught with inquiry through demonstration and inquiry through discussion. Hence, the study concluded that inquiry through laboratory work is the most effective and facilitating technique of the inquiry teaching method. The study therefore recommend among others that physics teachers should endeavour to involve their students in relevant activities in the class situation by using the different techniques of inquiry especially inquiry through laboratory work and inquiry through demonstration to enhance their skills acquisition and concepts attainment and also, government should sponsor teachers to attend workshop and seminar on the appropriate and effective use of the inquiry teaching method and it different techniques in the realization of physics better performance among senior secondary school students.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
This chapter focused on introduction under the following sub-headings; Background of the Study, Statement of the Problem, Purpose of the Study, Research Questions, Research Hypotheses, Significance of the Study, Delimitations of the Study, Limitations of the Study and Operational Definition of Terms.
- Background of the Study
Education is the sum total of all the processes in which members of a society acquire the desired knowledge, skills and attitudes which would help them to live effectively and contribute positively to the development of the global community (Ogbodo,Etuk, Udosen, Emah, Edem and Afangideh, 2013). It can be seen as the training a child passes through that could mouldhim suits the demand of his society. The necessity of the 21st century requires education to continue creating the young generation who have life skills so that they can survive and compete in the global community. Life skills needed consist of the ability to think critically, the ability to communicate effectively and efficiently and the ability the develop technology (Silas, 2008). These skills are build up during the process of learning and identified through the performance outcome of students.
Physic is a natural science that is based on experiments, observations, measurements and mathematical analysis. Scientific principles are important tool required by all nations to assist them in developing technological innovation in the present competitive world. According to kola (2013),science education is instrumental to the development of any nation. Physics is one of the subjects in science education. It involves the study of matter, energy and their interactions (Chiuand Lin, 2002). It touches every aspect of human lives.Other sciences are reliant on the concepts and techniques developed through physics. It plays a key role in the future progress of mankind. Among sciences, physics is one of the instrumental subjects that spearhead innovation and technological advancement. The United Nations millennium summit held in 2010, recognized that physics will play a crucial role in attaining sustainable development. Practical physics generate fundamental knowledge needed for the technological advancement which will in turn, spearhead the economic engineering of the world. The concept learnt in physics contributes immensely to the technological infrastructure needed to make scientific advances and discoveries (Kola, 2013).
Teaching may be regarded as the organization of curricular and relevant resources and the directions of experiences and activities to facilitate meaningful learning (Ghamanja,1992). It involves the impartation of knowledge on the learners by the teachers. The ability of the teacher to do so depends greatly on the method and technique he applies during the teaching learning process. Physics plays a major role in health education, economic development and environment. The x-rays, radioisotopes nuclear resources imaging, laser electron, microscope among other advances in medicine depend on physics (Kola, 2013). Advances in physics have benefited the transportation industry from building of efficient automobiles, sea vessels, aeroplanes to navigation using the global positioning system (Juan, 2009). Physics plays an important role in technological advancement, this is because the principles of physics inherited in the practical physics are ones which are used in the production of such technologies like computers (Jucevicenceand Karenauskaita, 2004; Zhaoyao, 2002).
Despite the benefits of physics to the nation’s development and technological advancement and the government efforts towards ensuring the effective teaching and learning of the subject at the senior secondary level in Nigeria, media reports in recent years revealed that students enrollment in universities to study medicine, pharmacy and other physics related courses was very low. This situation was attributed to students poor performance in physics particularly at the external examinations like WASSCE and NECO. This trend of poor performance has also been confirmed by WAEC. According to the WAEC chief examiner, only 37.91% of students passed physics in 2004, 41.50% in 2005, 58.05% in 2006, 43.19% in 2007, 48.26% in 2008, 47.83% in 2009 and 51.27% in 2010. Adeyebe (2015), remarked that physics students‘ performance in May/June WASSCE from 2011 to 2014 was below 50%. Research findings also revealed that 41% of students passed physics in 2017 NECO examination, while in 2018, the percentage was 44.2%. This trend in poor performance at external examination among secondary schools students was attributed to a lot of factors including the use of inappropriate instructional method and technique, lack of instructional material, lack of qualified science teachers, poor laboratory facilities, large class size for practicals, poor skills isin answering practical physics questions, poor understanding of the demands of practical questions, some schools starting practical during WASSCor NECO period among others. It has being advocated that teachers should use varieties of innovative teaching methods such as inquiry method in exposing students to practical concepts to serve as intervention.
