The effects of guided discovery strategies on students` attitude and performance in two selected topics in practical biology

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to teach students with the guided discovery strategies to enhance their academic performance in biology. The study used guided discovery strategies as intervention to improve the academic performance of biology students at St. Margaret Mary Senior High School in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. The study employed a quasi-experimental research design. The researcher did biology practical on two selected topics, experiment to show that osmosis occurs in a living tissue, and experiment to show the percentage of air in different types of soil. An intact class of 63 form one science students constituted the sample. Data were collected using test items, questionnaire and interview. Data collected from the study was analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The findings of the study showed that the academic performance of the experimental group, that is, students taught using the guided discovery performed better than those in the control group. This is an indication that students taught guided discovery method performed significantly better than those taught with the traditional method. The performance of students improved after the treatment. The implications for teaching and learning are that, guided discovery strategies make science classroom more realistic as students are actively involved. Students also learn to be responsible for their learning.