ABSTRACT
This study was undertaken to investigate the Effectiveness of Demonstration and Guided Discovery Methods on Interest and Achievement of Upper Basic Science students in Wukari Educational Zone, Taraba State Nigeria. A quasi- experimental-control group design involving pre and posttest intact classes were used. The population of the study comprised 5109 Junior Secondary School (JSSII) students of public Schools in Wukari Educational Zone, out of which 159 students were randomly sampled from three Junior Secondary Schools that were part of the population to form the participants for the research work. Two instruments were used for data collection which were: Basic Science Concept Achievement Test (BSCAT) and Students Interest Scale of Basic Science (SISBS). The instrument BSCAT had a reliability coefficient of 0.75 using Kuder- Richardson K-R 20 method. BSCAT consisted of 50 multiple choice items objective tests. On the other hand, SISBS was found to have a reliability coefficient of 0.78 using Kuder- Richardson K- R 21 method. SISBS was developed based on Likert?s 5-points interest scale. The instruments were validated by four experts. An intensive teaching session which lasted for five weeks for both experimental and control groups was undergone. The participants in EG1 were taught nutrition concepts using demonstration method while participants in EG2 were taught the same concept using guided discovery method. The control group was taught the same concept using the lecture method after which posttest was administered to the participants to find out the effects of demonstration and guided discovery teaching methods on interest and achievement of Upper Basic Science students. Three research questions corresponding to three null hypotheses were formulated and tested at P ≤0.05 levels of significance. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Scheffe?s Post Hoc Tests as well as Kruskal-Wallis interest analysis was used for testing the hypotheses. The analyses of the variables were done using computer statistical software. Findings from the study showed that out of the three methods of teaching tested, guided discovery method (EG2) performed best, with an F value of 61.15 at P≤ 0.05 levels of significance, followed by demonstration method (EG1) and the lecture method (CG) performed low. Also the interest level of participants showed significant difference after exposure to demonstration method while there was no significant difference in interest level of participants after exposure to guided discovery and lecture methods of instruction. Based on these findings, relevant recommendations were made. A major highlight of the recommendation is that stakeholders in the education sector should make concerted effort to see that government at all levels should encourage the use of guided discovery teaching method by sponsoring teachers to attend in-service training, seminars or workshops so as to be acquainted with this activity-oriented teaching strategy in the teaching and learning of Basic Science in our Junior Secondary Schools.